Corporate domain names have gone from being the "company URL" to an integral part of a company´s online brand.

Recent studies have shown that on average more than 60% of a company´s value today is know-how and intellectual property, so the value of your domain name portfolio should not be underestimated.

If you are one of the many companies which have registered domains "as it comes", perhaps it is time for you to streamline your current domain portfolio.

Here are 5 tips to get started:

1. Obtain an overview of domains registered by your company, any of your branches and by your business partners /distributors. Your distributor can be the owner of your brand related domains. They shouldn´t !

2. Update your WHOIS data. Ensure the same WHOIS data for all domains. Employees do not stay in the company forever, so make sure that the contact email is an email like mail@... instead of bobjohnson@...

3. Reduce registrars to 1-3 registrars, as long as they can provide all top level domains. We have seen casese where companies are juggling between 5-15 registrars. Managing less contacts will make the renewal reminder procedure easier. Forgetting to renew a domain with a certain registrar can be fatal. Domains can be lost, and when you discover the error, then it can be too late.

4. Find the gaps in your domain portfolio. Go through the list of domains registered. If you have the .de for Germany then do you have .fr for France? Ensure the most common .com like the top 10 terms for .com brand abuse. (See more in our News archive.)

5. Define the traits of your Industry and identify your unique business factors. Does your business depend on one brand and your market is worldwide, then register your domain in all countries possible. Are you only doing business in Switzerland then ensure .ch and the generic domains (com,net, org…). Are you in a business sector where brand abuse is finding place (pharmaceutics, banking, telecoms) then ensure variations of your brand domain (typo ,search terms).

If you need our help then we can prepare a full report and action plan in 2-4 days, so don´t hesitate to contact us for an offer.