Register domain time is here. Surely it’s better to do this sooner rather than later. The concept of owning your personal name as a URL is long past being in vogue. It’s imperative. If your business has yet to secure it’s place in the online world, the very first thing you have to consider is securing a domain name that will identify your business or its products/services to the world.

Let’s begin by brainstorming a good name. You’ll want to consider anything and everything that might pack the punch your company needs to make a strong statement. You can opt to look for cute, memorable or otherwise non-traditional representations that might allow others to find you online. The challenge with cute, memorable or whatnot is the fact that it has to be right. Only so many companies can get away with naming themselves and their websites after weird, obscure words. Words, when transformed into clickable web addresses, are as bizarre and unremarkable as possible.

Next it’s time to check if you can register domain. How do you know if a domain name is available for registration? There are a number of channels one can use to determine whether or not your business can use a specific name online. If you already have a registrar of choice, use them. Most domain registrars are now offering many services. In addition to name look up and registration services, they may have hosting, email, site creation and many other online development tools for you.

It is important to remember that owning the domain name is only the first part of the journey. You will want to develop a game plan for taking that website name and marketing it to the world. You want it to come to the attention of the focused, niche market of individuals or other businesses you need to network with to succeed. Even the very best, most clever and memorable domain names won’t do all the work for you. The Internet was only in the world of “build it and they will come” for about 30 minutes or so back in 1996.

Since that time the tools have matured. The services available to the average web site owner have multiplied thousands of times over. Integrating a well thought out plan that merges social media marketing with crafted, continually updated content is one of the best ways to transform your domain name into a household name. If your business has established products or a services line that is respected and known in its circles, you already have an advantage. If you aren’t among the market leaders in your niche, a website can help. By intelligently crafting your helpful content to provide the knowledge and answers sought by your potential customers, both of you win. That starts with making sure you have a good domain name.

It’s all a process. You register domain name. You add content to your website. Your promote your website. You grow your business. Your business will be able to provide others with answers they need, right now. You’ll begin to develop long term relationships. At the end of the day, when you have people that will stand up and tell others good things about your business, you’re doing something right. And that something started when you bought your website’s address.

Work with a professional company that can not only register domain for you but will also offer you a number of other terrific web hosting opportunities.

One of the greatest strengths of the Web is that it gives everyone with a connection the ability to publish content, period. Anyone can register domain names and build attendant webpages, often for what amounts to a pittance. Some domains cost as little as ten dollars to register, or less if the buyer wishes to bundle the purchase of several names at once. Naturally, this flexibility has attracted the attention of people with less than honest motives for their efforts.

Like it or not, there are individuals online who aren’t content to promote their brand through their own efforts and hard work, but would prefer to profit by the work of others. They accomplish this through a number of unfortunate methods. They domain-squat on names they expect to become famous, use similar names and domains to get attention, and in general rely on the good name of brands they have nothing to do with to draw in business.

As part of the effort to build up a brand into something to be proud of, it’s important to focus on brand protection. It may sound silly on the surface; after all, who could be confused by Makdonolds as opposed to McDonalds? However the issue isn’t always quite so ridiculously clear, and can lead to a number of hassles a brand just doesn’t need. Here we share three common hazards and their solutions for safeguarding your brand.

Hazard 1 – Cybersquatting

In short, cybersquatting is a series of methods for registering and maintaining a domain name solely with the intent to profit from another agency that desires it.

The first method revolves around predicting the need for the domain name itself. As in the above example, suppose in the early days of the Internet someone outside McDonald’s had registered all the relevant domain names. When McDonald’s finally goes to establish a Web presence, they find the names they need are all taken, and thus have to bargain with this individual for terms under which he’ll sell them back, obviously at a profit to himself.

Other methods involve registering similar domain names to existent ones. Suppose again that McDonald’s had possession of McDonald’s.com, but not McDonald’s.net. The squatter picks up the .net domain, knowing that at least some people will come to the page out of curiosity or by accident. Once again, they can bargain with McDonald’s over ownership, or they can provide a link to McDonald’s own webpage, and thus get click-through traffic that can be monetized with ad revenue.

Solutions to Cybersquatting

Due to the fight over free speech and free market rights pertaining to the Web, cybersquatting is not easy to define as illegal. It is certainly unethical, but given the myriad of international laws governing the use of these domain names there is not always a clear recourse in overcoming these activities.

There are always methods that can be used, however. First, there is the legal recourse of going through ICANN for arbitration. However courts can and often have overturned ICANN’s rulings upon further review. The legal fees associated with this process may exceed the cost of simply buying the domain outright from the squatters.

Another option is to be creative with your domain names. Google, Yahoo, icanhascheezburger, and similar domain names share a certain nonsense quality. They aren’t commonly used words, and are less likely to get snapped up by squatters. If your business isn’t tied strongly to a real world word already, consider coming up with something outside the box to prevent yourself from getting squatted. Purchase several of the more common variations on your domain name as well, to prevent the parallel name style of squatting.

Hazard 2 – Typo Squatting

Typo squatting relies on common typing errors or shortcuts to redirect users to a site other than the one they intended to visit. For example, information.com could be typed as iformation.com or info.com, and lead to the squatting site instead of the intended location. While this may seem like a variant on cybersquatting, it ends up being rather different in practice.

As with parallel naming, the intent here is to use a similar name to draw in users looking for one site. However the intent is very rarely to sell the url to the parent company. More frequently, these sites direct to ‘gripe’ pages, spambots, malware propagators and other malicious activities.

Solutions to Typo Squatting

Once again, legal action can be taken to protect a brand (particularly if the squatters are profiting from the venture), but can quickly become expensive. A more cost-effective route for a smaller brand just getting started would be to post information to your social media news room and webpage about any such sites you come across, with warnings and information on how to circumvent them. Taking responsibility for your brand is the best way to protect it and cement its value in your audience’s mind.

Hazard 3 – Complacency

It’s tempting to register a domain name and trademark, and think that’s all you need to do. However, neither of these confers automatic protection. Yes, they allow for recourse to the law in the event a case goes to court, but the Internet is a place where information moves quickly. By the time you fight things out in a court case that you may or may not actually win, people already have associated your brand with the spambot they accidentally got directed to.

Solutions to Complacency

Be proactive. Education is your best defense on the Web. Learn about common cybersquatting and typosquatting tactics. Check your domain and see if others are using these tricks to hurt your brand (consciously or inadvertently). Be aware, be informed, and take every step you can. The Internet is a dynamic place, and it falls to you to make sure that benefits you, rather than blemishes your brand.

Enzo F. Cesario is an online brand specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to Brandsplat.com or visit our blog at http://www.ibrandcasting.com

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is a non-profit Association that keeps track of the domain names that have the .ca ending. This association has a number of Registrars who help applicants with their.ca registrations, renewals, transfers etc. The domain names are the ending part of a website address. You can have various extensions like .com, .edu, .net, .org, .gov, etc. These are commonly known as the top-level domains (TLD).

Typically companies start to establish their presence on the internet by buying a domain name, where it can set up a website to showcase all details regarding their business. Generally the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) top-level domains into are divided into three categories namely; the country code domains, the generic domains and the infrastructure domains. The country code domains are usually the two lettered extensions registered according to the country the sites are registered in; for example.in for those registered in India and .uk that implies the United Kingdom. Similarly domains registered in Canada take the.ca extension.

Many people are desirous of having a .ca extension as Canadian domains are said to be world renowned and highly trustworthy. Once you get a.ca extension for your domain, then by default your domain is governed by strict Canadian Rules.

In order to get your site registered with a Canadian domain name you will necessarily have to approach a Registrar for the purpose. Ascertain the person you choose is registered with the CIRA. Different Registrars will charge differently. So you may have to talk to many of them or get their details from the internet, compare their rates and select one who offers you the best deal.

There are many who not only help with getting you a domain name registration, but also offer web hosting assistance. So look for someone who can do both, saving you precious time. Remember to ensure that they are dependable and have after registration services so that they will be able trouble shoot in case any problem arises.

If you want a .ca extension you either have to be a Canadian citizen or a resident or your company has to have a presence somewhere in Canada or be the owner of a Canadian trademark.

There are many internet hosting companies through which you can register ca domain. You should always lookout for offers to get some discounted rates. You can click here to know more about ca domain registration.