Have you ever received more than one email offer or inquiry on a domain name in a short period of time and not know why?   I am sure most people search for the domain’s key term(s) in Google to see what people might be looking to find, but that might not get you the most relevant information.

Before you reply to the inquiry, check Google News and Google Blog Search for the term(s) both quoted and unquoted. While News and Blog results are generally listed in the standard Google results first, they may not appear at the top of the results, rendering the fresh information useless.   If someone is trying to buy a domain name from you because a television network just announced a show with the same name as your domain name, you should know this before you respond.

If you receive more than one inquiry on a single domain name, especially if it’s irregular that you receive inquiries on this particular domain name, you should assume it’s not coincidental.   Having the most updated information is critical when determining how to reply to an inquiry, and Google’s information, like their News and Blog Search, can help you filter through the crap.

Before you buy a domain name, especially an acronym, check to see what is currently being displayed on the website to make sure it’s not infringing on another company’s mark. If you buy a domain name that had infringed on a company’s mark in the past, you could be held liable for the domain name’s past use.

Take this as an example. You decide you want to buy a great 3 letter .com domain name. You search Google for acronyms just to see how it could be used, and you find out that a major technology company is sometimes known by the acronym. When you check the domain name, the current landing page has this company’s ads (or a competitor’s). This could put a new owner in harm’s way.

Not only do I look at the current landing page and ask the owner about the landing page history, I also do some research to see what was on the page previously. I like to use Archive.org to see what was previously displayed on a website. It’s always better to ask questions to gauge potential risk down the road.

There are many great reasons for a person to consider leasing a domain name.   Although the cost of leasing a domain name rather than buying it can be much larger over the long run, it’s a great opportunity for a fledgling business to get started with lower upfront costs.   The company is able to prove their model, and they would hopefully be able to buy the domain name after a set period of time. Also, some domain owners are reticent to sell a prized domain name, so leasing it is a win/win for domain owner and leasee.

While there are plenty of reasons to lease a domain name, there are some things the leasee should consider prior to signing a lease agreement. For the sake of playing devil’s advocate, let’s say you sign a 10 year lease @ $500 month for a great domain name.   You are leasing the domain name from a company owned by a person (or just a person) who registered the name 10 year ago. You build a great interactive website on the domain name, and traffic is growing, revenue is flowing, and all is good.

Four years into your lease, the company owner dies/declares bankruptcy/gets divorced/loses the name in a lawsuit/can’t repay a loan he took on the name…etc. What happens to your website built on this great domain name if something like this happens and the name is no longer owned/controlled by him and/or all living financial agreements are made null by a court?

At the moment, there are many apartment renters who are faced with eviction when their landlord was forced to foreclose.   As for a domain lease, what contingencies are in place in the event of this to 1) prevent losing your ability to lease the name 2) prevent having to pay $xx,xxx in a lawsuit to stay a court order?   It is critical to think about all of this before signing a domain lease and building a website on that domain name.

I’m glad this post isn’t a “I wish I backed up my data before the fire, flood, pool incident…”   Instead, it’s more of a best practice reminder because it’s something I frequently need to remind myself about so I don’t forget to do it.   Back up data!

It’s probably enough to back up all computer data on a flash drive at least once a week, and that flash drive should be kept in a secure location.   If you are so inclined, you might do it every night, especially if you are working on a major web development (or similar) project. In fact, if you are working on anything that would be difficult to start from scratch, it’s a good idea to back-up your drive as much as possible – just don’t keep your flash drive attached to your computer all the time.

Another best practice is to back it up at least once a month with a flash drive that is stored off site – like in a bank deposit box.   If a fire or flood were to ever damage your computer, it’s possible that it will get your back up source if it’s not kept on site.   You should take precautions, because at the very least, if you are audited, the IRS won’t be accepting of a data loss excuse for the reason you can’t produce your files.

Apple has a product called the “Time Capsule” which automatically backs up data while you are working, in a machine that is also your Wifi base.   The Time Capsule, which can store one terabyte of data, is very expensive, but it does automate the process. The downside is that the Time Capsule is kept on site, so a fire or flood would also probably render the data useless.

However you back up your data, please choose to do it often and keep a back-up copy somewhere.   Having a good backing up strategy will help prevent you from having to come up with an emergency data recovery strategy!