Buy your .nz domain today

A .nz domain is New Zealand's country-code address, so it is the natural fit for businesses, organizations and individuals who serve customers in New Zealand. Kiwi shops, tradespeople, tourism operators and professionals can use it to show visitors right away that the site is local.

If you sell mostly overseas, treat the .nz as a local-market address next to a more general domain.

A .nz domain can be held by an identifiable individual over 18 or a lawfully constituted entity, applying through an authorized registrar. The registry says it is not concerned with how a name is used.

The registry can ask a holder at any time to verify identity, with a passport or driver's license for individuals or an incorporation certificate for companies. Keep those documents to hand.

Yes, a .nz domain can include the macron vowels ā, ē, ī, ō and ū alongside the letters a-z, digits and hyphens.

Names can be up to 63 characters and cannot start or end with a hyphen. Check that your customers can type macrons on their keyboards before you choose a macron spelling, and consider registering the plain spelling too.

A .nz domain is registered directly under New Zealand's country code, while a .co.nz domain sits one level lower, under the co second level.

A .co.nz name you already hold keeps working. If protecting the brand matters to you, register both and redirect one to the other.

A .nz domain holder can hide personal details with the registry's Privacy Option only if the holder is an individual who does not use the name significantly in trade. When the option is on, public results show only the name and country.

Businesses cannot use it, so give a business contact address that you are comfortable showing publicly.

A .nz dispute goes through the Dispute Resolution Service run by the Domain Name Commission, which moves from mediation to an expert decision, with an appeal available.

The complainant must show rights in a name identical or similar to the domain and that the registration is unfair. If the name matters to your brand, registering it yourself is simpler.

A .nz domain tells Google your site is meant for New Zealand users, because Google reads country-code domains as a strong geographic signal, and .nz is not on its short list of country codes handled as generic.

A country-code domain can target only one country, so keep a general domain as your main address if you sell abroad too, and add local signals such as a New Zealand address and phone number.