Domain
Management
Domain Management
The way you manage your domain name name could mean the difference
between your site being online or offline. Paying careful attention
to administration is an important consideration easily overlooked.
A mistake domain owners make is entering incorrect contact information
at the point of registration this in turn means that their domain's
WHOIS record is also incorrect.
There are several components to a WHOIS record, all or most of
which you will be asked to complete when registering a domain name.
These are:
Registrant: The person or organisation that registered
the domain name.
Administrative contact: The person or organisation
that will be responsible for all administrative issues relating
to the domain name, including registrant information.
Billing contact: This is the person or organisation
responsible for handling any billing issues related to the domain
name.
Technical Contact: The technical contact is one
of the most important aspects of your registration record. This
is the person or organisation that should be contacted regarding
any technical issues pertaining to your domain, and usually contains
the contact information of the domain name registration service
that registered the address.
Should you ever wish to sell, transfer or otherwise update then
the techical contact is usually involved.
There are also several pieces of information that are only available
when a domain name is queried via a WHOIS service. These include:
Registrar of record: The domain name registration service that
registered the domain name.
Record last updated: The last time any sort of alteration/update
was made to the domain’s WHOIS record.
Record expires on: The date the domain name expires. When a domain
name expires, the registrant risks losing control of the name.
Record created on: The date the domain was initially registered.
Domain servers: This contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information
for a domain; there are usually two lines of DNS information. The
first is typically a site’s primary DNS information, while
the second contains secondary/back-up information.
Most registrars allow their users to update most of this information
at any time via a Web-based control panel. Make sure you retain
your login information when you initially register a domain.
Failing to complete any component of a WHOIS record fully and accurately,
or not keeping it completely updated, can lead to problems. An out
of date email address, for example, may prevent you from receiving
the information required to renew your domain when its expiry date
approaches. Therefore, always make sure your information is up to
date – otherwise, you could eventually lose control of your
domain.
About the Author Clare Lawrence is CEO
of Discount Domains Ltd – A leading UK provider of Domain
name registration and Web Hosting services. Please feel free to
re-publish this article provided this reference box remains together
with a hyperlink to http://www.discountdomainsuk.com
Clare can also be contacted on clare@discountdomainsuk.com
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