How to lose your website's domain name

There's a very easy way to lose your Website's presence on the internet AND all its followers.

Just FORGET TO RENEW YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Your website still exists - but nobody can see it. That's all. It's really very, very simple.

I've lost count of the number of artists and art societies / groups / organisations who have fallen foul of thinking somebody else would remember to remind them that the licence for the domain name needs renewal.

This morning I came across another to add to the list.

Things you must remember

1. You do NOT own your domain name
2. When you pay for a domain name, you license it for a specific period of time
3. If you do NOT renew the licence in time you risk losing your website's presence on the internet i.e. your website ceases to exist
4. If you are unable to re-register the domain name, all the effort you have made to get the domain name recognised is wasted

More VERY IMPORTANT TO BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS TIP at the end - and the last two are critical!

Why are domain names important

Domain names provide a unique way of referencing a single unique site on the internet.

Hence they are very precious. They are that important. 

Quite often people buy their domain names before they've even worked out how they are going to build their website.

Speaking personally, I own far more domain names than I do websites. That's because I've got a bunch of them which were bought for defensive reasons i.e. I didn't want anybody else having the name.

How domain names work

A domain name is the web address that people type to reach a specific website

The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the complete address that specifies the exact location of a specific page or resource on the internet. 

What you can have as an ending for your website has expanded enormously since I first applied for a domain name - but the old favourites (e.g. com) still hold sway.

How do you get a domain name

To apply for a domain name you need to use a domain name registrar. You then typically maintain yoiur registration via an account with that registrar.

e.g. I started with 123 and then switched to Namecheap (who have been around forever and are much better and cheaper!)

Your Registrar's website will provide with an application which typically asks you to choose, as a minimum:

• the prefix for your domain name
• the ending for your domain name
• what period you want to licence it for

Why you lose access to a domain name

Bottom line - if you forget to renew it you lose the domain name.

If you are really, really lucky you find out you've forgotten before anybody else re-registers it for their website. You can then 

• pay the fee for the renewal (although you'll probably have to re-register) and 
• heave an enormous sigh of relief that you don't need to 
• start again from scratch with changing the domain name and 
• rebuilding all the links to the domain name - which helps it rank in search engines.

If somebody else has acquired your domain name that almost certainly means your domain name is gone forever.

When you forget you may get a reminder. However it's more normal for that to arrive before your domain name registration period runs out.

TOP TIPS for keeping your domain name

1. Remember that this is a MUST DO - it's not optional!
2. Keep a written record of all the domains you own - and review it. (Mine is in my password book). You need to note:
• name of the registrar
• domain name
• term of licence
• expiry / renewal date
• whether automated or manual payment
• the expiry date of the credit card used for automated payments (i.e. the normal reason why payments do not get made!)
3. Choose to renew for more than one year if you know you don't like admin!
4. Calendarise due dates for payment in your digital diary to extend your ownership of the domain name
5. Give yourself reminder alerts to make sure you check everything is OK and the payment is made on time
6. Make sure that you pay on time
7. If your registrar renews and takes a fee for payment automatically, make sure that your account has sufficient funds for all automated payments
8. Be sure to change your credit card for automated payments BEFORE it expires!
9. If you employ somebody else to look after your website - NEVER EVER let somebody else also take responsibility for the domain name registration and renewal of the domain. YOU MUST KEEP CONTROL OF THE DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION.  
   

Re. the last TIP - I have lost count of the number of people who have lost their domain names and websites because they've fallen out of love with their website person - who may have got interested in other things / goes out of business / become lazy / suddenly raises their charges and loses interest in all the admin associated with your website / no way of contacting the website person - including in relation to the domain name payment.