So you’ve started your business, come up with a name your clients will remember, sorted out your website and you’re ready to go. Chances are you’ve gone with a .co.uk or .com domain – they’re the most well known and easiest for potential customers to find. The others aren’t important just now, are they? Well, actually they are. Here’s why you should register more than one domain name.
Cyber squatters
Cyber squatters are people who buy variants of existing domain names, purely to make money. Say you’ve bought yourbusiness.co.uk and nothing else. A cyber squatter can purchase yourbusiness.com, yourbusiness.org etc and direct your potential clients to somewhere totally different. For your site (and therefore your business) to be successful, you need to gain as much traffic as possible so this could cause you real problems. The cyber squatter may demand you pay a lot of money to buy the domain from them, or may refuse to part with it at all. “Cease and desist” letters can be used to try and rectify the situation but, if this is ignored, you could be looking at a long and costly legal battle to protect your brand.
Competitors
Aside from cyber squatters, another problem you may face is competitors buying variants of your domain name. Again, a domain which reflects your business name but directs traffic somewhere different will affect your search engine rankings and potentially cost you a lot in lost business. “Cease and desist” can be used as mentioned above but the legal wrangling that could be necessary would be complex and expensive. A registered trademark may well be helpful in such a situation, but claiming the domain would still cost you both time and money.
Pre-existing Registration
You could also come across a situation where a similar domain name has already been registered by someone else. Unlike cyber squatters and competitors, this person hasn’t done it to impact on you or your business but just happens to have registered the same name web address.
Although this wasn’t done deliberately, it can cause you the same stress and problems as cyber squatters and competitor’s registrations can. With all this in mind, doesn’t it make sense to spend a bit extra at the start?
Avoid The Headaches!
All of these undesirable situations can be avoided by pre-emptively registering variants of the domain name you wish to use. While .co.uk and .com are the immediately obvious ones, also look into those relating to places you intend to do business. Covering yourself against domain name problems will also mean you can maximise your search engine rankings, avoid lost traffic and ultimately gain more revenue for your business – after all, that’s why you’re doing it in the first place.
We hope this post has clarified the importance of buying more than one domain name. Remember, Easyspace are currently offering great deals on a variety of domain extensions which you can take advantage of, and our Sales team would be happy to talk you through the options.
For detailed information visit the special domain name offers pages or call sales team on 0370 755 5088.
