How to Claim a Domain Name and Secure Your Website URL
Did you come up with your company name and are working on your website? Reserve your name before someone else takes it! Here’s how to claim a domain name and how to secure it.
Coming up with a domain name for your website can be confusing and time-consuming. Some people coin domain names from their names, but it does not always work well for businesses.
Once you have decided on a decent name, you need to claim it to prevent anyone else from taking it. You also need to protect it from possible disputes, trademark violations, and domain squatting.
The following guide on how to claim a domain name should help you understand the process.
Claiming a domain name requires strategy. Observe the following practices to invent an appropriate URL for your website.
1. The Name Should Reflect Your Interests
Your website will become your ground for implementing all your digital efforts. Therefore, selecting a domain name which communicates your product is important.
When developing a domain name, you should think about how the name looks and sounds. Avoid making the name too long for your audience to remember. Furthermore, some platforms like Twitter limit the number of characters.
The domain name has to appeal to the market and evoke the desired inference for it to attract traffic to your website. A strategy which works for many businesses is forming a name from their brand. Such names promote the awareness and recognition of one’s brand on the market.
If you haven’t developed a brand yet, you can incorporate a witty call to action in the domain name. The name should draw the attention of the desired audience at a glance.
2. Choose a Suitable Domain
The choice of a domain may depend on the type of website you want to register. Most of the top level domains (TLD) are suitable for specific niches, but some are for general websites. Here are some examples of TLDs and their intended application area.
.Com
Initially, the purpose of .com was to imply the commercial intention of a website. Today, the domain is widespread in various fields. Most people registering websites go for .com perhaps because of the domain’s popularity.
.Net
This domain is predominant in networking technology industries. Some companies which use .net are network operators, advertising agencies, and Internet service providers.
.Org
This is another TLD which has veered off the original focus on nonprofits. Nowadays, you will find commercial enterprises with URLs containing .org.
.Country
Domains which contain country names are suitable for local businesses, organizations, or communities. They are useful in targeting a regional market. A good example is .us.
.Info
One purpose of this domain was to reduce the preference of .com among entities across the globe. It’s common with various newspapers and information portals.
3. Identify a Domain Name Registrar
The work of a domain name registrar is to reserve and manage internet domain names. Some DNS hosting providers also facilitate the registration of domain names. Registration of your preferred name is critical, and you should do it fast before someone else does it.
How to Secure Your Website URL
Domain security is vital not only for yourself but also for those who visit your website. People are aware of the risk of cyber-attacks. They are worried when opening websites to avoid becoming victims of hacking.
Some domain owners do not employ strict security measures when developing their website security policies. Unfortunately, poor domain management can result in irrevocable damage and a poor reputation for your business.
A hacker can alter the accessibility setting of your website if they can access your domain name control panel. Losing the domain name of your website can bring your business to a standstill. You can take several measures to safeguard your domain name from loss or theft
1. Secure Your Accounts
Your passwords should be strong to prevent unauthorized access to your system. The key here is to use random characters which are hard to guess. A password generator can help you create secure passwords.
Don’t trust anyone with your account credentials. Consider investing in two-factor authentication for the access of your account. When someone enters the password, for example, the system can issue a code via SMS to verify the identity of the person.
2. Use Antispyware Program
Invest in an antispyware software and keep it updated to prevent key-logging programs from stealing your usernames and passwords.
All applications in your business should be up to date. Outdated software is a soft target for malware and viruses and can lead to the theft of data.
3. Enhance your Domain Privacy
Website owners must provide accurate contact information about themselves to the registrar. The domain registrar forwards this record to WHOIS. Your data at WHOIS is available to the public.
Thieves steal such information and impersonate website owners in an attempt to transfer their domains. You can go for private domain registration to avoid revealing your contact information. Your domain registrar can offer privacy by replacing your information with theirs.
4. Update Your Registration Information
Ensure that your domain name contact information with your registrar is accurate. Updated details will enable your registrar to inform you if there is some suspicious activity targeting your domain name. Your infrastructure should enable you to view your registrar’s notifications immediately.
5. Secure Your Website
Internet users are confident when opening secured websites since they pose a reduced risk of leaking customer information. Such sites have URLs starting with https. Your site should have an SSL (or TLS) certificate to protect your audience.
6. Use The Domain Lock Service
Most domain registrars provide a domain transfer lock which prevents your domain name from getting transferred without your knowledge. You can ask your registrar to provide a registry lock even if it may cost you some amount. This should prevent an intruder from making changes to your DNS information without your authorization.
How to Claim a Domain Name – Final Thoughts
Domain name security is perhaps not a priority for some website owners. However, it should be one of the first considerations to make when opening a website given the rate at which cyber-crime has risen. Hackers are becoming clever by the day, and you have to avert them before they strike.
New website owners should learn how to claim a domain name before launching their sites. They must also stay abreast of new internet security trends to keep their URLs secure. They should deter hackers with a combination of security measures to seal all loopholes.
Protecting your online brand, website, reputation, and domain is important If you need help with legal issues, an internet lawyer can help.
Contact Revision Legal’s attorneys with the contact form on this page, or call us at 855-473-8474.