It’s essential that you ensure you’re the named owner of a domain name when it’s registered on your behalf. Domain names are so valuable that it could have a drastic effect on your business if you are not the owner of the domain name. Let me explain why…
Once its gone, its gone
All things considered, domain names are cheap to purchase and renew each year, herein lies the problem. If someone owns a domain that you like chances are unless you make them an “offer they can’t refuse” then you will never get control of it as the person that owns it doesn’t have to break-the-bank to renew it each year when it is due to expire.
Just because a domain name has been used for your website doesn’t mean you own it
You only own your domain name if your name is listed as the registrant. It’s a sad but true fact that some website designers register domain names for their clients and set themselves as the registrar for that domain name.
Why is all this important?
Consider the following scenario, it might sound crazy now but your website designer may hold your domain name “hostage” so to speak and not give you control of it if for example you decided to move to a different website designer. I hear cases of this fairly frequently and of course the “client” has the understandable feelings of outrage since it is them that owns the company and paid for the domain name and website to be developed etc. However, in the eyes of the registrars it is the person who is listed as the registrar for the domain name that is the owner.
How do I find out if I own my own domain name?
You can do what’s called a WHOIS search using a website like http://www.domaintools.com/. Simply enter your domain name in the search box a the top of the page and click on the “Search” button. The page will then reload and you will see all the information about your domain name like of course the registrant, and things like when the domain name is due to expire.
What are my options to get the domain name in my control?
If you don’t own the domain name you think you should then all is not lost, it won’t be easy but there are various avenues to explore to try and gain control of a domain name but they are too involved for this post.
Don’t forget, if in doubt ask your website designer now. It could save a lot of trouble later on.