How to secure your domain

Buying a domain can be stressful. You could spend hours coming up with the perfect name… to learn that it’s not available. (Along with the .co, .biz, .net, etc.) Odds are you aren’t considering how to secure your domain too.

I’m guessing that once you find a domain that you dig, you purchase it without much thought beyond how many years you want to register the URL for. But many online entrepreneurs lost their domain because they didn’t consider security in this critical step.

The right email address to secure your domain

You may be really excited to buy your domain so that you can set up your custom domain email address — like contact@tinyblueorange.com. I don’t blame you; it feels legit to have a custom domain email!

One place you don’t want to use that fancy new address is on your domain purchasing account.

Why? If someone gains access to your server settings, they can take over your email accounts too. Which gives them access to reset your password + hijack your domain name, among other terrible things.

An easy way to protect yourself + your business is to have a simple gmail account (ending in @gmail.com) that you can use to purchase items like new domains. Make sure the password for this email address is very secure.

Beyond having a secure password, and one of the reasons I recommend gmail for your email address, is that you can set up two-factor authentication to make hacking into your secondary email that much harder.

If you’re worried about having to check yet another email address, you can set up forwarding or alerts so that you are notified in your primary email account. Keep in mind that if your primary account is hacked, setting up this secure step was a wasted effort.

Keep hosting separate

This tip can be a bit of a bummer for those that get a discount on domain registration for using their registrar as a hosting company too.

Your email being tied to your server isn’t the only potential security issue. Your domain registration being in the same place puts it at risk when/if your site is hacked.

I recommend using a domain registrar for domains + a hosting company for site files. Once you buy a domain with your @gmail.com email, add them to your hosting account as an add-on domain. Looking for a place to buy domains? try google or hover (affiliate link that gets you $2 off).