Reserving Your Own Domain Name

What's In A Name?

Your domain name is your unique address on the internet.  It can be a calling card and the first impression people see of your brand so it is important that you have as much control over your domain name as possible.  Registering a domain name will only cost you around $10 - $15 per year so it is not a significant expense and should not be ignored.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, is the organization responsible for administering and managing domain names world wide.  Technically you don't own a domain name.  You lease it from ICANN.

Here are some important things you need to keep in mind with your domain name;

Your Domain Name Registrant Details

It is important to make sure your domain name is registered under either your name or your business name.  Even if someone else registers the domain name on your behalf, such as a web-developer or consultant, make sure they do so under the name you specify.

Most web-developers operate ethically with your best interests in mind but occasionally you will see some that register domains under their own name unknown to the client and then lease the domain back.  But this can become problematic if you decide to change web-developers sometime down the road. I've had clients that lost domains because they expired and they had no contact with the original person that registered the domain.

Remember, your domain name is as important as your brand.  You should be in control of it.  Fortunetly registering a domain name is very easy to do and also very inexpensive.

You can easily check your domain name registration details by going to this domain, http://whois.icann.org, and entering your domain name into the search field.

Note: It is quite common and normal for your web-developer, designer, or consultant to register the Admin Contact and Technical Contact fields with their contact details to assist managing your site but the Registrant Conact details should contain your personal or business contact information and no one elses.

Secure Your Brand Online

Another important aspect of controlling your brand online is to secure all the domains and social media usernames that your brand can be associated with.  This should include at a minimum the .com, .net, and .org domains as well as Facebook, Google and Twitter accounts.  If your brand is popular you can be sure others will exploit unclaimed domains and user names to their own benefit.

Another thing to keep in mind when you are considering your presence online is to not focus to much on your local market.  You might miss the global implications of safeguarding your business online.

An example could be a business in Australia registering a .com.au domain or a business in Canada registering the .ca domain but ignoring the .com, .net, etc. domains.

This may not seem like a big deal now but if someone else owns other version ot your domain, they are in a position to benefit from the efforts you use to promote your brand.

You can use Domain Parking or Domain Redirects to manage all the different domain name versions while still only maintianing one website. 

Secure Your Web 2.0 Usernames

Don't forget about all the social media sites that can have a significant impact on your brand.  Sites like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and dozens of other social networks and bookmarking sites can all be a significant source of traffic and brand reputation.  You should research and secure these addresses before someone else does.

Examples of web 2.0 web addresses are:

1. Facebook.com/yourbusiness
2. Twitter.com/yourbusiness
3. LindedIn.com/your business

If you want to check whether your desired username is available on socail media sites you can go to http://namechk.com and enter the username you want to check in the search field.

It will return a list of all the sites where your chosen username is available along with a link to the site so you can easily go and create an account.

Key Takeaways

• Make sure that whoever you use to register your domain name creates it under a separate account for your business and provides you with the account login details.
• Make sure that all the domain names you register are done so using your own name or business name and contact details as the Domain Name Registrant.
• Make sure that all domain registration confirmation emails are forwarded to you.
• Login to your domain managment portal area, you will have gotten it from the confirmation emails mentioned above.  Once there make sure that your domain renewal options are set to “Lock” and “Auto-Renew”.  This will prevent any accidental loss through unauthorized transgers or domain expiration.
• It only costs around $10 to $15 dollars a year for a domain name registration.  Beware of anyone offering domain renewal services at significantly higher costs.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.  I'm always happy to be of service.