Domain Registration: Resources and Security

Domain – this is the main element of the company’s presence on the Internet. There are no problems with registering a domain in any regional or thematic zone, because domain registrar companies in the world, there are a huge number of them, of all different levels, statuses and price categories. They offer an exhaustive number of domains, domain zones, tariffs, additional services, so the main problem of domain registration is the choice. You should not forget about security, because in this business, there are many not only bona fide operators, but also crooks.

What is a domain

A domain (Figure 1) is a unique name that every Web site on the Internet has. It consists of letters, numbers, and symbols. The maximum length of a domain name is 255 characters, with a maximum of 63 characters between dots. The purpose of a domain is to find sites on the Internet. Theoretically, you can find sites by IP-address, but to remember the name of the domain is much easier, so everyone uses domains.

Image. 1

Consider the structure of a domain, for example, “http://www.google.com.ar”. In the name, “.” – the dot represents the separator, we can call it “zero level domain”. Next, “.ar” is the first level domain, in this case it is Argentina. There are no sites on the first level domain only. The second level domain is “com.ar” and the third level domain is “google.com. ar”. The top-level domains (TLD, top-level domain) are “.com”, “.net”, “.ru”, “.ua”. A subdomain or subdomain is part of a higher-level domain, for example, “razdvatri.com” – the domain, and a subdomain of “sport. razdvatri.com”. Strictly speaking, “razdvatri.com” is a subdomain, but it is listed as a domain. You need to know this, for example, when buying a domain name.

The domain zone is defined by second- and third-level domains. The domain zone can be thematic, for example, “.som” was originally intended for sites of commercial orientation, but now it is just the most popular domain. But there are purely topical domains, such as “florist.”, “game” and so on, and they should be chosen if the site has a clear thematic focus. There are about 1300 thematic domains to choose from. National domains (ccTLDs, country code top level domains) show which country the site belongs to, currently there are more than 300 national domains.

Domain zone is important in promotion. If, for example, .som is perceived positively in any jurisdiction, the promotion of sites registered in the zones .us, .uk, .am may have problems with promotion in runet. Domain names and all questions about them are the responsibility of the independent international organization ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). The IDN mark is placed at the time of registration near the domain zone.

Free and cheap domains

There are free domains, including .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq, and so on. In general, these are full-fledged domains, but they do not inspire confidence in users who are used to limited types of domains like .com, .me., .org and a few others. But free domains are fine for testing a site. Nevertheless, there are ways to buy a good domain for a small price, among them:

• Promotions (Fig. 2), which hold hosting providers, where you can get a quality domain and name, pay for the use of it for a certain period. In terms of final costs, this turns out to be a symbolic amount. Often operators offer free domains at all, for example, when hosting a company or promo codes, giving you a discount at registration.
• Make the site yourself, with the help of a constructor. In this case, companies-constructors, along with the opportunity to make a site offer the domain for free. For the first time, as a test, this is a good option. But later you will still have to buy a “real” domain, as the company-constructors in the free domain includes its name along with the name of the constructed site. Then the name looks cumbersome and poorly indexed and perceived by users with distrust.
• Domain name distribution. It also happens, and this is done by companies who bought a short name in a good domain zone and then give out lower-level names afterwards. The short name is in no way identifiable with the company that gave out the domains. The downside is that if a customer knows that, for example, razdvatri.uuu.com – created on a free domain, he may treat it with distrust.

Image. 2

Although there are ways to get a domain for free or almost free, if the site is created with serious intentions, it is better to buy a domain and come up with a quality domain name. If the operator specializes in cheap domains, it is probably better not to work with him, because domains in such zones are used domains for hosting sites that do not contain information, but only redirect the user to another site (dorwei).

What to do before buying a domain

Before you buy a domain, you need to know exactly what the user will be looking for on the site, find out the popular search terms. After that, you can proceed to the selection of the domain name. The right domains: It is optimal to choose for the site of commercial orientation domains .com. Also a good choice will be .org, .net., me. These extensions are not questioned by customers. However, in specific industries, the competition can be such that all effective names are already busy, so recently it is popular to place in thematic domain zones, as. shop or .store (Fig. 3).

It is important to know that although popular systems, such as. som, are a priority for registration, but search engines do not give them an advantage in the search, because the algorithms take into account the quality of sites. So two sites of equal quality in different domains will rank equally. New domain zones have the advantage of being more targeted to CA, that is, the search results can be more accurate. On the other hand, search engines give preference to sites that have been operating for at least more than a year, so the site is registered in the zone .som or in the new zone, it does not matter, since it will still have to spend time on the promotion in search engines.

Image. 3

The name should not be long, clear, and, most importantly, easy to remember. Preferably, it should be directly related to the industry in which the company is being promoted. At the same time, it should not be fixated on what is happening right now in the business industry. It should have both a generalization and a perspective. Alphabetic designations for domain names are better than numbers and hyphens in terms of convenience for users and when written and spoken, too. As for hyphens, they should not be embedded in the names, as search engines index such names worse.

It is desirable that already in the name were specified keywords, this will greatly facilitate the promotion of the site on the Internet. When choosing a name, you can be guided by search engine query statistics – which words in the selected industry are the most popular. Predetermined errors (Figure 4). There may be mistakes when writing the site name. Their number is limited, so you need to make sure that all misspelled site names lead to the correct site, so no traffic will be lost.

Image. 4

Copyright. Registered new domain be registered in the zone where the company’s CA is concentrated, but at the same time, the name of the site should not be similar to the names of promoted brands. However, it should not be similar to the names of non-promoted brands that already have sites online. All this would violate copyrights. Of course, it is necessary to check the drafts and until you are absolutely sure that there is no one with the same or a very similar name in the network.

By the way, you should think about registering the name even before you plan to create a permanently functioning website. Then competitors will not be able to “secure” a quality profile name. This is especially important in highly competitive industries, where the list of catchy, beautiful names is quickly exhausted. Checking to see if there is a site with an identical name is not as easy as it seems. There are millions of sites, so it is better to use special services, such as the site of the Coordination Center for domains .RU/.RF (https://cctld.ru/). Still, there is no one hundred percent guarantee that the new name is unique.

The scale and prospects of the company should be taken into account when choosing a domain. If the project is focused on the whole world, the choice of domain zone should definitely be from the number of .com, .net., biz., me. and others. Language: Of course, if the site is designed for a particular language environment, it is advisable to register a domain in the national zone – .ru, by., rs., es. and so on. Several domain names can also be registered, and this is a good way to avoid the interception of the name by competitors or even crooks, although this can be expensive for a startup.

Features of domain registration

Domain names can be registered by hosting providerthen you can get a domain together with the hosting (How to choose a reliable hosting). Or it could be a company that specializes specifically in domain registration. It is easier to register everything in one company, there is no significant difference, but when choosing a company-registrar, you should still pay attention to the list of services provided. It is optimal if the registrar is accredited by ICANN.

When registering a domain, it is necessary to specify valid data – personal, if the domain is registered to a person or entity. At the same time, you need to make sure that the site was registered to the company or site owner, not the developers of the site. The site is registered for different time, depending on the domain zone. For how long is not fundamental, but the long term allows you to save money, because you do not have to reregister, especially if the price of registration will grow. When the registration expires, it can be extended and this can be done an unlimited number of times.

As for payment, it is considered that if there is a choice, it is better to pay the registrar’s services from the account of the company, rather than from a personal bank debit or credit card. It is also possible to take advantage of discounted promo codes. By the way, the domain name is not the private property of the site owner, in fact, it is a rental. And if the owner of the site does not pay rent for some reason, it can be given to someone else. On the other hand, you can rent a domain that was previously in the use of someone.

Domain validation

If you decide to take a domain that has been previously used, you need to pay special attention to a thorough check of the domain. First, of course, you need to find out how the subject matter of the former domain corresponds to a new site. If the free domain name “avtomotovelofoto”, then it will be strange to sell vegetables under that name. It is also worth checking whether the target audience of the new site, for example, competitors, rather than potential customers.

A free site should have a positive reputation, it is necessary to check on the Internet for reviews. In the same category of checking information about search engine sanctions. If there are sanctions, then there is no critical problem, but if you buy such a domain, the site may simply drop out of indexation, and will have to spend time and money on its revision. It makes no sense, because you can buy a clean domain. A rational reason to choose to work already registered domain is that, as a rule, good and short names in popular domain zones are already busy, and to formulate a worthwhile name is difficult. So if there is an opportunity to take a free domain with a good reputation, it can be a good investment.

Cyrillic domain names

A few words about Cyrillic domains (Fig. 5). In such domains, letters of Cyrillic alphabets can be used. The advantages of the Cyrillic zone include:

• More convenient for identification by users in the large Russian-speaking market;
• More free names for registration.

Disadvantages include:

• Small audience of users;
• You can’t create an email with a Cyrillic domain, like: “@mail.ru”

Image. 5

Not all hosting can support Cyrillic, and there may be problems with the software, you have to apply decoding Punycode, which results in an unreadable string of characters that can not be remembered. Cyrillic domains have a number of advantages and disadvantages, but it should be said at once that they will not be more effective than sites in more familiar zones, not even the top categories, at least for the moment.

What to do after registering domains

Domain registration is a simple action: choose a registrar, register on the resource of the registration company, choose a free domain name and zone, pay for the domain. If the plans are promising, it is better to register at once in several domain zones to protect yourself from competitors and scammers. It is optimal to set up redirections to one main domain. Each domain is paid for separately.

In addition, by connecting to the metrics of search engines to find out what mistakes customers make when searching for sites, and register domains with the names of the most popular mistakes. Too much to register is not necessary, in the end, the popularity and reputation of the site does not depend on the name, but on the quality of content. Also, the registration of additional domains needed for promotion in different countries, if such a goal. Sites in different domain zones should be identical in design, rubrication and content focus, taking into account local specifics.

An important reason for registering multiple domains is that it will increase traffic in total. This task can be accomplished more quickly if you buy a domain with a good reputation. The content of the site is transferred to the domain (glued) and it is made a “mirror” – a site that is identical to the “main”. The sites are combined in the index database of search engines, shows only the “main mirror”, but the figures on traffic will be the total of all the mirrors. Also, when registering a domain should not forget the following aspects:

• never tell anyone about the domain name until the registration is complete;
• carefully check for such names on the Internet, including using whois resources;
• carefully examine the terms and conditions of the agreement with the domain name registrar;
• When registering, provide accurate information about the account owner;
• the domain must not be registered to developers;
• carefully check all additional information about the terms of service for domains.

Top Domain Registrars

REG.RU is the largest registrar in .ru and .rf domains, serving approximately 1.5 million customers. The company’s data center is located in Moscow, with offices in Russia and Ukraine. The company offers a multitude of services to its customers: domain registration and renewal, including wholesale, hosting, virtual and physical dedicated servers, DNS support, personal data hiding, sale of released domains, legal services for domain names, website builder and so on. The service also has discounted promo codes.

Godaddy.com. (Fig. 6) is an American registrar, serving about 40 million customers worldwide, popular in Runet. The servers are located in the United States. GoDaddy offers basic services: domain name registration, unlimited number of subdomains, shared hosting (basic and for business websites), rates for WordPress, VPS and dedicated servers on Linux and Windows. In terms of security, the company provides SSL certificates to encrypt traffic, site backup, backups on a daily basis. When the company extends the domain (hosting), it offers to apply a website builder, buy an additional domain, increase the number of mailboxes and other services.

Image. 6

One.com (https://www.one.com/) is a Danish registrar active worldwide. In addition to multiple domains, it also offers WordPress hosting and a website builder. It is considered one of the best options for first-time entrepreneurs who have decided to start their own website, because it offers affordable prices for initial projects. But users pay attention to the difficulty of finding a domain, even if an existing domain is transferred to the host.

RU-CENTER – is a popular provider, serving about 7 million domains, working mainly in Russia, but there are facilities in many countries around the world. It offers domain name registration, hosting services, website builder, automatic SEO promotion, SSL certificates and so on. The company offers domain registration in more than 600 regional and thematic zones, which can be sold at large discounts.

Namecheap.com – is an American company that serves about 3 million English-speaking customers worldwide, including Russia, but does not have a Russian-language interface. The company’s domains are offered in more than 150 regional zones, for a year with subsequent renewal. There are test free periods for a number of services, virtual servers, certificates, transfer of sites to new hosting and so on.

Gandi.net (https://www.gandi.net/) (Fig. 7) is an American domain registrar and hoster. It offers domains in more than 400 regional and topical zones. The company often offers promotions where domains can be purchased at a large discount.

Image. 8

Timeweb.com. – offers more than 150 domain names, and the domain can be presented at a discount as a bonus to free hosting for 10 days. Domain renewal is also offered as a gift when paying for one year of provider services. If you pay for hosting for 1 year, the customer gets a free domain. The company regularly holds a sale of domain names at a discount. The service also has discounted promo codes.

Reggi.ru (https://r01.ru/) is a large Russian domain registrar that offers domains in more than 100 domain zones. It is considered a reliable operator with average prices and a small number of additional services.

Beget.ru – is a Russian company that provides paid domains in more than 500 domain zones. Provides a certificate and certificate for the domain name for a fee. The user gets to register an unlimited number of domains. There is a system of bonus domains associated with the selected tariff and term of service. When choosing domain registrars, one should not forget that it is preferable to register with services that work with ICANN.

Mistakes when using a domain

One common mistake is late payment for a domain. Most likely, it will be turned off the day after the delay. But it is unlikely that someone will buy it immediately, and besides, there is a mandatory additional period during which you can extend the domain. It is quite a long period, most often a month, but you will have to pay more after the delay. International domain names can be restored in a longer period. But if payment is not received during this period and the additional time, then the domain cannot be restored for a few days after that.

If a conscious decision is made to cancel the domain name, there is also a certain procedure on this account, which should not be ignored, so as not to overpay. It includes, as a rule, a written statement of the administrator – the owner of the domain name – in person or by proxy, with supporting documents. Also, you must not forget to renew the domain before its expiration date. As a rule, this period is one year.

Another common problem when a domain owner forgets to update information – email, phone number and so on, this should be done in a personal account when registering. Be sure to study the messages that the registration company sends, as operators remind about the impending delays, and they also send letters of complaint, and if you do not respond to them, the site can simply be blocked. Most often, users complain about the fact that the legislation has been violated, that the site is engaged in phishing, distributing malicious software, and so on. By the way, let’s analyze in more detail what may be violations of the law related to domains.

Violations of the law

Let’s take a look at the main user mistakes that can lead to rule violations.

Nuances of domain registration

When registering a domain must remember that a violation of the law will be such actions as:

• Refusal to change or transfer the domain to a company with a site name that coincides with the new name;
• Registration or purchase of a domain for the purpose of reselling it to a rightsholder or competitor;
• Registering a domain for the purpose of preventing an existing brand owner from using it, especially if it has been done several times;
• Passing off your site as the site of another company or person, especially if the site had some kind of trade or imitation of it.

The ban on the use of the domain is imposed on the one who registered it. But if by accident or intentionally because of the domain was damaged, it will be compensated and the one who registered and the one who actually used the site, but only if the administrator (the one who registered the site) can prove that it was not him. If the name of the registered domain is the same as the name of an existing domain, the nuance may be that the new domain may have a legal right to the name, even if it is repeated.

For example, if the new domain is named after the real name of the owner, it will not be a violation of the law. In any case, the user may insist on his right, even in court, if it is certain that he has the right to the name of the domain. But it is better to solve any problems of this kind in pre-trial order. On the other hand, the owner of the new name itself can be a target for fraudsters, who can deliberately register an identical name and make claims. To protect the company from the repetition of the domain name can register a trademark and use the information in the domain name. Then you can yourself monitor whether someone uses a similar name, and make claims against violators.

False letters

Some time after the registration of a new domain name the user may receive a letter from the registration company, which offers, for example, to complete the domain registration, save some file in a folder, pay for some additional services and so on. The fact is that the address of the registrant may well be found in the public domain. Letters are sent by scammers under the guise of the registrar company – to make the address look like the address of a real company is not difficult.

To avoid falling into the trap of such scammers, you need to carefully check the accuracy of addresses, clarify the information in the support service at the address on the registrar’s site. If there is a link to the site in the letter, it may be a link to a phishing site and you should check its details very carefully – whether there is a certificate, compare it to the name of the real site. Duplicate domains have names that look like the names of real sites, such as razdvatri.com and raz.dvatri.com. There are a lot of such names on the Internet, if you are not careful, you can incur serious financial losses. Such sites act on behalf of serious companies, require confidential data and so on.

The actions of fraudsters

Fraudsters react very quickly to any event, promptly organizing scam schemes that users who are worried about the rapid development of some situation fall for. Now it is a coronavirus pandemic, and attackers are dropping domain names with words related to covid on the Internet. It is estimated that there are already about 3,000 such resources online.

The range of scams based on fear of a pandemic is varied – offering fake drugs, fake news about the coronavirus, collecting “donations”, sending spam allegedly from WHO, and practicing common phishing with a “coronavirus” bias. The best way to guard against any scams is to be careful, use common sense and check any information about the coronavirus from real sources with verified information.