Your Domain Name…Or Is It?

Do you really have control of your domain name? Most business owners assume they do, but I have seen all too often that this is just not the case.

Here’s the situation:

A client is unhappy with their web host and wants to make a move. They call me asking that I take care of it for them. I give them a list of the information I need to make the move, and when I mention the login name and password for their account at their domain name registrar, all I hear is silence. Most business people don’t know what a domain name registrar is or what they do, and that’s a problem.

What’s a Domain Name Registrar?

A domain name registrar is a company accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and/or by a national ccTLD (Top Level Domain) authority to register Internet domain names. An end-user cannot directly register and manage their domain name information with ICANN. A designated registrar must be chosen to have one’s domain names registered and managed with the appropriate registry (NIC) on their behalf.

Who is a Domain Name Registrar?

Well, they are companies like Network Solutions, Register.com, GoDaddy and others. When you decide on the domain name you want for your business, you can go directly to the web site of one of these companies and purchase your domain name. You will open an account with the registrar and you will choose, or be given a username and password for the account. In this case you control the domain name and can move your web site to any hosting company whenever you want by simply logging in to your registrar account and changing the DNS (Domain Name Server) to your new web host (After uploading your files to the host server, of course).

This is the Problem

Many web site hosting companies are re-sellers for these domain name registrars. What that allows them to do is offer you a hosting package that includes a domain name that they buy and renew each year. It sounds like a great deal until you want to change hosting companies, because now they have you over a barrel. They have control of your domain name because they bought it and it’s in their account with the registrar. Only they can access this account, so you have to go through them to release the name. Many unscrupulous hosting companies use this to hold you hostage to them.

Morel of the Story

Do not ever give someone else, especially a hosting company control of your domain name. You will be spending too much time and money building your brand to risk losing your domain name.