Keeping your domain name safe is one of the aspects of business design that people often neglect.
While they are aware that they can run into problems if their domain name gets jeopardized, few go through the trouble of actually ensuring its safety.
We are here to show you that to keep your domain name secure, you need not do much. You’ll likely be surprised at how straightforward the whole process is.
How to keep your domain name secure?
Your domain name is, arguably, the most valuable aspect of your company. If God forbid, someone gets a hold of your domain name, they can completely ruin your online presence and make your marketing essentially impossible. Hackers can even keep your domain names hostage until a company pays up a substantial sum.
So, you’d be wise to take the following steps and ensure that your domain name is well and good. If you did your job right and found the right type of web hosting for your business, it’s only wise to follow it up with a secure domain name.
1. Assign ownership to a corporate entity
If you are the sole owner of your company, you can register the domain name to you. You need to assign the ownership to your company in any other scenario.
If you share the ownership with another person, they have the legal president to take the domain name with them. While this may seem unlikely, know that multiple companies have closed down simply because partners separated.
And, just like a marriage prenup, you want to have legal leeway to save what can be saved if things go sour. A website with good traffic value isn’t something people are happy to part with.
2. Use a trustworthy register
When choosing a domain name, you should first consider where you are registering. Not all domain registrars are reliable enough for corporate entities. So, if you plan on placing much value in your domain name, make sure that you start on the right foot. Find a registrar with a good reputation related to successful companies.
Once you find a good registrar, make sure to lock your domain name in their system. Only by doing so can you rest assured that no one else can claim your domain name or that it will get transferred to someone else.
3. Opt for a strong password
Your password will play a big role in your domain’s vulnerability to cyberattacks and your website’s risk factor. Your child’s name, the date of birth, the name of your city, etc., are all weak passwords. Keep in mind weak password can be cracked within a couple of hours. While a strong password can take years if it is even possible to crack. Therefore, it is well worth your time to avoid opting for a “password” as a password.
When you choose your password, use capital letters, numbers, symbols, and lowercase. Combining these is all you need to do to make your password strong. If you are worried about remembering your password, write it down on a piece of paper. Saving it on your computer is not a good idea.
4. Register your domain name and variations
If you are serious about your online marketing, you will likely realize how important choosing a good domain name is. Your whole online presence will be built around it. Therefore, once you make the right choice, it is paramount that you also register variations of your domain name.
Only by doing so will you have complete control of your online presence. If people were trying to hurt you, they could quickly get a hold of variations of your domain name and swindle potential customers with false information. This not only hurts your revenue but also ruins your reputation.
5. Provide backup payment details and contact info
Having a domain name usually entails a monthly fee. While this sum doesn’t have to be substantial, you want to make sure and pay it each month. If for any reason, you skip one payment, your domain name will be up for grabs. So, once you register, make sure to provide backup payment details. If you run into any issues with your bank account, you won’t have to worry about losing your domain name.
By a similar token, you want to include the contact info of multiple people that you trust in your domain registration. If one of you loses a password, others can easily vouch for them. Know that people don’t have to be owners of the domain name to have their contact info associated with it.
6. Use a secure connection to access your domain name account
The last tip we have for you is to use a VPN when accessing your domain name account. While this may seem a bit overboard, know that you can hardly be too safe regarding internet safety. You get an extra layer of protection from both information theft and hacker attacks through a VPN. Therefore, using it is a good idea, even in your everyday online surfing.
Final thoughts
As you can see, there isn’t much you need to do to keep your domain name secure. A large part of safe internet use relies on incorporating smart habits and not being lazy with security. Besides what we’ve mentioned, you should also incorporate an antimalware/antivirus program into your computer, especially if you wish to run a dedicated server. By doing so, you will add another layer of protection, both to your domain name and to your computer in general.
If you have further safety concerns, you shouldn’t shy away from consulting with an experienced professional. Internet safety is a serious matter, and it is always better to be safe than sorry. So, if you are dealing with precious data, make sure that it remains safe and sound. Depending on your company’s situation, you might need to invest in a further safety system to keep both your domain and your company in check. If it means you get to keep your domain name secure, it is definitely worth it.