Protecting your brand on the internet is essential, there are a few key steps not to be missed, which is why we are talking about it today.
To protect your brand online, there are some essential steps you will need to make sure you follow in order to prevent your hard work from benefiting others.
These are simple, easy-to-implement steps that will help you improve your online brand safety.
Here they are right now:
1. Register your brand online
The first step to protecting your brand online is to register your trademark. For this step, you will first need to identify the classes and categories that correspond to your sector of activity, and which will be required of you when registering your trademark. If this step seems complex to you, some professionals could offer their services to facilitate the process.
In total, to register your trademark online, you will have to pay the sum of 220 euros if you wish to associate your trademark with three classes of activity. This step can be completed online, and you can send the requested supporting documents by mail or electronic format.
2. Reserve your domain name
Even if your website is not yet online, you will need to make sure to reserve your domain name. Ideally, your brand name and therefore identity should only be used by you. On the Internet, there are already many domain names, and that of your brand could already be taken. In this case, make sure that your brand remains present in your domain name, to facilitate access to your website.
For example, if your brand is called Homely and you sell decoration products but the domain name Homely is already taken, try Homely-design or Homely-deco! Also remember to reserve your domain names with all available extensions (.com, .fr, .org, etc.). This will effectively protect your brand.
3. Protect your website from hackers
Another important point to help you protect your online brand effectively is to put in place effective strategies to protect your website from hacker attacks, which could cause significant damage to your business and your brand image. To prevent the loss of sensitive information, consider using strong passwords to access the interface of your website.
For good management of your passwords, the use of a password manager can also be recommended, so as to keep your most complex passwords in memory.
Also, make sure your customer information is encrypted, so it can't be used by hackers if your website is hacked.
4. Clearly promote your brand online and offline
Your brand belongs to you, and you need to let it be known. To do this, as soon as you have the opportunity and on all your media, remember to clearly display your brand name and logo, to indicate that you have all the rights to your brand. It can be documents sent to your customers, blog posts, any type of content developed by your company.
5. Protect your social networks
Nowadays, social networks hold an important place in the marketing strategy of companies. However, these social networks are also frequently the target of hacker attacks. Pirates against whom you will once again have to protect yourself.
For this, as mentioned earlier, remember to use highly secure passwords that are difficult for hackers to crack. Additionally, all of your passwords should be unique, for each account used by your brand. Also be sure to warn your teams about the most common attacks they might encounter. Prevention is better than cure :)
6. Be transparent with your customers
Finally, to remain credible in the eyes of your customers, transparency must be one of your main objectives. In the event of a problem or error on your part, speak about it publicly, and share the efforts made to resolve this situation. Only in this way will you be able to maintain the trust of your customers.
