Domain Name Information

Protect Your Domain Name or Risk Losing It


Your domain name is an important part of your brand and identity. Losing it could be disastrous! Yet, month over month we see people lose their domain name, either because they ignore or forget to renew them, or do not keep their contact information - especially their email address - current and up to date.

A whole new industry has been created out of lost and neglected domain names. It is now common place for an expired domain name to be snagged the moment it is released back to the 'available' pool. These poachers will grab any domain name that has a decent search engine ranking and forward it to anything from a competitors web site, to a pay per click advertising site. They are hoping to have you pay a big ransom to get your domain name back or to capitalize on the residual traffic left over by your domain name's high search engine ranking.

There are steps you can take to protect yourself from these tactics:

  • Activate the 'Domain Lock' feature with your registrar. This prevents changes in contact info, DNS servers and most importantly, blocks transfer away requests that could be sent by a poacher trying to steal your domain name
  • Keep your contact information, especially your email address current and up to date. Be sure to white list the domain name of your registrar so renewal and other important email notices don't get caught in your Spam filters. If you are worried about listing your email address in the public Whois database, ask your Registration provider about Whois Privacy Service
  • Most registrars send out occasional Whois Confirmation emails to domain owners, giving them the opportunity to double check and correct any invalid or outdated information. Do Not ignore these emails, double check the information and correct any errors
  • Be on the lookout for fraudulent renewal notices that arrive both in email and especially by regular paper mail. There are a few companies sending very officially looking paper mail renewal notices that look very much like invoices. They are not! They are carefully crafted marketing documents designed to fool an accounts payable clerk into thinking its a bill that has to be paid!

Your domain name registration provider should be more than a domain name clearing house. They should help you manage your domain name with locking and privacy solutions and most of all, help you protect your name and brand, the one you worked so hard to create. Talk to your domain name registration provider to be sure you have done everything you can to protect yourself today!

About the Author: Robert Schwartz has helped thousands secure and manage their Internet identity and is President of LaneChange.net a Total Domain Management solutions provider. Find out more at http://www.LaneChange.net


MORE RESOURCES:

1&1 Giving Away 25 Free .Biz Domain Names
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1&1 is known for its cut rate pricing on domain names including $6.99 pricing on most major extensions including .com. The company makes its money from web ...


168 million domain names
DaniWeb, VA - Sep 4, 2008
Country code top level domains were also up, 27 percent when viewed as a year on year figure to a total of 65 million domain names. If you break the domain ...


BBC News

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As for other Google Chrome domain names, all other extensions were snapped up yesterday and this morning. .Net, .org, and .info have privacy protection ...
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Domain Names The Secret Sales Weapon
AddPR.com (press release), TX - Sep 3, 2008
This would be hard for me says Scott Alliy a dedicated Internet professional and owner of several hundred websites and domain names since we do not have a ...


Baidu Europe Puts Brand and Domain Names up for Sale
ITNews, Italy - Sep 3, 2008
As well as the brand name Baidu, the domain names for sale include baidu.eu, baidu.tv, baidu.nl and baidu.be. Managing Director P. Ufkes of Baidu Europe is ...


Nominet registers over 7 million .uk domain names
Telecom Paper (subscription), Netherlands - Aug 29, 2008
UK domain name registry Nominet has announced that there are now over 7 million .uk domain names, with one million .uk domain names added since July 2007. ...


Sometimes a Scare Reminds You to Renew Domain Names
Domain Name Wire, TX - Sep 2, 2008
I’m pretty good about renewing my domain names. I’ve never lost a domain through expiration on accident. But I have a number of domain names coming up for ...


.com domain names now HALF PRICE from Daily.co.uk
PRarticle.com (press release), Canada - Sep 2, 2008
London, UK, United Kingdom (PRarticle.com) - Daily.co.uk, the UK domain name and web hosting provider, today announces a half price .com domains Summer ...


Bakler Domain Auction: 10 Thousands Exclusive Domain Names Sold
Domain informer, IL - Sep 1, 2008
With its large portfolio of exclusive most desired domain names and easy-to-use services powered by the ROVE Digital (http://www.rovedigital.com) ...


JIPO moves to block sale by US-based company of athletes' domain names
Jamaica Observer, Jamaica - Aug 24, 2008
Domain names of Jamaican gold medal Olympians are being pedalled on the Internet and the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office JIPO - the government ...

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