Do you know for sure that you have control of your website? What I mean by this is, do you have the login information for your domain? As a business owner, you need to be able to say “Yes” without a shred of doubt. If the questions above look more like Greek than English, please read further.
To simplify things a bit, your domain is your web address. For example, our domain is www.protocol80.com. We purchased this from GoDaddy,a company that is certified to hand out domains. When we bought www.protocol80.com, we were given an account which we have the login information for. There are many more companies that you can purchase web addresses from, and the login information they give you is the single most important thing in getting control of your website.
If you are not sure about your login information, the most common problem you will run into is when you try to change something. For instance, if your website and/or email keep going down, you’ll probably want to change hosting providers (i.e. the company responsible for providing you these services) to a more reliable company. Or maybe you’re running into problems with your current web developers, and you would like to switch to a different company. Chances are, if you do not have the login information for your domain, you will not be able to make the switch without a fight, and possible downtime.
If you do not have your domain login information, you can start the process of getting it by looking at the information that is publicly available about your website:
- Open a web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox,etc..) and go to http://www.dnsgoodies.com.
- The second text box from the top is labeled Whois – Domain IP. Type your domain name (e.g. yourbusiness.com)into this box, and click the WhoIs button. All the information that is publicly available about your website is displayed on the right after a couple of seconds. There are two pieces of information that you’re looking for here:
- Your Registrar’s Name - this is the company from which your domain name was purchased
- The email address for the Admin Contact – this email address is where all communication regarding your domain is sent. This needs to be an email account that you are able to check.
Hopefully this has been a call to action and you will soon know for sure that you are in charge of your website. If you start this process and need assistance, please feel free to contact us.
