Protect Your Domain Name and Reputation
CYBERSQUATTING - The Problem
Cybersquatting, or registering a domain name in bad faith
(usually a variation or mis-spelling of your domain name) an
cause untold damage to a company and is a major problem on the
Internet, where registering a domain is a quick and automated
process. Legal recourse is costly and time-consuming and not
always effective. Cybersquatting can occur in various guises:
1. Competitors - Any potential customer of yours getting your
domain name wrong ends up as a customer of theirs!
2. Unhappy customers and (ex-) employees - All their complaints
about you get posted, whether they are justified or not.
3. Opportunists - They set up pages that redirect you, or
affiliate pages, often linked to pornography, in order to make
money or to spread viruses. Other opportunists may try and sell
these similar domains back to you at vastly inflated prices.
CYBERSQUATTING - The Solution
Registering multiple domain names can be expensive but many
registrars allow a discount when buying 10 domain names or more.
When you have these registered, ensure they all point to your
existing website.
1. Register as many TLD (top level domain) variations as
possible e.g. .com, .net. .co.uk etc...
2. Register mis-spellings of your domain name
3. If your domain is hyphenated, register the non-hyphenated
version too.
3. If your domain could be plural or singular, register both
versions.
DOMAIN EXPIRY- The Problem
UK domains are bought for two year periods whereas other TLDs
can be registered for varying numbers of years. If you have
multiple domains, all likely to expire at different times, it is
easy to forget one, only to find it has been registered by a
cybersquatter.
DOMAIN EXPIRY- The Solution
1. Ensure that the company you bought your domain names through
has your most current e-mail address, so they can contact you.
2. Register your domains for as long a period as possible to
minimise the chances of unwanted expiry. A welcome side effect
of this is that Google may rank you higher than if you
registered your domain for a shorter period of time.
3. Use a facility such as allwhois.com to check when your
domains expire, and make a diary note or setup an automated
reminder.
AVOIDING OTHER PROBLEMS
1. Always ensure that your domain names are registered in your
name if you use a third party to make the registrations on your
behalf.
2. Use an e-mail address for registration purposes that is
separate from your domain name, and is not a free address likely
to expire e.g. hotmail or yahoo. If your e-mail address expires,
someone else can register it and then take over your domain
registration.
3. If you receive correspondence asking you to confirm, transfer
or renew your domain, for whatever reason, check it with your
registrar first. Many scammers have 'hijacked' domain names this
way, preying on people's trust.