Nowadays the internet dominates all other marketing platforms and because of this, domain ownership has become somewhat of a big deal. However, what happens when a competitor or someone that dislikes your brand gets ownership of your domain or a very similar domain to yours. Sometimes people do this with the intention of selling the domain back to the original owner for a much larger fee, which is called cybersquatting. On the other hand, people have done this as a way to gain an edge on the competition or someone they just don’t like. The most recent example of this revolves around many of the 2016 presidential candidates. According to Internet archives machine cleverly titled, the Wayback, shows the domain name jebbush.com being forwarded to DonaldTrump.com as early as December 2015. However, Trumps campaign spokesperson, Hope Hicks denies any involvement on behalf of the Trump campaign. You will also find plenty of other catchy domains dedicated to mocking the other presidential candidates were purchased beforehand by humorous culprits to prepare for the onslaught of smear campaigns nationwide.
Holding a domain hostage has become a black hat priority for some business owners because it a seemingly cheap investment at first. However, the cost adds up quickly depending on how many domains you buy and specifically, how long you purchase them for. Here are some Time Saver tips to avoid becoming a domain victim. For those of you that have already fallen victim to cybersquatting, these tips can help you dominate your brand with smarter domain choices.
Brainstorm the top 5, 10, or 20 domains that you do not want on the internet and buy them all up.
Not every domain need to be registered but make sure you are targeting the names that matter when it comes to increasing your visibility on popular search engines and reducing your risk of potential ridicule
New domains are the cheapest initially so try and purchase them for at least two years and well before you need to use them.
If the domain name isn’t that harmful to your reputation or if it’s a competitor’s domain, you might as well not let it go to waste. Forward it to either your website, social media pages, or a landing page you created specifically for that domain.
Don’t forget about the little guys, like .NET,.ORG,.BIZ, etc. because even though .COM is the most popular; it doesn’t hurt to buy the rest of the embarrassing or lucrative variations.
If you are unsure of where to buy domains at, GoDaddy is a popular choice because they are constantly running deals for new customers and always have coupons for existing customers as well. If you find that your brand is being tarnished by some unwanted domains, reviews, or publicity; give Time Savers a call today so we can help revamp your online identity.