How to Choose and Manage Your Domain Name
Everything a business owner needs to know about selecting, purchasing, and protecting a domain name. Covers registrar selection, .ca vs .com decisions, DNS fundamentals, and the security practices that prevent you from losing your most important digital asset.
Start LearningEverything a business owner needs to know about selecting, purchasing, and protecting a domain name. Covers registrar selection, .ca vs .com decisions, DNS fundamentals, and the security practices that prevent you from losing your most important digital asset.
Christopher Cascanette
Co-Founder, IVONNE · Director At Large
Christopher Cascanette brings over two decades of experience spanning telecommunications, intellectual property law, and legal technology.
His career began in oilfield communications in northern Alberta, designing and deploying communication systems for remote industrial operations. From there, he moved into telecommunications, spending several years with some of North America's largest telephone operators, working on network infrastructure, systems integration, and service delivery at scale.
A transition into law followed, beginning in intellectual property — patents and trademarks — where he developed a practical understanding of how businesses protect their most valuable intangible assets. That foundation led to thirteen years with the largest law firm in the world, where he worked in legal business technology: building and implementing technical solutions for lawyers and the operationally complex environments they work in.
In 2017, he co-founded IVONNE with Ivonne Sanchez. What he found in the cosmetic industry was familiar: talented practitioners operating without the structured systems, policies, or operational infrastructure that other professional industries take for granted. He set out to change that — applying the same rigour he had brought to telecommunications networks and global law firms to building a clinic that runs on process, logic, and accountability.
The courses he authors on this platform are informed by that full arc of experience — not by theory, but by the direct practice of building communication systems, navigating intellectual property registrations, solving technology problems for the most demanding professionals in the world, and then starting a business from scratch and running it for nearly a decade.
The perspective is simple: business owners deserve clear, honest, practical information — the kind that is typically locked behind expensive professional engagements or buried in jargon designed to keep you dependent on someone else. These courses exist to change that.
1 What a Domain Name Actually Is
Understanding what you are buying when you purchase a domain name.
1.1 You Are Renting an Address, Not Buying Property
The fundamental nature of domain registration and why understanding it matters.
1.2 TLDs — .ca, .com, and Why the Extension Matters
Understanding top-level domains and how to choose the right one for your business.
2 Verifying Availability — Start with the Registry, Not the Registrar
The correct order for checking domain availability and why it matters.
2.1 Check the TLD Authority First
Why your first availability check should be with the registry operator, not a domain reseller.
2.2 Choosing a Domain Registrar
What to look for in a registrar and which ones to consider — and avoid.
3 Choosing the Right Domain Name
Strategic principles for selecting a domain that serves your business.
3.1 Shorter Is Better — Always
Why domain length matters and how to minimize it.
3.2 Matching Your Business Name — Or Not
When your domain should match your business name exactly and when a variation works better.
3.3 Hyphens, Numbers, and Other Things to Avoid
Domain name elements that signal amateur status and create practical problems.
4 Protecting Your Domain
Security and management practices that prevent you from losing your most critical digital asset.
4.1 Auto-Renewal, Registrar Lock, and WHOIS Privacy
The three non-negotiable settings every domain should have enabled from day one.
4.2 Register for the Maximum Term Available
Why registering your domain for the longest possible term saves money, prevents accidental lapse, and signals business legitimacy.
4.3 Never Let Someone Else Own Your Domain
Why you must be the registrant of record and how to verify and correct this.
4.4 DNS Basics — What You Are Actually Managing
A plain-language explanation of DNS records and why they matter for your business.
4.5 Trademarking Your Business Name and Domain
Why trademark registration is the strongest protection for your brand name and domain, what to register, and how the dispute resolution process favours trademark holders.
Course Overview
- 4 modules
- 12 lessons
- Easy complexity
365-day access
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