How Domain Names Help Protect Your Brand

Protecting your brand can be a complex and long-term process. If you already have a registered domain name with an active website, your brand is likely crucial to you. While there are legal procedures to ensure the protection of your brand, they may not cover all cases, and not everyone can afford to support them financially. That's why today we will explore how you can use domain names to fortify your brand.

Register Various Variations of Your Domain Name

Merely owning a domain name does not mean you have "locked down" your brand. Anyone can register your name with one of the 500+ available extensions. There are significant reasons why every domain owner should register variations of their domain name. We will discuss three main ways you can use this practice:

Defense Against Potential Competitors

By "defense," we mean registering domain names that potential competitors might target in the future. A piece of advice we always give to brands with ambitions to expand into different countries is to register their name in the local extensions of the countries they are targeting. This prevents competitors from registering your brand's name for their use.

Another scenario involves brands whose domain name includes one of the core services or products they offer. Such domain names are easy targets for competitors and others to use in various variations. Registering multiple domain names related to your brand is the best prevention.

Useful "Combo" Brand + Product

A common brand protection tactic, with additional promotional purposes, is to register domain names that include your brand and one of your products or services.

For example, if you have an e-shop and a significant portion of your sales come from jeans, a good tactic would be to register a domain name that combines your name with the word "jeans." You can apply the same strategy to other products or services you offer.

Lock Down Your Domain Name

A fundamental yet crucial function in domain names is Domain Locking. It ensures that your domain name cannot be transferred without your permission. This can prevent various situations, and domain locking is active by default for .com, .net, and .org domain names but not available for .gr and .eu extensions.

Proper Management of Your Domain Names

Proper management is more complex than it sounds. Assuming you follow the tactic of registering multiple domain names for your brand, you must find a way to manage them effectively. You should be able to easily make the redirects you want, activate functions like Domain Locking, and receive timely notifications about their expiration. That's why it's essential to choose a registrar with a user-friendly management environment.

In Summary

Whether you are starting a new business or already have a domain name, we hope this article has provided you with tools to build a shield for your brand, using the capabilities provided by domain names.