One question which comes up frequently is, “Should I buy all of the extensions of my domain name?” This is a common question because sites which sell domain names will often try to get you to purchase every version.
Top-level domain (TLD) extensions
Should you buy al your domain extensions?
One question which comes up frequently is, “Should I buy all of the extensions of my domain name?” This is a common question because sites which sell domain names will often try to get you to purchase every version.
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Pro:
Protect your brand
By purchasing all of the domain extensions you ensure that no one can have a domain name that matches yours. Why is this important? Well, if someday you develop very strong brand strength and someone searches for your brand there is a good chance that not only your .com extension will come up, but also that a .biz, .net, etc., extension will come up. Now, of course, this means that someone would have to create a site surrounding your brand name. And they really can’t do this if they are in the same industry as you, unless you OK it – for instance an affiliate may be able to sell under an extension. If they are in another industry, they can absolutely use the domain to promote their company. They can also use the domain to write reviews/blogs on you. Also, if it is a non-branded keyword based domain all bets are off.
What’s your budget?
If your website is for your personal blog or your freelance business, then the expense of buying a lot of domain names can quickly add up. If you’re spending around $15 per domain name, buying ten more can be a significant expense that many people do not want to take on.
On the other hand, for a business that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on salaries, advertising and a myriad of other expenses, a few dozen domain names is inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. If the cost of extra domain names isn’t something that you even need to think about then you might as well play it safe and register all domain name extensions and the misspelled domain names.
Pro:
Protect your customers
Phishing scams have brought in serious concerns as hackers use it to steal information by diverting users to malicious websites. Phishing scams use attractive advertisements as a bait which is too good to believe, while the users get tricked into clicking such advertisement links and get directed to the malicious websites.
With curiosity gushing in, most of us click on the malicious link or attachment, later to realize that the mail containing the link/attachment is a scam. The result of which would be giving away information to the malware author and hence loss of data, or it might be used to find security vulnerabilities of the software in the computer, for the software authors to install virus without our consent.
The most common of all is using a fake website. Hackers use robust methods to steal the code of the original page so as to make the fake site resemble the same. By this way when any of us try and log in the genuine-looking malicious website, the hacker gain access to all the login information and there we go with our credit in jeopardy. They copy a website to the exact same domain but with a different top-level domain. This way people believe that they are actually on your website.
Another dangerous phishing scam is domain phishing. Domain phishing is a scam to trick email recipients into handing over their account details via links in emails posing as their registrar. The links forward unsuspecting domain owners to dodgy replica registrar websites looking to obtain sensitive information such a domain account’s username and password. Be vigilant with emails to prevent falling prey to phishing.
Con:
You Pay Extra
One of the main cons of purchasing all of these domain name extensions is that you spend a sometimes seemingly wasteful amount of money, and no one likes to feel like they are wasting money. For a small business whose brand is not recognized yet, operating on a tight budget, sometimes it does not make sense to purchase all of these domain extensions immediately. Quite simply, the cost outweighs any real benefit, especially early on in the online startup process.
If the cost of extra domain names isn’t something that you even need to think about then you might as well play it safe and register all the different domain names.
Bottem line
Conclusion
There are certain domains that really make no sense at all to hold on to. For instance, if you are an online company operating only in the US, you probably do not need a .cc extension, Cocos (Keeling) Islands. To see a full list of domain extensions and what they represent you can visit Wikipedia. Ultimately, a .com is still the strongest domain. If you believe your branding to be a big part of your marketing, you’ll probably want to at least buy the .net and info extensions of your domain name as well. Maybe even the .biz. In addition, if your domain is keyword based, www.buyshoes.com, that may have implications. Finally, if you are interested in online reputation management, owning all of the domain extensions can be a very powerful asset, as they allow you to develop sites and get them ranked for your branded terms. While the Internet is becoming more tightly regulated, in some areas it is still very much the wild west. By owning your extensions, you have more control over your brand online and that is a good thing.