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Internet Marketing Central
Domain Name
Renewal Reminder
by Alli Denning, denning e-solutions, LLC, 4Q 2005
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I wrote on this
topic a couple of years ago, but it deserves a regular look. When you
register your domain name, you were not buying it outright, you simply
purchase a license to use that name for a certain period of time.
When that period of time expires, if you have not renewed the name,
someone else can buy it on the open market.
The cost in time
and money associated with losing your domain name can be very high.
Losing your online identity could compromise the name recognition you
have developed, interrupt email and business communications, and
render useless any other marketing materials you may have that include
your web site address. Bottom line: don’t let this happen to you. It
is an easy thing to check and do when the time comes.
Please take a
moment to look up your domain name’s official information. You will
want to make sure of two important items.
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The expiration
date of the license;
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The contact
information for the Admin Contact, particularly the admin email
address – all communication regarding your domain is sent to the
Admin contact’s email address.
You can go to
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jhtml
and type in
your domain in the field indicated. Or, you can simply go to Network
Solutions at
www.netsol.com and choose the link for “WHOIS” from along the
bottom of their site. Doing so will bring up your domain name’s
license information.
Should you find
incorrect information, you will need to update your account. That can
be done by logging into the site of your registrar. The registrar is
listed in the bottom section of the WHOIS results screen.
I have been asked
by several clients if this is something that I could manage for them.
Unfortunately, it is not. Your domain name license is a business
asset owned by your organization. I am not notified in any way about
issues related to your domain name such as upcoming renewals. It
needs to be the responsibility of someone within your organization to
make sure that the contact information is correct and is set to an
email address that is not likely to change, even as personnel
changes. Further, please document and store this information in an
easy to find location.
I am happy to walk
you through the above process if you like. And, as always, please let
me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your
business!
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