7 Things you Must Do to Protect Your Website Domain Name

By Linda Laforge-Koebel

Most of us worry about giving out our personal information while making an online purchase on someone else's website. As business owners with our own websites there are a lot of issues we often aren't being warned about. If you follow these 7 tips, you and your website will be a lot safer.

1. Who is listed as the owner of your domain name? You or your organization should always be listed as the organization and administrative contact. If possible, the business owner or a senior executive should be listed as the administrative contact.

When registering corporate domain names, make sure that the company name is listed as the owner of your domain. Do not allow an outside web site designer or host to be listed as either the domain owner or administrative contact. That gives them ownership and control over your site - not you.

If your web designer or host discontinues service, or your administrative employee leaves, you've lost control of the most important element of your website - it's address.

2. Be careful when using free e-mail addresses from services like Hotmail. Many free email services will automatically suspend or delete your email account if you do not log in frequently enough. Once your email account is deleted, a domain hijacker can sign up for your same email address and use it to give permission to transfer your domains away from you.

If possible, avoid using a free email address on your domain records. If you have no other option you may want to consider paying to upgrade your account to exempt you from their 30 day inactivity policy.

3. Place a registrar lock on your domain. This will lock your domain record at the registry level and prevent it from being transferred, modified or deleted by a third party. This feature is very helpful in protecting your name against unauthorized transfers and hijacking.

If your registrar does not offer this feature, consider transferring your domains to one who does. Since a 'registrar lock' can also make it more difficult for you to transfer away from a registrar, you should look for a registrar that gives you the ability to automatically unlock your domain names at any time without having to call or e-mail them.

4. Do not reply (or click on any links) in any domain related e-mail correspondence you do not recognize. Also be careful not to reply to any 'official looking' renewal notices you receive in the mail from companies you don't recognize. Domain hijackers and unscrupulous registrars have been known to submit mass amounts of transfers hoping that a small percentage of confused registrants will accidentally confirm the transfers.

As an example, Ebay or Paypal will never send you an email asking you to update your information immediately to avoid being removed. I get emails like this all the time. I always hover my mouse over the link to see where it will actually link to. It may say "www.PayPal.com/cgi-bin/etc.php" but if when you actually go to the site and see something like "www.169.13.32.12/paypal/grab_info.php" then it ain't from PayPal. If you are going to risk giving your information out, check the URL in the address bar before giving it all away.
When in doubt, contact your original registrar to verify any suspicious messages.

5. Consider renewing your domain name early and for a longer amount of time. If your domain name is critical to your business and is one you will want for years to come, consider renewing your domain registration in three or five year increments. This will avoid yearly registration hassles and prevent your domain from accidentally expiring.

6. Add your registrar's domain name to your spam filter's approved sender list. If you (or your ISP) are using a spam blocking service, you run the risk of not receiving domain renewal notices from your registrar if they are incorrectly categorized. You can prevent this from occuring by adding your registrar to your list of 'approved senders'. This will automatically bypass any filtering and ensure that all renewal notices make it straight to your inbox.

7. If you have more than one domain, consider consolidating your names with a registrar who offers domain portfolio management features. This will allow you to use one master account to see all of your domain names (and their expiration dates) at a glance, as well as make changes to all of your domains at once. Some registrars are now offering free options such as automatic expiration date tracking and auto-renewal as additional safeguards.

Summary
There are a number of common mistakes which cause people to lose or have problems with their domains. Being aware of these mistakes and taking the proper precautions can greatly increase the security of your domains. Most importantly, keep your domain information up to date and consider consolidating your names with a registrar that provides the tools you need to securely manage and protect your domain names.

Linda Laforge-Koebel is an advertising professional dedicated to the business success of her clients. To see her portfolio and find more resources visit her at: http://www.CreativeEngineer.com or contact her by email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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