Why efficient domain management is essential for brands
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Domains? Let’s take care of it later! Many agencies and brand managers still think so. A domain-first strategy can bring the decisive advantage here. Why good domain management is worth its weight in gold.
Whenever Elon Musk or his electric cars cause a stir, Ralf Schmaus notices it immediately. The owner of the small software company Tesla CRM in Neuss holds the domain Tesla.de. And on such days, his website traffic increases by 50,000 visits because users get lost who actually want to go to Tesla.com. Schmaus had already secured the domain in the 90s – and is happy about the additional traffic. He would only sell the domain for a seven-figure amount.
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Domain First!
InterNetX
With 30,000+ partners, InterNetX is the specialist for domains, hosting and encryption. With four million managed domains, InterNetX is one of Europe’s leading B2B providers for domain management solutions.
Tel: +49 (0) 941 59559-483
Tesla is just one example of an important statement in online business: Domain First! Establishing your own brand or that of a customer is a decisive competitive factor. And whichever path an effective branding takes, the domain portfolio and domain management should have top priority. Because the domains can not only (subconsciously) define the associated brand and contribute to the fact that the user assesses the brand as valuable and useful; Optimal domain management and a defensive registration policy also ensure that the brand presence is future-proof, scalable and resistant to free riders who want to benefit from the good name inappropriately.
The domain market itself is steadily expanding. Since the early days of the Internet, according to that Global Domain Report Over 366 million domains released for registration by InterNetX and Sedo. The probability that desired domains under the “classic TLDs” (top-level domains) such as .com or .net are already taken and can only be bought on domain marketplaces at higher prices is therefore relatively high. To the delight of agencies and brands, there are over 1,000 TLDs and an enormous number of others Domain variants ready.
Find, register and manage the right domains
Everything starts with the right domain: a successful online presence, a campaign, an event – everyone wants to be found on the web. Domains are important components here. Whether we like it or not: names work and are always subject to an unconscious evaluation. The domain name not only appears in the browser, but is also part of e-mail addresses and thus becomes a figurehead on the Internet.
Good domain administration or professional domain management ensures that the domain portfolio is built up and that it is accessible, protected and expandable for future purposes; such as a connected shop, a campaign or a new offer. It takes care of the re-registration and renewal of the domains and thus proactively protects the brand on the web. There are usually domains that are dormant for some time or never become active as a hidden reserve. All of this requires support from solid software and tools.
The domain market is constantly changing: a simple and clear domain administration is needed. (Image: Shutterstock / limeart)
Companies have long since ceased to be limited to .com, .info and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as .de, .at or .ch in their choice of domains. Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and new generic top-level domains (New gTLDs) are recorded according to the Global Domain Report by InterNetX and Sedo continuous, increased growth. No wonder, because when used cleverly, New gTLDs can support the branding effect. You are able to link a company with a region (.berlin), an industry (.app) or other issues (.gmbh). The possibilities for brands to position themselves well with domains have grown enormously – but with them the need to keep track of things.
Defensive domain registration: secure early and protect the brand
Brands with great potential in particular should secure the most relevant domain names early on in the branding process. In many cases, there is still a lack of knowledge about the relevance of domains and the various possibilities associated with them. Which domains are available? Which ones might be important for the business later? These are all basic questions that must be answered in order to register strategically important domains.
The longer you wait to secure brand-relevant domains, the more difficult and expensive it can be to get them. Players in the domain market can sooner or later secure the top domains and thus not only obstruct your ideal path, but also possibly benefit from the brand building you have done earlier. This can go as far as brand abuse or domain squatting, which presents brand protection with new tasks.
Specialized criminals target proper names, brands and trademarks, which they then sell for large sums together with TLDs that have not been secured by the actually legitimate owners. Or, for example, domains are prominently positioned within the major search engines in which a trustworthy brand is linked to a different TLD that the brand in question did not secure early on. There, the operators access fraudulently sensitive data from customers or target groups. Brands can then take action against them on the basis of omission and compensation, but the offenses are often discovered too late or not at all or the legal process takes a long time and is costly.
These dangers can be largely eliminated through defensive domain registration and professional domain management. Appropriate tools can help.
Good domain management needs an optimal tool. (Image: Shutterstock / Rawpixel)
Effective domain management with AutoDNS
There is no doubt: an efficient domain administration needs a tool with which domain owners have full control and overview at all times. As an expert with more than two decades of experience in the domain business, InterNetX advises its partners to use active and comprehensive domain management that bypasses all pitfalls and also enables brand and keyword monitoring. These principles have been manifested in an all-in-one solution. The Domain management platform AutoDNS allows all steps of a clever domain management service such as registering domains, booking TMCH services, executing renewals and transferring domains. InterNetX’s huge domain portfolio with one of the world’s largest offers of ccTLDs, gTLDs, New gTLDs, geoTLDs and cityTLDs is available to users. Brands can also scan the root zones for abusive domain registrations and thus act proactively. AutoDNS thus serves the needs of agencies and companies as well as resellers, web hosts and registrars.
Manage domains cleverly now. With efficient domain management, brand appearances become better and more secure.
Become a domain professional with AutoDNS
