You may be overjoyed to have registered your ideal .com domain name. But don't forget that, secondary as it may seem, you should also secure other versions of your new domain name to protect your brand.

Cybersquatting is an ever-growing problem. There are many people who might have an interest in registering your domain name with different top-level domains.

Suppose you've registered yourdomain.com, and you're launching your marketing campaign, submitting your site to directories, sending out emails. Meanwhile, someone registers yourdomain.net, planning to sell the domain name back to you at a cost. Perhaps they put up some pay-per-click ads and "adult website" banners, to make a little bit of money while they're waiting for you to realise they're there and pay them a ridiculous fee to protect your new business' integrity.

Someone else has registered yourdomain.co.uk – and they're a market competitor. They point the domain name to their own website, where they sell similar products and services. You are losing valuable local customers to a direct competitor.

Your-domain.com might have been registered by someone quite innocent; perhaps they run a completely different business from yours, but the domain name is still relevant to their line of work. They're not malicious, but they're still diluting your brand and possibly stealing your traffic, as people incorrectly type in your domain name with a hyphen. This is particularly likely to happen if your domain name is generic in some way.

When you register a new domain name, make sure you protect your brand. Register hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions, and the .co.uk and .net versions as well. Also register other top-level domains as relevant (if you trade in France, for example, you should register the .fr domain name).

By Helena Henderson