2286 This is a bit of a blast from the past to be sure. In 2010 we often assume that by know everyone already knows the ins and outs of domain name registration, but that isn't always true so it can't hurt to put a little "refresher" out there for good measure.

Your domain name is your Internet identity, but also functions as your "navigation beacon" in cyberspace. Obviously, without a domain name, nobody would be able to find you online. What many people forget is that if your domain name isn't working, not only is your web site going down, but your email will stop working. A web site going dark is bad, but experience tells us that an email outage is a catastrophe in the eyes of most people. Your domain name is about the most important cyber-asset you have.

Given how important your domain name is, there are a few key points that everyone should be aware of with regard to good domain name health.

1. Always ensure that your domain name is registered to YOU (or your company). Its nice when your web host or designer offers to take care of domain name registration for you, but even when done with the best of intentions, having your name registered to someone else is always a bad idea. The registrant of a domain name effectively owns that name, so be sure that your name is registered to you, not your host or designer.

2. Be sure that you are the administrative contact for your domain. Again, many people are more than happy to let a host or web designer handle this, but you absolutely want to be the administrative contact for your domain so that you get all notices from the registrar concerning problems, upcoming renewals and the like. Even if you have no idea what those notices might mean, make sure they come to you. You can always forward them to your hosting company or designer for clarification if needed. Let your host or web designer be the technical contact for your domain if they insist on having some role there.

3. Be sure you keep your contact information up to date with the registrar. Registering a domain name is not a "set it and forget it" affair. If you register a name using an email address that you then abandon or otherwise ignore, odds are your domain will expire silently at some point and you'll find yourself in an emergency situation on a Sunday night at 10 PM. If you change your email address, you MUST update your domain registration information to reflect that change.

4. This one is so basic, yet we are always amazed at the number of people that do not understand the concept. The fee you pay to register (and subsequently renew) a domain name has nothing to do (in most cases) with the fee you pay each month to have your website and/or email hosted by a hosting company. Your hosting company may sell domain name registrations (via an ICANN approved registrar partner), however paying your hosting bill does not mean you are paying to "own" a domain name. Nor does paying for your domain name mean you've paid for hosting. We've seen many a domain name go dark over silly billing disputes that could have been avoided by understanding this basic issue.

5. Your domain name registration record tells the world which domain name servers (DNS servers) know all the addresses in your domain. Odds are you have no real control over DNS servers, but you do want to make sure that you have more than one handling your domain, and that all listed DNS servers for your domain still exist and are configured to handle your domain name properly.

Take 10 minutes in the next week or so to go over these items. If you're unsure of anything, ask your web host or web designer for help. I know we'd be happy to help a customer proactively avoid a domain name emergency and I'm sure most providers would feel the same way.

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