Contributed by Mark Monitor

In today’s domain environment, brand owners must continuously refine their domain management

strategies in order to stay impactful and help combat constantly evolving brand abuse. Follow these

domain management best practices when developing your strategies for 2016.

1. Implement and enforce policies

As business needs continue to change and evolve, companies need to have clearly defined internal domain guidelines in place. Internal policies should address what, when and where domains should be registered, who is allowed to request registrations, and budget limitations. Define the criteria for those domains to let expire or sell, and work with stakeholders to determine where domains should point.

2. Align domain management strategies with policing and enforcement programs

Companies continue to face tough registration and renewal decisions. Now is the time to ensure your domain registration and renewal strategies align with your policing and enforcement programs. Strategies should consist of registrations to support online objectives and a strategic monitoring program that allows you to quickly identify and address abusive registrations when they occur.

3. Secure and protect critical assets

Cybercriminals are using increasingly advanced techniques to target your critical assets. Your domains require around-the-clock protection to maintain business continuity, brand reputation and customer trust. Partner with a registrar that offers multi-level security and pre-emptive security measures that provide piece of mind, including locking domains at the registry level, two-factor authentication, and IP access restrictions, as well as consistent use of strong internal security controls.

4. Maximize the value of your domain portfolio

The expansion of the domain environment does not necessitate increased domain budgets. Companies should maximize the value of their existing portfolio through portfolio rightsizing and domain utilization. Review your portfolio at least once a year to identify registration gaps, out-of-policy registrations, underutilized domains and legacy domains that may be unnecessarily eating into your budget.

5. Stay informed and get involved

Staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest happenings in the domain industry is an increasingly complex challenge. Get involved by joining trade or industry associations like INTA or ICANN. If you’re unable to get involved, stay informed by partnering with a corporate-only domain registrar who advocates for brand owner’s rights and is committed to ongoing customer education.

For more information on developing a comprehensive domain management and online brand protection strategy, please call us at +44 (0) 203 206 2220 or visit markmonitor.com