Domains are certainly not the lifeblood of a startup; there are a lot more important considerations. Just look at ebay.com or google.com, neither word being widespread as little as 15 years ago, and here they are, ruling their respective industries. Still, if you've got a chance to make it easy for your real-world clients to find you by your own name or some word that describes you well enough, go for it. It's a pity then, that you can make a few common mistakes in registering a domain that may cost you dearly. I want to highlight 3 steps to avoid getting your domain name nicked:

1. Always, ALWAYS use either your browser address bar or whois.org to look up your chosen domain name. Every other site, including your favourite hosting company can and more often than not will snatch up a domain you looked up but didn't buy right away. If you do not want to end up paying big bucks for a domain you came up with, always go with a neutral service to check first. Only involve service providers once you're sure you want a particular domain name.

2. Never, EVER, negotiate with domain squatters for your domain. If the domain you wanted is taken by somebody who only registered it to sell it to somebody, they can ask prices in the thousands if you're willing to pay. Not only is that a waste of money as we established earlier, it also encourages said squatters to keep doing this. It is sad that our domain registration system allows this behaviour with little to no means of getting your domain name through courts, but we can always take consolation in the fact that squatters are paying a lot of money for a lot of domains nobody wants. Without going overboard with modifications (remember, people more often than not have to keep your domain in their memory until they get home), try to find a domain similar to the one you wanted. Follow #1 to find out if it's available.

3. Remember to renew your domain registration. By default, registrations need to be renewed on a regular basis or they will go back into the pool of domains open to anyone (some registrars automatically renew your domains). Since these domains usually have some amount of traffic, they become even more attractive to thieves, who will either post ads or offer you a ransom to buy it back. Again, DO NOT buy back your domains, you will only encourage squatters. Suck up the loss and register a new name. If you have built a business around the name and have registered it as a trademark, contact the issuing authority (most likely ICANN) and state your claim. This is unrelated to your previous ownership of the domain, you have to prove that the domain was registered in bad faith (i.e. in order to sell it again, for example to you), which it pretty much always is. If you have registered the domain, earning a living with it and not registered a trademark, you're out of luck.

Please, do not support squatters. Follow these simple steps and protect your domain.

Berthold Barth

Berthold is a design student in southern Germany. When he is not at school or his day job, he participates in the design community and works on side projects. His profound knowledge of technology, his experience both as an employee in several IT-related jobs as well in the company he ran until 2008 and the curiosity of a 3-year-old drive him to always give 100%. -> hire me!

Have your say:

No comments yet.

Add comment