By Aman Masjide
Purchasing a domain name is a simple process, right? Just find the one that you like (and is available) and bam! Make the payment and it’s yours.
Well, it’s not that simple actually. Here are 8 critical aspects that every business owner, blogger, web developer, or anyone who wants to buy a domain name should consider when they register (and own) a domain name:
1. Know your registrar
It is advisable to ensure that you acquire your domain name from one of ICANN’s accredited registrars only. You can make a domain name acquisition through a reseller; however, resellers are bound by their agreements with the registrars whose services they sell and are not accredited by ICANN. Furthermore, you can perform a WHOIS search to look for the registrar of your domain name and contact them in case of any issues.
2. Read your domain registration agreement
You must read the domain registration agreement carefully to know the usage policies and other terms and conditions of the transaction. The domain registration agreement will indicate your rights and responsibilities and mention the services offered by the registrar, dispute handling policies, and so on. Clear any doubts that you may have by reading it. It will also help you avoid miscommunications that may result in suspension of your domain name.
3. Know your rights
ICANN has published a dedicated page on their website that houses the rights of registrants. As a domain owner, it is imperative for you to know your rights and to acquaint yourself with certain technical terms that will help you better understand the domain registration agreement. For this, ICANN has included vital domain educational materials for you on their website. In case of ccTLDs (country code domain extensions such as .US, .UK, .PW etc), you may want to refer to the ccTLD registry website.
4. Provide accurate information
When registering a domain name, it is advisable to provide correct registrant information. This is important to avoid any verification issues that may crop up later and result in the interruption of your registration services.
5. Opt for privacy protection
Opt for privacy protection services to mask your registrant information to avoid being a victim of spam. Most registrars charge for this service; and we advise investing in it to protect your information from being circulated among spam sites.
6.Renew your domain name on time
It’s a smart decision to renew your domain name on time, not just from a brand protection stand-point but to avoid high domain restoration costs. Terms and conditions regarding the domain renewal policies, prices and deletion policies are covered in the domain registration agreement. For better understanding about domain name renewal, visit ICANN’s domain renewal page.
7.Watch out for any notices you receive from your registrar
When it comes to domain registration, keep an eye out for any notices that you may receive from your registrar. These notices may include renewal reminders, domain authorization codes for domain transfer, verification notifications, suspension warnings, deletion announcements, and so on.
8.Retain the access of the domain management panel
If you have assigned the duty of registering a domain name to a third party on your behalf, remember to retain the domain management panel access with yourself to avoid being a victim of domain hijacking. You can check if your information is accurately associated with your domain name by performing a Whois search either on the Registrar’s website or any third party Whois search provider.
With these checks in place, you can keep your domain name safe; and secure your website and privacy on multiple levels.
Aman Masjide leads Compliance and Abuse Mitigation at Radix. Aman has over 12 years of experience in launching projects and processes dedicated towards online security in the web services space. Some of the brand portfolios Aman has managed for compliance and abuse are Bigrock, ResellerClub, LogicBoxes, Hostgator India and BlueHost India.
In his spare time, Aman can be found devouring multiverse story lines from the DC universe or annihilating opponents in multiplayer battles on his PlayStation console.
This post was originally published on Radix’s Medium blog.
