Prevent Cybersquatting by Getting Domain Name Registration Right

So you have a successful offline business, and you want to bring it online.  One of the first things you will want to do is find a name for the business online - what are people going to type in as a URL to find you?It is important to get this right, as this is your storefront onto the web, and you need people to be able to find you!  Your URL - also known as your Domain Name - is worth putting some time and research into to make sure you get it right, and equally importantly, get it registered properly so it’s all yours.It is also important to ensure that you own all the relevant variations, to prevent something called cybersquatting, which is where someone else registers domain names intending to benefit from the trademark of someone else - say, registering “Hiltonhotelssite.com” in an attempt to capture people looking for hilton.com.According to a new report from brand protection firm MarkMonitor, the top five hotel brands in the US experienced over 2,100 separate instances of cybersquatting last year, costing them over 57 million page views.  This highlights just how important it is to try to close off those opportunities and get your domain name registrations correct.Think about all the likely variations on your domain name, including common misspellings, and register as many as you can, and point the “wrong” ones directly towards the “right” one.  Also think about how people talk about your brand and think about registering those terms too - try typing in “www.coke.com” and seeing what happens!