Know your domain details
/We have completed a number of client projects lately that involved working with client Internet domains and domain names. In more than one case we have had to recover domains on behalf of clients who had lost control of them. For a domain name to be registered and used by your organisation, a number of different things need to be done at a number of different places:
- Someone - the registrant of record - needs to officially register the domain name
- The domain name needs to be registered with a domain registrar
- The address translations must be set up on a name server run by a DNS provider
- Your website must be built and set up on a web server run by a web hosting provider
- Your email must be set up on an email server run by an email hosting provider
If you do these things, or have them done for you, it's imperative that you keep track of them. Know who your providers are and have the usernames and passwords that you need to control your domain. More than once lately we have been about to commence work on a client campaign and have asked "where is your website hosted?" and been met with a blank look. "OK, who registered your company domain name?" Blank look. In cases like these, where we may have been engaged to build and launch a new website, sometimes the behind-the-scenes chasing of who registered what and who has the passwords can take longer than the task of actually building the website!
Documentation of domain registration and hosting details should be treated with the same care as business registration papers. Don't lose them. Make sure you have them and can bring them up at the drop of a hat. At Chilli Chocolate Marketing we actually provide a summary document containing all the server and provider information after the launch of an online campaign, so that our clients can have all their vital network information on file.
No more blank looks!
--Simon