As a business owner or consultant, you inevitably conducted a domain name search at least once in your life. Remember that time when you registered one or more .com, .org, or .net addresses for the website(s) where you have been showcasing your products and services? That was it.
Now it might seem there is little more to get from keeping an eye on the domain space and check which names remain available, get taken, or are free again for registration.
Yet there are various reasons why this information could be useful — from navigating the tricky and risk-infested corners of the world wide web to monitoring your competition to preparing your next marketing move.
This post explores that point further looking at the top ways domain name searches can support small and growing businesses.
1. Choose the right name for your next idea
When the time comes to launching another business or rebranding, picking a good domain name can really give an edge.
Doing so helps avoid bad or undesirable connotations, it makes it easier to build a good reputation, marketing campaigns have a better chance of being successful, etc.
But select the wrong name, and you may soon find yourself at a disadvantage on all these fronts.
With domain search, besides checking for the availability of web addresses, you can build a list of current and previously existing names which sound similar and may mislead customers as they look for you online.
For instance, perhaps the name you have in mind was registered before, and your target market may still associate it to its previous intended meanings and related products and services. Or it could contain terms or expressions specific to another industry, thereby sending the wrong signal about your venture.
2. Detect when well-known organizations have been spoofed
Cybercriminals love to impersonate big brands and established businesses that inspire trust and prompt compliance. So their trick is registering domain names that are almost identical and use those to execute phishing attacks.
Lulled into a small sense of security, targets are prone to disclose sensitive information — e.g., answering emails, downloading malicious attachments, filling out forms on forged websites, etc. — since sources seem as legitimate as they could be.
Domain search can foil this kind of attack by letting you keep track of newly purchased names that are dangerously close to that of reputable organizations.
With that information, you can take action like warning your staff or preventively blacklisting suspicious addresses on your server — that way making sure messages from corresponding senders do not reach your employees’ inboxes.
- Detect fraudsters pretending to be your business partners
Relying on the same techniques (i.e., fraudulent domain registration, website forgery, email spoofing), scammers may also aim to pose as the people with whom you do business every day — most notably your customers and suppliers.
That type of scam is in essence very similar to the impersonation of well-known organizations, except that it’s even more likely to slip under the radar since malefactors appear to be long-term collaborators.
Consequences in that case can also go beyond data loss. Impostors may ask to switch a vendor’s bank account with theirs and receive funds when future invoices are paid. Or they may pass a large order to be delivered in another location and get it billed to the client whom they are faking the identity.
Here again, it’s possible to prevent these frauds by monitoring for close domain name variations. Besides, you can use domain name searches to check dates of registration. Chances are that crooked web addresses are new — unlike the commercial relationship with your business partners.
- Detect when someone is impersonating your business
Falling victim to impersonators is bad enough, but being impersonated can be much worse. Cybercriminals might also take steps to forge your business identity with variations of your domain name, look credible as they engage with your business collaborators, and convince them to proceed with dubious requests.
As a result of that social engineering attack, customers may disclose personal information including their names, physical address, user credentials, and credit card number. Or vendors may share details about your past purchases, commercial agreements, intellectual property, and trade secrets.
All of this usually happens silently until people eventually realize that they have been dubbed. Depending on the extent of the fraud, victims may reach out to tell that something is not right and discuss how to fix it or ask for compensation should their data be at risk. Local media may also decide to step in and report the news, probably mentioning your business in an unflattering manner.
Domain name search is a way to find out early when someone is mimicking your web address, and it allows you to react quickly — e.g., alerting relevant stakeholders to pay extra attention to spoofed communications and working with authorities to investigate and help resolve the issue.
- Safeguard your brand against infringement
Some people may tarnish or leverage your name without your consent, even if they are not cybercriminals or don’t have malicious intentions.
For example, websites with a resembling URL may benefit from your business popularity or marketing efforts at your expense as online buyers possibly mistype your name and end up on another page.
Once there, visitors may get the wrong impression about your services and leave thinking you are not what they are looking for. Or they may pass an order anyway, believing they’re dealing with you or simply finding what they need on that other person’s website.
If you are the owner of a trademark, you shall be able to take legal actions to protect your reputation and brand. But you need to know about the situation first, and conducting domain name searches regularly is useful to spot infringers as soon as they emerge.
There is more to domain name search than checking whether web addresses are available. Small and growing businesses can learn a lot from old and new registrations as they launch new products, seek to protect themselves from cybercriminals, and identify situations where their brand and reputation might be at risk.
About the Author
Jonathan Zhang is the founder and CEO of Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP) and WhoisXMLAPI. He has vast experience in building tools, solutions, and systems for CIOs, security professionals, and third-party vendors and enjoys giving practical tips for better threat detection and prevention.