Who’s Managing Your Domain Name?

Who’s Managing Your Domain Name?

Sam Prochazka manages Realpagemaker (http://www.realpagemaker.com), a company that has been building Realtor and real estate websites exclusively since 2002. Sam Prochazka regularly contributes to the RealPageMaker Blog (http://www.realpagemaker.com/blog).

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Website gone down? Realtors managing their own domain names risk this happening up to once per year, and the worst part is that their websites could be down forever…

What’s a domain name?

Wikipedia’s definition is as follows:

“A domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS).”

Put simply, a domain name is the address of a website, and is sometimes referred to (sometimes incorrectly) as a:

* URL
* Website Name
* Web address

How are they purchased?

Domain names are purchased through registrars who are accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Here are some examples:

* GoDaddy
* Domains At Cost
* Network Solutions

Registrars charge a variety of fees and typically offer a variety of other services including (but not limited to):

* Domain registration/parking/back-ordering
* Website design
* Website hosting
* Email

Who Owns a Domain Name?

This is a good question. Most people think that once they pay for a name they will own it indefinitely. The fact is that a person or company cannot “purchase” a domain name outright because they must continue paying registration renewal fees to keep control of that name.

In essence, domains are like rented real estate – you can sign variable term leases (1-10 years), but the lease will inevitably expire and need to be renewed, or terminated.

What happens if I miss a payment?

Missing a payment on a name can be EXTREMELY serious. Here’s what typically happens:

1. The registrar will email the technical and administrative contacts associated with the name notifying them that registration has expired, and that the name has been suspended for 30 days.

2. After two weeks, the registrar will email the technical and administrative contacts notifying them that the name is entering a redemption period (prices go up here!!).

3. After a month, the registrar will send one last email notifying the registrant that the name is about to be lost.

4a. Within a few days the registrar will offer the name to any third parties that have placed back-orders for it (this practice has become less common recently, though some people are unlucky enough to lose their names to these “domain squatters”). The successful back-order will become the new owner of the name.

4b. Occasionally the name will be deleted from the registrar, allowing anyone to move in and purchase it.

Recovering a name once it has expired or changed ownership can be an extremely expensive proposition. In many cases, unless the former owner is willing to pay hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, he/she will need to abandon the former name and start again. This means new business cards, email addresses, promotional material, advertising campaigns, search engine optimization, etc.

So, who should manage your domain name?

Make sure your domain manager has (at least) the following qualifications:

* They check their email AT LEAST once per day, including weekends
* They will never change their email address
* They are experienced in the registration and renewal processes
* They use only the most stable registrars

Managing a domain name properly is crucial for the success of any website. Serious professionals will leave this up to the experts.

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