Why you should manage your website domain names

• Domain Names are often tied to service providers like web design firms, email providers, internet connection (ISP) - if you want to change service providers, or worse, the service provider goes out of business you lose access to your domain name management.
• Domain Names are a valuable asset - at least for your business. Is as important as your logo, your storefront, your machinery. It's the entry point for your customers and the backbone for your communication (think of email)
• The information stored with a domain name doesn't need to be changed often, sometimes years pass from one change to another. Therefore it is even more important that the knowledge on how or whom to contact for changes is ready accessible
• Many businesses have more than one domain name. Managing them means also have them organized in one place to keep up with renewing them and keep relevant information up to date.
• The domain name is the number one reason for delayed launches of a redesigned website - more than once I encountered the problem that we couldn't access the domain name management in way to switch to a new website. How long is the average delay - 2 weeks

What does managing your domain name mean?

There is sometimes confusion about websites, website hosts and domain name registration. The domain name is not your website and does not need to be tied to a website hosting company. The domain name is just like a entry in your address book - it collects a couple of numbers under an easy to remember name. Managing the information stored with a domain name is a service on it's own and there are companies that are specialized in offering this service.

Controlling a domain name therefore means that you as a business have access to the information stored with your domain name and can change it when necessary. Controlling the domain does not mean necessarily mean every business does need to know how the technology behind domain names works, web designers know this stuff, but you as a business should be able to give access to this information, not some third party.

Best practices for managing your domain names for businesses

• Ideally ALL domain names are managed by ONE dedicated service provider that offers domain management as their core business. Good providers are (I speak from experience) hover.com and domaindiscount24.net
• This service provider should give your business full access to all the records stored with your domain and have DNS functionality
• The login information for this service provider should be stored in a save place and more than one person should be in the know about it
• Set domains to auto-renewal
• Update the WHOIS information of the domain names ... it is the only way to proof that you are the owner of the domains if there is a dispute
• The records stored with a domain can be managed by a service provider (web designer, design agency) - but the login information needs to be changed after the relationship or project is completed

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