Average Reading Time: 3 Minutes
Your business’ domain name is the most prominent part of your digital presence, and is just as important as your logo or name in terms of company branding.
Your domain name is the first piece of branding that potential clients will see when interacting with your business online, and it significantly impacts organic search ranking.
Given the crucial role your domain plays in your business’ identity, there are some key steps you must take to protect it.
In this month’s Vortex Marketing Blog, we will review guidelines to ensure that you stay in control of your domain and keep it safe from hackers.
What Can Happen If You Lose Control of Your Domain?
Why is it important to protect your domain? As your domain is how users find your business online, if you lose control of it for any reason (which we will cover further in the article), the new controllers will then be able to cease delivery of your email, take down your website, interfere with your marketing funnel, your rankings, your eCommerce business, contact form communications and more!
These ramifications sound scary, but there are some simple guidelines you can follow to ensure this never happens!
Figure Out Where Your Domain is Registered
The first step is to figure out where your domain is registered. If you have an IT company that manages your website and email, they will know where this is. If you personally manage your business’ online resources, you can easily find this information, too.
Some of the most common domain registrars are GoDaddy, HostGator, Google Domains, Enom, BlueHost, and Network Solutions. If any of these websites look familiar, you can try logging in to their client portals to manage your account.
If you are unsure, you can perform a WHOIS lookup on your website. Simply visit https://whois.domaintools.com/ and enter your domain. Under the registrar section, it will tell you where the domain is registered and when the domain name is up for renewal.
Keep Track of When It Expires
Once you know where your domain is registered, you can keep track of when it expires and how to re