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We have discussed in past
months the importance of keeping your domain name
registration information current. This month, I felt the
need to reiterate just how important your domain name is
to your business, and how important it is to make sure
that you understand who your domain name is registered
with. I will not
rehash the details of how to register a name. More
information on that topic is available in our
May 2001 newsletter. Instead,
this article will focus on which company your domain
name is registered through.
Selecting a domain name
registrar (the company your domain name is registered
through) is much like selecting a long distance
telephone carrier. There are several companies offering
domain name registration, and they all claim to be the
best... much like long distance carriers. However, a
disturbing trend in recent months also mirrors the "long
distance" analogy - what I like to refer to as "domain
name slamming".
What happens is this:
You receive an email, or a letter in your mailbox,
telling you that it is time to renew your domain name.
There are all kinds of dire warnings about how failure
to renew will result in your losing your domain name. Of
course, this concerns you, so you immediately call in
your credit card number or send off a check so as to not
lose your domain name.
However, if you read the
"fine print" on the notice, you will find that (1) your
domain name may not actually be expiring for several
months, and (2) the company that sent you the "renewal"
notice is not even the company that you registered your
name with. By "renewing" your name using the "renewal"
notice, you are actually TRANSFERRING your domain name
from your old registrar to a new one. Typically, the fee
that you are charged is used to extend your registration
period for a year or two. However, your name is now
registered with the new company - not the one you
originally chose.
Is this a problem? Other
than the fact that it is blatantly misleading (remind
you of the long distance carriers?), I assume that there
is a reason why you chose your original registrar. The
new one may have terrible customer support, may be more
expensive, or may be harder to deal with.
The moral of the story: ANY decision regarding your
domain name should not be taken lightly. Your domain
name, like the rest of your website, is your identity on
the Web. This is not a place to "learn as you go" as
mistakes and bad decisions will be very time-consuming
and expensive to fix. If you are not absolutely sure
what you are agreeing to, ask your website design or
hosting company to explain. Or, give us a call at
Virtualtech and we would be happy to answer your
questions.
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