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Registering Your Killer Domain Name You've Got the Name, Now What? By Lori Goodman Congratulations, your killer domain name is available! Let's get busy locking it in and taking ownership. When in doubt, lock it in and keep searching. You can add it to your cart and continue to search for more names until you're ready to check out. Use a reliable domain registration company. Gone are the days of one choice with the $35.00 a year registration. We have so many choices now. For all newly registered domains I personally use www.GoDaddy.com. They've been around for awhile are simple to use, inexpensive and as reliable and responsive as you'll find. I am not affiliated with them in any way, I just like them better than others I've used in the past including my own affiliate company, truth be told. I can't do a better job than they can and they charge less than $12.00 per year for basic domain name registration, which is all most people need. I won't detail the check-out process since it's very simple. All you have to do is have some contact and server information handy and opt for the least expensive domain registration and you're done. You can check a box that skips past the "do you want to add this extra thing or fancy gadget?" in the future. Be careful to uncheck any boxes that might be pre-checked. I don't recall any on GoDaddy and it's been some time since I opted out of seeing the add-ons. Prepare some information before checking out. Once you're satisfied with the name you've chosen you're ready to rock! If not, please refer to Choosing a Killer Doman Name - Without Stomach Pains for help with that. Once you're ready here are some tips to guide you through the registration process. Choose your contacts wisely. During the registration process you will be asked to provide an • Administration contact information • Technical contact information • Billing contact information • Name server information (where you're planning to host your website) • Credit card information When it comes to my domains, I prefer having control over them. Here's why: A client comes to me after a bad experience with their web designer. Their web designer registered their domain name and designated themselves as the administrative contact. The client doesn't have the password to the account, the disgruntled designer does. The designer has their own personal or company name, mailing address, email address and phone number listed under administrative contact information. All correspondence relating to administration go to the designer, not the client who is the owner of the website. Chances are slim to none that you'll get any news about your account forwarded to you. Same goes for the technical contact. If it isn't you or the designer sometimes a hosting company has their information listed as the technical contact. Not good if you want to be on top of any changes or when you decide to go with someone else for your web design or hosting services. Choose your billing contact carefully. That should always be you or your company. If it's your company or website, chances are you also pay the bill. The email address you provide should be one you have had for a long time, one you check often and one you plan on keeping. Be careful to use a reliable email account and not one of the hit and miss "free" ones and choose one you can check for junk or "SPAM" mail. Small businesses or start-ups should keep it simple by using one mailing address for all contacts. Preferably your business address or a PO box. For home businesses or personal website registration I always suggest that you refrain from using your home address anywhere in the registration information. It's very simple to look up who owns a domain and gain access to their contact information. Is worth paying extra for a private domain? Some registrars charge as much as double to block your contact information from public view. I don't bother because I own several dozen domains, I don't use my home address and the extra cost really adds up. Criminals or the curious find ways around this anyway. It's not expensive to get (or even share) a basic PO box and you can use it for other purposes. To park or not to park? Most registrars offer domain name "parking". If this service is free, go ahead do it until you decide who to host with. If you already have your name server information from your hosting company, you will be asked to provide the information. If you don't it will normally default to the registrar's name servers. Some companies charge to change your name servers, so read the fine print and don't continue the check-out process if they charge an exit or change fee. GoDaddy does not charge to change name servers. If you're using a reputable registration company it will be a simple process to move to the hosting company of your choice. I've seen some companies charge a fee to move an account from their servers, which is not what I'd consider a friendly business practice. What's a name server? If you are hosting your website somewhere other than where you registered it (that's often the case) you will be required to get the name server information from your hosting company before starting the registration process. This information is sometimes on the hosting company's website or you can call and ask them for it. If you have already started a hosting account you should have been provide this information. This is what it looks like: NS1.hostingcompany.com, NS2.hostingcompany.com and so on is the format. NS1 = Name Server 1. Yep, it's really that simple! :0) Many registrars offer low cost hosting and though it sounds cheap and easy to go that route it's rarely that simple. You may find a cheaper registrar than GoDaddy. If you do, be aware of hidden fees that most of these low-to-no cost companies charge. Some lure you in cheap and force you to pay on the way out. You don't want to engage in battle to preserve the domain name you worked so hard to get. Never let your registration bill go unpaid! If you neglect to or forget to pay your registration bill there's a little thing called a redemption period. It's essentially a grace period where you can buy your name back for up to 2 months (it varies) and believe me, they know you want it back so you are going to pay dearly for it. Don't let an oversight in paying your annual fee before the name is set to expire. Pay it at least a month ahead of time or pay for 2 years or more in advance if you plan to keep the name. If you're planning on staying in the same business for awhile or it's your personal name, by all means register it for 5 years. This industry changes in the blink of an eye so I don't pay for anything for more than 5 years in advance (that's just me, do what feels right for you.). If you move...Don't forget to change your account contact information every time you move, change phones numbers or email addresses. If you didn't get the renewal notice there is no grace period. Domain syncing. It's offered by most registrars and what it does is help you handle multiple domains by having them come up for renewal at the same time. If you are auto-renewing and have a ton of names you can stagger them because you probably don't want one giant bill to renew all your names at once. Auto-renew. If your domain name goes down, your website will not come up when people type the name into their browser's address bar. Not until you've paid the entire bill including redemption and restoration fees and after waiting for them to get around turning your account back on. We've all been there, it happens. If it does, hopefully you find out before the name is up for grabs and someone else snags it. If you can get it back before it's too late, you can call yourself "mud" and pay the price and it probably won't happen again after you've paid $260.00 to restore your $12.00 a year name. To prevent that, on all names I care about I always opt to have my domains "auto-renew". If your credit card expires and you didn't update it in the account settings, registrars under no legal obligation to inform you. Most companies I've dealt with will give you a courtesy email because they want your continued business and referral business but not all are so reputable. Which leads me to the part of this business I do not like - dealing with crooks and sharks . . . Beware the crooks. There are companies that send out phony renewal notices that look very official. They make it sound like your domain is endanger of expiring unless you renew immediately. They get you into panic mode so you don't take the time to actually read the fine print. One of the worst offenders uses "Domain" and "America" in their name and an American flag as their logo. They have all your information on the fake invoice and make it appear like your domain name is going to expire TODAY if you don't renew NOW. I get these stupid things for every domain I own. I've never had a domain registrar "snail mail" me in 20 years. Only scammers and spammers use hard mail to tell you your name is expiring. When in doubt, log onto your account from the registrar's website that you typed into your browser's address window, never by clicking on any link in any email. On your account you'll see what the status of your account is and when it is expiring. Most registrars allow you to renew on the spot adding time before you have to worry about it. I keep a list of every domain name I own including when they expire just in case I can't get online for some reason. Don't Learn These Lessons the Hard Way! Never renew your domain name with anyone other than the company you originally registered with. Keep all contact information current and accurate, especially email addresses - sometimes email from your registrar ends up in your SPAM folder so white list your registrar's email address and sign into your account every so often to make sure you don't have any outstanding messages. If anyone else outside your organization is managing your account be sure to know and check all passwords. Change passwords and stow them safely before they know you plan to cease doing business with anyone who has access to your account. Pay your registration bill at least a month ahead of time. If you tend to forget things you do once a year (who doesn't) select the auto-registration feature in your account information. Check your credit card information to make sure it isn't expiring before your domain name expires. Watch for my upcoming articles on - How to attach to your web address to your IP address - a.k.a. "The DNS Experience" Choosing a perfect hosting company for your website Be nice and as always, Have Fun! ~ Lori Goodman Back to Articles [In the works: Find me on Facebook & Twitter for content updates] 
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