Who should control your domain name? You!

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to a website. Much of it can be handed off to someone else to manage. But there’s one very important part that you should always take care of you own- your domain name.

Your domain is how people find you on the internet. It’s pretty darn important. Once you’ve built a reputation you certainly don’t want to lose it and start all over again.

Many business owners make the mistake of handing off domain management to a friend, web designer, or agency. Or worse, they get get trapped into a “free domain with hosting” deal.

Think about this- what happens if you have a falling out, or the employee leaves? What if you want to change hosts? While it’s not always impossible to regain control of your domain name, it can be difficult. Make things easy on yourself and maintain that control from the beginning.

Here are a few main reasons why YOU should keep control of your domain name.

Always Control Access

Your domain is one of the most important components of your business. You need to control who has access to it. You need to always be able to access your domain to update records and keep it in good standing.

Don’t Rely on Anyone Else to Register the Domain

In most instances you can add a user to manage your domain if you need help. I will often ask you to grant me access so I can update nameservers for you. But, you should always be the owner of the domain. An ex-employee as owner could easily take down your website by pointing it to anything or nothing. If they own the domain, they can lock you out and we won’t be able to fix it.

Keep Login Details Secure

Use a password manager and keep your login details secure at all times. Your password should not be easy and if possible, you should be using 2FA. If someone were to hack your GoDaddy, or other registrar account, they could easily transfer your domain out and it would be difficult to get it back.

If Your Domain is Hacked, Your Email Stops

If you use an email address associated with your domain (and you should for good branding!), then it’s even more important that you keep the domain safe. If your nameservers are changed, the domain isn’t renewed or the domain gets transferred, not only does your website stop, your email does as well.

Don’t Ignore Reminder Emails

Never ignore an email from your domain name registrar. As a client of mine, if you are in doubt, forward it to me and tell me you aren’t sure what to do. I will happily guide you. You need to pay attention so you don’t miss registration renewals or other important information.

Don’t Buy Hosting That Include Free Domain

These little promos irritate me. On the whole their harmless. But you must understand when doing this you are tied to that host for at least the first year. I prefer to keep hosting and domain registration separate for many reasons so being in locked into this type of contract is not ideal. You can usually buy them out and get the domain transferred to your name and away, but it takes extra steps and if it involves your website being down this is not ideal. Do it right from the start and keep them apart.

As you can see your domain name is the most important part of your website and it’s important to keep it safe. I will never register a domain for you, I will always tell you to do that part because I want you to own it. You should always be in control of your domain name.

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