Who…Who…Who Owns Your Domain Name?

by Bonnie Boots

I'm writing this article at Halloween, the time of year when people run around pretending to be afraid of ghosts, goblins and assorted ghouls. It's all just for fun. But there's one thing that's a very real threat. One thing that really should send a shiver of fear down your spine. It's the answer to this question:

Who…who…whoooooo owns your domain name?

The answer may seem simple. You may already be thinking, “I do, of course.”

 But if you're just thinking it and not knowing it, you may already have been grabbed by the goblins…and not even know it!

Your domain name is precious. It's one of the most important things you own. So you should know all about it. You should know where it's registered. And you should know whom it's registered to. But one of the scariest things I come across as I work with people on their web sites is this–many people don't know this basic information about their domains.

Your domain name is the primary identifier of your web site. Without it, people can't find all that wonderful content you've published on the internet. That's why you must be so protective of it.

To put this into a picture, just imagine that your home would disappear from view if a thief stole the address numbers off your front door. If that could happen, you'd have those numbers so firmly affixed to your house that no thief could ever abscond with them. You'd have your own name and phone number etched on the back. And you'd have a huge, blaring alarm that would warn you if anyone even tried to touch them.

You should be doing the very same thing with your precious domain names. And if you purchased your domain names and registered them yourself through a service such as GoDaddy or HostGator, then you can sleep well, knowing the goblins are locked out. These domain registrars told the proper officials that you, and no one else, owns your domain name, and they'll send you a warning if anyone ever tries to touch it.

But if you had someone help you set up a web site, especially if they said, “We handle everything,” there's a strong possibility you should be shivering in your boots, because it's entirely possible that when they registered a domain name for your web site, they put their own business information into the domain registration.

This isn't usually done for any nefarious reason. Sometimes people do it because they're dealing with a client who's already overwhelmed with all the decisions to be made. The designer thinks, “I'll do them a favor and take care of this detail myself.”

And sometimes people put in their own business information because it takes less time than stopping to pull up their client's information.

But sometimes people do it as a sort of hidden guarantee that they'll be paid in full. If you don't pay your web design bill–no problem. They'll just remind you that you don't really own your own web site until they transfer the domain registration to you. And they'll gladly do this as soon as your account is paid.

And sometimes people do it to hold you hostage to their web hosting service. They offer bargain basement prices to set up a web site, and then charge you outrageous prices for hosting it. And if you try to move to another host–surprise! (Cue the spooky music and screaming sounds.) They can hold your web site hostage to blackmail you into staying with them!

For all practical purposes, a domain name doesn't belong to the person that paid for it. It belongs to the person whose information is listed in WHOSIS.   WHOIS is the name of a searchable database maintained by the registrar, which contains information about domain names, and the contacts associated with them. WHOIS provides, to anyone that asks, information about the domain name and what server it's on, where it's registered, and sometimes, when it will expire or will become available.

Now that you know how very, very important this is, here's some tips to make sure you, and you alone, are the registered, legal owner of all your domain names.

1.  Never buy hosting from someone that includes a free domain name with their hosting package.

2.  Never purchase your domain name from a hosting provider unless you are absolutely certain they will be putting your name in the WHOSIS. GoDaddy and Hostgator are two hosting services that include this as part of your domain registration.

3.  Never buy a web site without researching the WHOSIS so you know whom the legal owner is.

4. To check on the WHOSIS of any domain go to "http://www.internic.net/whois.html"    . Type in a domain name and click “submit.” They will show you the information that was entered as the legal owner of that domain name.

5. To see how legitimate a company is, do a WHOSIS on their domain name. Look for the creation date. This will tell you how long the company has been doing business under that domain name.

6.  NEVER let someone else purchase and register a domain name on your behalf. I recommend purchasing domain names from "http://www.godaddy.com" , or "http://www.hostgator.com"   , or "http://www.namecheap.com"  .   Once you have purchased a domain name, you will be asked to enter the DNS from your hosting service into the domain name records. This will “point” your domain name to your hosted web site. And that's what makes your web site appear when someone types your URL into their browser! (DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS is a database system that translates a computer's fully qualified domain name into an IP address.)

Don't be put off by a little bit of tech talk. This is all incredibly easy to do. It's so easy that there can be no excuse for not doing it yourself. That's the only way you'll be absolutely sure you can answer the question “Who…who…whooooo owns your domain name?”

About The Author:

Bonnie Boots is the publisher/editor of The Internet Wizards Magazine for people who want to create their own products and market on the internet. Register for your free 1-year subscription at http://www.theinternetwizards.com