How To Choose A Good Domain Name
Before youpick the perfect domain name, you need to think of a name that will embody the purpose of your website. And this is much more than just using a couple of keywords and hoping for the best.
There are certain rules for anyone who is making a website that needs to follow if they want to have a good domain name. And while there are some domains that dont follow these rules, if you take a closer look, you will see they are mostly associated with unsuccessful websites.
Remember the following tips when choosing your domain name:
Once you think of the perfect domain name, its time to register it. You dont have to worry about paying an arm and a leg because there are always ways to register a cheap domain name. Keep in mind that you can find a perfect domain name that is affordable if you look at the right places.
Registering A Trademark Domain Name For New Domain Name Extensions
There are hundreds of domain name extensions that are currently available and new ones are constantly appearing. When new domain extensions appear they usually have a period in which trademark owners have priority to secure their domain name.
This is one of the reasons why trademarking your domain name is so important.
Tips For Protecting Your Domain Names
Its ten oclock in the morning and the number of visitors to your ecommerce site has suddenly dropped to zero. Normally you make online sales worth hundreds of dollars an hour, but now your business has come to a standstill.
Its a scary scenario, but one that can come about if you lose control of your domain name. Anyone who manages to gain access to your account with your domain name registrar can hijack your domain name, diverting your website visitors to their own site and accessing your email. If they manage to steal your domain name by transferring it into their name with a new registrar then you face a long and expensive legal battle to get it back.
And you dont have to be the victim of a crime to lose control of a domain name: if you forget to renew it it could be snapped up by a new owner perfectly legally. If that happens they can then do what they like with the domain name that used to be yours and you may never be able to recover it.
Losing your domain names could clearly be a disaster, so here are eight tips to help you protect them:
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True Story: A Small Business Owner Who Was Not A Client Called Me One Day With A Problem Lets Call Him Dave His Web Site Was Missing Not Missing From The Search Engines Missing Completely Gone No Longer Reachable At His Domain It Was Nothing I Could Help With Since He Wasnt A Client But
True story: A small business owner, who was not a client, called me one day with a problem. Lets call him Dave. His web site was missing. Not missing from the search engines, missing completely. Gone. No longer reachable at his domain. It was nothing I could help with since he wasnt a client, but we kept talking. I wanted to learn more.
Dave had a disagreement with his web developer over money. The web developer took the web site offline. But he didnt stop there. He also took ownership of Daves domain. And there was nothing Dave could do about it, because the web developer had listed himself as the administrative contact for the domain when he registered it on Daves behalf.
Ouch! Its one thing to lose a web site you can rebuild that. But losing a prime domain name, the address at which customers have found you for years? That hurts big time. Theres a search marketing angle to this, too: If youve spent several years building up search engine trust in a domain, youll have to spend at least the same amount of time re-building trust on a new domain if you have to start over like Dave did.
This story dates back several years, but Im sure similar stories could be told today. Ive found over the years that many small business owners dont appreciate either the value of their domain name or the need to protect it. Ill focus on the need to protect your domain name in this article.
How to Protect Your Domain Name
How Can I Protect The Domain Name
You can protect your domain name by registering it. It is a good idea to speak with an intellectual property lawyer who can give you in-depth and up-to-date information on how domain names can be registered, and other useful information regarding your brand name that you may not know about.
It is useful to know that registering a domain name does not give you any proprietary right over the name, and you will not automatically be granted a right to use the domain name as a trademark. For this reason, we suggest speaking with an intellectual property lawyer who can provide you with legal advice on how you can best protect your brand using a domain name and other measures under intellectual property law.
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Tips To Protect Your Domain And Prevent Email Spoofing
Spoofing is a tactic used in cyber attacks in which crooks try to impersonate a domain in order to lure and deceive others. The reason is obvious: if you know the message sender or the information source, youre much more likely to interact with it. Its merely a matter of trust and security. Of course, attackers know this and take advantage of it. So much so that spoofing is related to social engineering cases, spam campaigns, phishing and spear phishing attacks.
As a result, spoofing can harm you and your business in two ways. First, by using your domain. Indeed, cybercriminals can use your domain, company name and brand to commit scams and frauds, especially via email. Second, by flooding your mailbox with dangerous and unwanted messages. Imagine if a companys employee is deceived by a cybercriminal who has dark interests. As in the first case, the damage can be huge.
Email spoofing has been a common technique used by crooks because the process of sending emails doesnt have advanced messaging authentication mechanisms.
The sending process is based on the SMTP protocol, which isnt too concerned about the senders address. The main SMTP purpose is just to carry the messages, which allows criminals to use other peoples domains.
So its possible that someone may be using your domain and company name right now to spread spam and phishing attacks. No need to say how that may tarnish your reputation and brand.
Recommended Platforms To Sell Your Domain Name
If youre not sure where to begin, dont worry! We have a few suggestions to give you a head start. See how the following recommendations compare with your responses to the above advice before settling on an option.
Another option is Flippa. Flippa helps you sell domain names, but thats not all you can sell entire websites and businesses there too. As such, we recommend giving it a try if youre not intimidated with how to sell a domain name and are looking to make it a major source of income.
Finally, lets talk about Sedo. Sedo is one of the most popular marketplaces for domain sellers. It offers built-in escrow services, robust customer service, and an intuitive interface with lots of filters:
Given all of its strengths, we generally recommend Sedo if youre not sure which marketplace is right for you. If youre a beginner, the quick and simple upload process is a significant benefit.
Nevertheless, there are far more than just these options out there. Dont be afraid to spend some time looking for other domain marketplaces. You might find that your best option is more off the beaten path.
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B Mitigation Of Brand Risk Through Domain Monitoring
In a previous article we discussed how the detection of newly registered domains containing your brand works and shed some light on what results you can expect from a domain monitoring tool.
In this section, we give our view on how and when monitoring of already detected problematic domains can help you save cost, by reducing the need for an extensive defensive domain portfolio and unnecessary enforcement actions.
Both processes may be referred to as domain monitoring, even though the processes behind are very different. When we monitor an identified potentially problematic domain, we observe three things: The website visuals, how the content is changing over time, also called screenshot monitoring. Second, the underlying infrastructure in particular registrar, registrant, DNS records incl. MX record and if applicable the hosting provider. Thirdly we monitor the HTTP response code of the domain root to detect whether we can expect a forward, content or no content.
If a domain appears well-suited for the sale of unauthorized goods or another kind of trademark infringement, visual monitoring enables your team to take action only if this threat actually materializes.
Investigating DNS records can often reveal whether a domain was registered by an affiliated provider, a subsidiary or a marketing agency that acted proactively and therefore taking the content down might be a too big hammer for the issue and a friendly transfer demand letter more appropriate.
Correct answer:
How To Protect Against Domain Squatting
byZeroFox Team
8minuteread
Domain squatting is a versatile and highly prevalent cyber threat tactic used by digital adversaries to impersonate your brand, divert traffic away from your website, and defraud your users, fans, and customers.
In this weeks blog post, were taking a deep dive into the world of domain squatting. Youll learn what domain squatting is, how it works, and how you can protect your company and brands from cyber criminals with the bad faith intention to abuse your trademarks, defraud your community, and damage your reputation.
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Notify The Authorities: Icann Can Help
When you contact ICANN for help in recovering your domain name, it can go one of two ways.
If you can demonstrate that the domain is rightfully yours, the recovery process will be a breeze.
If you cant, expect a more complicated ordeal.
ICANN will ask you to produce documentation that proves you own the domain that was stolen. Before we get into the details about which pieces of documentation youll need, lets look at what ICANN is and why they would be able to help you.
ICANN is the number one authority for resolving domain name disputes between individuals or companies. Its a nonprofit organization that is responsible for the maintenance of namespaces and numerical spaces on the internet. The organization exists to help preserve the operational stability of the internet on a global scale.
To get this powerful organization behind you in your recovery process, you should have the proof-of-ownership documentation that theyll find useful:
These are the forms of ownership validation that ICANN typically uses to help with domain recovery. Since some may need a notary stamp or require that other parties corroborate the information, its a good idea to obtain this documentation proactively.
Is Domain Squatting Illegal
Domain squatting is illegal in the United States under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act , 15 U.S.C. § 1125, passed in 1999.
The ACPA allows the owner of a distinctive trademark to take legal action against a domain name registrant who registers a domain name that is either identical or confusingly similar to a distinctive trademark, and who has a bad faith intent to profit from the mark.
An ACPA claim often succeeds if:
Winning an ACPA claim can be a lengthy and expensive process. ACPA claims can also be complicated by extenuating circumstances, such as when the domain registrant lives outside of the United States, or when the defendant successfully argues fair use of the trademark.
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Protect Your Domain Sale With An Escrow Service
Once you get an interested buyer, its normal to feel eager. However, try not to let your excitement get the best of you. Its almost impossible to be too cautious with an online sale.
Unfortunately, not everyone on the internet is looking for an honest deal. Theres always a chance of losing your domain to a scammer. Fortunately, an escrow service can go a long way towards preventing that.
Escrow is a legal agreement where a company acts as a neutral third party. They hold your domain name until theyve received the funds. Then they execute the trade to ensure that both parties get what they agreed on.
There are plenty of high-quality escrow services out there. Were particular fans of Escrow.com, given its stellar track record and popularity:
However, any other secure service will do the trick. Just take a look at how much they charge in commission you probably dont want an unwelcome surprise. The customer service may also be worth investigating, in case you ever need support.
In our opinion, the only way to go wrong here is to not use an escrow service. It can be tempting if youre not excited about paying a commission, but that discount comes with a pretty severe risk to your security.
This goes double for any suspiciously high bids. Scammers may offer you an unreasonable amount of cash for your domain, but insist that none of it goes through escrow. That way, they can take the money and run. We recommend that you avoid these kinds of deals at all costs.
How To Protect Yourself From Domain Theftshare
When someone tries to hack your domain, theyll typically use one of the two methods:
- Theyll change your DNS configuration, moving name resolution to a server of their choosing, effectively redirecting traffic from your site to another one.
- They will modify your registration contact information, giving themselves full control over your domain.
A hacker may go one step further and change the registration data in the WHOIS database, which can be used as proof that they, not you, are the actual owner of the domain. To further obscure the truth, the attacker might modify payment information or transfer the domain name to a different registrar.
How do they gain access to your domain account in the first place?
There are several ways, like obtaining your domain account login details using phishing attacks, taking advantage of a domain registrar data breach, employing a phone scam in which they request your login credentials, or even pulling sensitive data from your computer using keylogging spyware.
To make matters worse, the people who would steal your domain name will go to great lengths to cover their tracks, and that can make regaining control of a stolen domain very challenging.
In this article, well give you some helpful tips on how to prevent your domain from being compromised. Even the most vigilant domain owners can become the victims of domain hijacking, so weve also provided information about how you can recover a stolen domain.
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