Domain Names are Not Just for IT

Early in the lifecycle of the Web, domain names were the responsibility of technology teams because they served primarily a functional role – providing a common-name alternative to IP addresses that non-technology folks would understand.  Domain names were used in marketing, but primarily via word of mouth so IT could tell the rest of the world how to access a company's Web site (back when there was no Google to help).

Today, the role of domain names is so much different, although not all companies realize that times have changed.  Businesses, brands, products and people have their own Web sites, and often those sites are the first point of contact with potential customers, employees, partners and vendors.  The domain name has become an essential part of marketing and corporate identity – it has a place on business cards, letterhead, advertising and virtually all communication going out that represents the business.

So the role of the domain name has been elevated, but along with that must come its protection.  Domain name piracy and hijacking are prevalent, as is the registration of alternative versions and misspellings of domain names by others on the Web to divert traffic to their Web sites rather than yours.  Thus domain names now must be an important consideration for companies because a hijacked or pirated domain name can result in lost business and damage to the company's brand.

Companies today need a domain name strategy rather than simply one domain name to represent the business, products and services they offer.  Developing a domain name strategy includes asking questions like these, many of which come about after not doing things the right way.

• Do we own the .net version of our primary domain name?  How about the .biz version?  If not, who does and what are they doing with it?
• For companies with offices or business outside the United States, have we registered our primary domain name with the local country code extensions, such as .co.uk?
• Are there common misspellings of our company name or domain name, and have they been properly registered?
• What does our domain name sound like when said over the phone, or read from an advertisement?  Does it allow for easy word of mouth marketing (ever tried to pronounce a dash?), or is it easy for people to misspell the domain name in those situations?
• After our company name is protected, what about our product names and other sub-brands?

A company that does a stellar job of applying a domain name strategy is Crate & Barrel (not our client), proving that domain name protection is not just for companies like Google, which does happen to own many domain name variations of its name and products.  Crate & Barrel recognizes that its name allows for many potential domain name variations, and does a great job of both protecting them and also redirecting them to its Web site, allowing customers to fee smart even if they spelled "barrel" wrong.

Check out this list:

• www.cratebarel.com
• www.cratebarell.com
• www.cratebarrel.com
• www.cratebarrell.com
• www.crateandbarel.com
• www.crateandbarell.com
• www.crateandbarrel.com  (primary domain name)
• www.crateandbarrell.com
• www.crate-barrel.com
• And on and on…

Sure, Crate & Barrel only really needs one domain name from a functional, technical perspective, but the list above protects the company from potential brand degradation and lost sales, as well as its customers from ending up on the wrong site or seeing error messages.  The cost of a domain name strategy is worth preventing those things, a wise investment in both marketing and IT.