How to Keep Your Domain Secure in 2020
For newbies setting up a brand new site, we all struggle with keeping our sites secure. Since we’re so new to the website game, it’s hard to know what the right measures are to keep our shiny new websites safe from hackers.
Your domain is the gateway for your visitors, and a key part of your identity, not to mention the sum of all the hard work you’ve put in for SEO.
To help out beginner webmasters, I have listed some tips below that will help you keep your website’s domain secure. A domain name is one of the most valuable things associated with your brand.
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Choose the Right Registrar
Choosing the right registrar is essential. Domain registrars are the first entity that a person needs to deal with in order to set up their site.
They are also the entities that deal with any issues that come up regarding your domain name. Reliable domain registrars offer a variety of services to help ensure you have a secure framework for your site right from the very start.
For example, providers like Hostinger offer a domain name checker tool that allows you to see the available domains for your chosen site name and offers the available ones for sale (you can try it now).
You can buy just one domain, if the alternative is taken it suggests an alternative, and if you opt for them, you benefit from multiple security features, some of which we’ll cover later on.
It’s often a good idea to purchase several domains at once so that you don’t get opportunistic individuals trying to spoof your site by using the same label, but a different TLD.
If you’re unfamiliar with the terminology, you can check out this great article from Study, for a comprehensive breakdown.
Additionally, be sure to cover your chosen registrar’s history. Be sure to find out if they had any security issues before. For example, we covered an incident involving Facebook and NameCheap.
Use Security Features
As above, your registry should provide security features that protect your privacy, and also make it difficult for anyone to transfer your domain unless you give them explicit permission.
From the outset, domain privacy protection services offered by your chosen registry give you a level of protection from spammers and potential hackers.
The service lists the registrar’s contact details on WHOIS rather than your details. This is very helpful because it stops spammers and other nefarious individuals from stealing them.
Domain authorization codes are also another feature offered by great registries. The unique codes are required when transferring domains, and without the owner using them, the registry will refuse the transfer.
Along with this is registry locks, which stop anyone from transferring your domain unless you give explicit permission manually. This cuts down on phishers claiming to be you and transferring your domain without your knowledge.
Keep Details Secret
If choosing the right registrar is essential, even more so is keeping things like login details and passwords secret.
You also need to be very careful with emails you receive, making sure that anything related to your site is actually from your domain registrar and site host because they may just be phishing attempts to steal your login details.
Always check the sender’s address, and instead of clicking on links in emails, go to your registrar’s website and sign-in that way to check things.
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Keep Track of Actions
To keep your domain secure, you have to make sure your domain renewal is up-to-date. Some people recommending renewing it for the maximum period your domain registrar allows.
Whether you do or not is up to you, but at the very least make sure you put the renewal date in your calendar and set a reminder. If you forget to renew before the due date, someone may come along and buy your domain and direct traffic away from your site to their site. You will lose everything.
It is also so important to make sure you are keeping your site’s software and plugins up-to-date so no vulnerability can be exploited in order to gain access to your site.
Wrapping Up
These are only some of the steps you can take to secure your domain. While many webmasters focus on their sites only, you can’t forget the wellbeing of your domain. I hope this article helps you get your bearings.
This post How to Keep Your Domain Secure in 2020 originally appeared on GB Hackers.
