Domain Management Crucial for Thriving E-commerce

In this text, we discuss why a domain strategy and proper management are crucial if you manage an online store. We also provide you with some useful advice on things to take into consideration.

Domain names are among the most business-critical assets of an e-commerce company. Not seldom is the domain name itself the actual brand – what the customers associate with the company. And, if the domain name does not work, then neither does the website nor the email. Sales come to a halt. In other words, domain name management is crucial for business.

Additionally, with our lives becoming more and more digitalized, customer experience and brand strength have become key factors for success. They become important distinguishing factors in a constantly hardening global competition. Because of that, the domain names are also an important strategic issue.

Digital infringement is on the rise. Fake domains, pirate sites, cyber- and typosquatting, domain theft, fake news, email fraud, and so on.  According to a report published by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), the number of domain name disputes increased by 12% during 2018. These levels are record high.

Through monitoring and ensuring a both appropriate and cost-efficient holding on the right markets, an intelligent domain name strategy helps you build and protect your brand digitally, so that your company can focus on developing and pushing your business forwards.

And what´s more – a good domain strategy helps you with SEO, and reaching coveted rankings for important search terms on Google.

On the other hand, the alternative – not having a good strategy nor management – can lead to devastating consequences. Losing your domain name, along with the homepage and the email linked to it, is absolutely business critical and cannot be allowed to happen under any circumstances. Usually, this is something that can be resolved within a matter of days. But, if you are without a good domain strategy and management, you run the risk of someone “re-registering” or registering a similar version of your domain – publishing a fake homepage or email through your brand to trick your customers – which in turn causes massive damage to your reputation and the trust put in you. This could result in severe and longterm consequences for your business.

Some advice for you as an online retailer. Of course, at Dotkeeper, we can help you with everything listed below.

1. Make sure that your domain managament is secure, ensuring both renewals and administration. “That won’t happen to me” is a dangerous way of thinking. We often encounter companies that have lost their domain name due to inadequate management.
2. Do not put one person to oversee domain management, hire a company with a liability insurance and secure processes, guaranteeing that your domain names are renewed.
3. Think long-term when registering your domain names. Many local markets prefer their own local top level domain. Keeping your online store in different languages under local domain endings is also something that could help you to a good search engine indexing with Google. Keep in mind that having the trademark right does not guarantee the right to the domain name, as they are essentially registered through a first-come-first-serve principle. Often, the cost for registering immediately is very low, as opposed to later having to act reactively and buy out domains. Some local top level domain endings are furthermore very complex to claim legal right over. If you become the victim of infringement, the process is expensive and easy to get lost in.
4. Use a monitoring service that catches the domain names that are registered and that have links to your brand, both exact and confusable versions. A strategic domain partner can monitor and review the hits for you as well as determine if you need to act.
5. Make sure to have an SSL Certificate on your website, and make sure it is renewed. Through an SSL Certificate, you can ensure that no-one is listening in on you or hijacking the sensitive information your customers leave on your website. For an online store, it is crucial that visitors are not met with “not secure” upon reaching the site.

Do you want to know more about how we can help your e-commerce business thrive?

Contact us and we will help you.