In today’s highly competitive business environment, a domain name is one of the most valuable Intellectual Property (IP) assets a company could own. It is a matter of fact that yes; the choice of a domain name in this age of well-developed information technology is an important business decision as it leads to more publicity, popularity, and profitability of businesses. So, it is essential to wisely select your domain name and protect it irrespective of the fact whether you have been using it for years or have just acquired it.
Here are a few simple tips that owners should follow to protect their domain names:
1-Pay due attention to the administrative details
While registering the domain name, the owner should make sure that he or she is listed as the registrant, i.e., the legal owner of the domain name; the administrative contact, i.e., the individual who has the rights to alter the domain record; and the technical contact, i.e., the individual who will be responsible for addressing any technical issues with the domain name.
2- Always go for a reputable registrar
Large companies and organizations usually work with corporate registrars like MarkMonitor to manage their domain names efficiently. While using a retail registrar like GoDaddy or Network Solutions, the owner should ensure that the registrar is widely-known, responsive to the customers, and has been in the business for a long time.
3- Make sure to lock your domain name
Many domain name registrars provide the facility to lock, transfer lock, or register lock the domain name to prevent it from being deleted, modified, or transferred without the owner’s prior and explicit permission.
4- Consider obtaining similar domain names
Domain name holders or owners should consider registering similar or alternative top-level domain names like .org, .biz, and .net along with the domain names based on either the misspellings or the plural version.
5- Create a strong, unique password and protect it diligently
The owners should protect their domain names from unauthorized access by using a strong and unique password. Failing to do so could let someone else access your domain name, leading to its misuse.
6- Keep track of the renewal dates
The owners must establish a procedure to ensure that they do not unintentionally forget to renew the registration of their domain names. Owners with multiple domain names can even consider consolidating the renewal dates of all their domain names to make the process well organized. Additionally, renewing the domain name for multiple years could also prove to be beneficial.
7- Be aware of domain name scammers and others with evil intentions
Nowadays, unethical registrars often try to manipulate the domain name registrants into paying unnecessary charges. Therefore, the domain owners should be cautious while responding to any such suspicious emails from parties pretending to be the registrar of their domain names.
CONCLUSION
In today’s internet age, your company’s domain name not only adds credibility to your business but also builds your brand’s image by increasing its awareness. Domain names also help in generating traffic to your website, which results in more customers and better sales. Therefore, they must be efficiently protected to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, which might arise, leading to disruptions in business.