As a full-service agency which offers comprehensive marketing campaigns alongside web design and build, we really understand the customer journey and the key influences which act upon it. That's why, we are often suprised by how little some of our clients value their web domains! We have always encouraged clients to register their own domains, or to take ownership of them once we have registered them, both to protect their brand and give them control.
About twelve months ago, we were approached by local domain registrar Frank Domains who offer international domain registrations from their Gloucestershire Office; they wanted to help ensure our clients were protected and they are the first to offer 2Factor Authentication (with bank-style logins) for domain registrations. Since then, we've also taken them on as a client and they have helped us to develop and improve our knowledge of domains.
Going beyond the registration, we look at how important your domain is to your business, using examples and tips kindly provided by Frank Domains. Starting at the very beginning (it's the very best place to start we've heard), we'll look at what a domain is and how it can help build your brand.
What is a domain?
A domain name is a label or address associated with a website so that it can be found easily. For people to find a website there must be an address for them to type in. This address has to be purchased and renewed.
It only costs £12.99 - why does it matter for my business?
Funnily enough, this is a really common question that we get asked and one that we always answer asap! Your domain may only physically cost (on average) £12.99, but it actually has a much more significant value for your business/brand. Ironically, if a domain was a 'must-have' that cost £1000 per year, we would find everyone has a much better understanding of domains and their value; but because it is only £12.99 and there are so many available, it is often the last thing on a business owners mind.
So why does it mean more?
- Forgetting to renew - Imagine for a minute, you have registered your domain and spent months building, writing, designing and refining your website to sell your products and services. At the same time, you've been developing your reputation and receiving nice reviews, climbing the search engine rankings and generally expanding. A year later, once you're established, your domain comes up for renewal and you forget - all that hard work is lost as your website is redirected to your competitors. Think about it, not only have you lost your website value of £X000, but you'll also have to change business cards, commercial email addresses, all supporting collateral, online listings and wherever else your web domain appears; in addition, if registered by the wrong people (a competitor for example), you face losing business income via your own domain. Sound unlikely? Believe it or not, earlier this year, Italy's biggest Broadcaster Mediaset (equivalent to the BBC) forgot to renew their domain and they lost it to a company selling 'mediasets'. The WIPO then ruled that the new registrar had won the domain fair and square and gets to keep it - millions of pounds worth of brand damage for the broadcaster! Want to know more, you can read about this incident here...
- Lacking the right security - Take another example; imagine that in the current climate you unfortunately have to make someone redundant? Fine - you deal with it, go through the process of clearing relevant information and protecting the company; but what happens if your employee has access to your domain details? About three years ago, we had a client who were in this position - they made someone redundant and said ex-employee took down the existing website which ranked high on the domains and replaced it with a similar looking website that spouted negative information about the brand. After seeking legal advice, the company was told they could do nothing about it and would simply have to ride it out - three years on and the negative website still exists, however in addition to the immediate costs, said company has been forced to spend thousands on search engine optimisation and brand building exercises to overcome the issues.
- Third party registrations - Imagine you've launched a company, or rebranded an existing one and you built a website to get everything off the ground. You've met a really great developer who's been responsible for the design, build and launch of your website and at the same time has registered your domain on your behalf. Now the big question is, did they register it in your name or their's? If you are not the registered owner of your domain then you are not the official owner and in any dispute situation you would struggle to get your domain back. Ever thought about that? What happens if your web developer closes the company, or goes bankrupt, or your relationship breaks down? If they have official ownership, you may never get it back! Think of the implications of that on your company!
I've got all that sorted, what else should I remember?
As well as being a key asset for your business in terms of value and potential, there are an additional number of things you should remember to do:
- Register your supporting domain suffixes - as well as your standard .com and .co.uk domains, think about where else you are planning to export to, or expand into globally - are you going to need a Spanish domain or a Norwegian one? Now, some of them cannot be registered by companies based abroad, but some are readily available in the public domain. If you have a globally-recognised brand, it's worth registering all the suffixes, even if you're not going to use them. In addition, don't forget to register the .xxx domains, along with all the relevant public gTLDs coming online to make sure you're not associated with the wrong content. Not sure of the relevance? Think Richard Branson earlier this year...
- Campaign domains - if you are running a major brand marketing campaign, make sure you've registered associated domains. It might sound extreme, but this ensures that a) people don't ride on your successes, b) jump on potential failures, or c) exploit potentially controversial content. Think Shell last month, with their attack by Greenpeace...
- Cybersquatting/typosquatting - A disturbing yet rising trend in the digital age is cybersquatting and typosquatting. The former involves targetting your website users with inappropriate content via your domain and the latter involves registering a similar domain (usually with a spelling mistake) to host unrelated or competing content. Having domain ownership helps to combat cybersquatting as you will be more aware of changes and both problems can be limited/mitigated by registering similar or related domains.
As well as being practical, we are also realistic; we get that you may have neither the time nor the budget to register endless domains, BUT, we hope this article has also highlighted some of the key problems and potential pitfalls of domain registration. In addition, we hope it has made you appreciate the value of your domain to your marketing campaigns and as an asset to the business. Make sure that whatever you do, you take an action over the next two weeks to identify who owns your domain, where the details are kept and whether you have the right domains on your books. Also take time to consider what activities you have now and in the future and whether you need to take steps to protect your reputation.
Domains can be registered with or transferred to Frank Domains who helped compile this advice.
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