Advanced Access Blog

Ok, you’ve just bought a shiny new car. You are excited, you are proud. You can’t wait to get it out on the open road. So the first thing you do is…

Throw the keys in the trash and walk away?

Does that sound right? Of course not! Why would anyone do this? You never would.

Now let’s take a trip back in time…

You are sitting down at your computer because it’s time to decide on your domain name for your new website. You sit and ponder what the catchiest name will be. What will look great on your business cards? This domain name has to be just like the shiny new car in your driveway; your status symbol on the Net. After much thought and care, you register your name. Same great feeling – you are excited, you are proud. You can’t wait for the leads to start rolling in when you get started. What do you do next?

When you registered your domain name, what did you do next? Unfortunately, many people register their domain name, and then throw away the keys! Do you know your domain name expiration date? Do you have your domain name login and password saved in a paper or electronic file so you can keep your account updated? Is your domain name locked so that no one else can take it from you? These are the “keys” to owning your domain name – keep them close to you!

Do you know your domain name expiration date?

You don’t own your domain name for life. Your domain name is set up to be renewed on a regular basis, just like a lease. If you don’t renew your name, someone else can buy it, and you will have no recourse, and no location on the Web for your site; the domain name becomes ‘up for grabs’.

Even if you had a domain name registered through Advanced Access, your domain name remains yours as a completely separate entity from your website. Renewing your website contract does not renew your domain name.

Find your expiration date at http://www.whois.net/.

Do you have your domain name login and password saved in a paper or electronic file so you can keep your account updated?

In order for you to receive important information regarding your domain name, such as renewal notices, your email address needs to be updated on your domain name account. Email is the only way that your domain name registrar will notify you of your approaching expiration date. If your domain name is set up with auto-renew, you will need to keep your credit card updated. This means that if you change your email address, credit card number or expiration date, you will need to remember to update your domain name account as well. In order for you to have access to your domain name, you must have your login and password for your domain name management.

If you don’t have this information, you can visit your domain name company’s website. Many registrars offer an ‘I forgot my password’ option (which will only work if your email address is updated on the account). Also, many registrars have customer service phone numbers where you can inquire about retrieving your login and password information. Each company is different, and has a different process for releasing this information.

Find out who your domain name registrar is at http://www.whois.net/. Scroll down below the registration information and look for the section that says, ‘Current Registrar’. This is the company you will contact regarding your domain name information.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Techie Tips, Weekly Marketing Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.