Your domain registration is critically important. Its easy to get lazy about this stuff. Often your ISP or whoever set up your web site said theyd take care of it and that was it. Its been working fine for years, and you dont have to worry about it.
But you do need to worry about it. In fact, you need to take control of it, and review that control regularly to make sure you still have it. If you lose control, it can be time consuming and difficult to get it back - in fact, you could even lose your domain name, though thats not the subject discussed here.
Lets review DNS for a moment. This is external DNS, not the DNS you may be using inside your own network to identify machines. This DNS is the one that lets you get mail if you have a mail server and lets people get to your website. It is extremely important. Yes, its geek talk, you dont want to hear it, you want someone else to take care of this, but its too important for that. You need to understand this or everything can come to a grinding halt.
Your web site is registered with one of the official registrars. From your point of view, you may have paid money to someone else for the domain registration, but its one of these places that really did the work, and there is one critical piece of information they control about your domain. That piece of data is the address of the name servers responsible for resolving addresses in your domain. So, if you are xyz.com, somewhere there is a name server that knows where www.xyz.com is, where mail.xyz.com is and so on. The registrar doesnt necessarily know or care where www.xyz.com is, but they do have to know who does know that.
Life used to be more simple. There was one, and exactly one registrar: Network Solutions. You did the domain registration with them, and that was it. Actually, there was a time when it was even more simple, but from your point of view, somewhere there is a database that keeps track of you and me and everyone else. It isnt your registrar who actually keeps that database, but they are allowed to access it to update information. So thats the flow: your registrar knows where your DNS servers are, and they tell the central servers. The overall control of all this is now in the hands of ICANN.
Do we have the picture now Your ISP may actually provide DNS information, but its the registrar who tells the central DNS to go ask your ISP for IP addresses and reverse lookups. If the registrar told the central servers that a different outfit was responsible for your domain, thats where the ip address for www.xyz.com would come from.
This is important, so Im going to be pedantic here just in case you arent getting this yet. Lets say that the DNS server at worldnic.com says that your www address is 64.226.42.29 and the DNS server at your ISP says its 82.165.235.25. Which address will you get if you ping www.xyz.com
The answer depends on who your registrar says is your DNS server. If they say worldnic is responsible, then your ping will go to 64.226.42.29, but if they say your ISPs servers are the authority for your domain, then it goes to 82.165.235.25. Two different addresses, and possibly different web sites.
Its possible for things to be more confusing. If you use your web hosting companys name servers for DNS, but the registrar has a different name server recorded for your domain, you could get a different answer than anyone not using that ISP. I have seen this happen more than once.
You can use dig on a Unix or Linux box to query specific nameservers: dig @somedns xyz.com. That bypasses your normal DNS and directly asks the server you specify
So now for the really important question. Who controls the registrar
If the answer isnt I do, then you have a problem. Is it the guy who designed your web site Who was that guy, anyway Or maybe its the ISP who unfortunately just went out of business and isnt answering the phone any more. You own your domain, and want to move it to a new ISP, but hows that going to happen if you dont control the registrar
Well, it can be difficult. You are going to have to prove that you really do own xyz.com, that the guy who designed the site or the defunct ISP was just acting on your behalf, and then you can tell the registrar where to point your DNS (or can control it yourself right at the registrar; for example Network Solutions allows you to maintain your own DNS).
You may actually already have an account with the registrar. That may have been setup for you when you first created your domain. When you set up an account, they usually want an email address for you. That address is important, because usually thats all they need to prove your identity later: they just send a query to the address they have for you, and if you can respond to it, well, thats you then. But what if the email address you used was an old aol account that you let lapse They cant send mail to it, so you cant prove you own the domain that way.
There are, of course procedures for this kind of situation. You may be able to fax a simple form that sets the domain registration information straight. It obviously shouldnt be too easy: you wouldnt want someone to be able to steal your domain or divert it elsewhere simply by saying thats mine.
There have been cases of hijacking, including the famous sex.com dispute. If you have the wrong people listed in the whois for your domain, it can be dangerously easy.
By the way, you also need to watch out for these fly by night and fake domain renewals. Know who you are supposed to renew your domain with so you dont get caught by one of these folks. I have had more than one client think that they renewed but actually they just paid money for some valueless listing service masquerading as domain renewal.
The time to get it all sorted out is before you need to. You dont want to find out you have a problem with your registrar on the day your ISP goes belly up or when someone tries to hijack your domain name. So.. take a moment now to dig into this. If you dont know who has control of your registrar, find out. If it is you, make sure you have account names and passwords and that any information they have about you (email, postal address, phone) is current and accurate.
Controlling your domain registration and DNS with your registrar is important; Look into it today.
Anthony Lawrence is a self employed consultsnt and web master for and other web sites.
In the E-World your domain name is your first assessment of what your site is about. Its not just your site name but it is the first criterion of your success on the Internet and when it comes to a point of success you must hold it tight. It can make your business stand out in the crowd, or just float aimlessly in space. Well many of us think that it merely plays any role but its not the truth. Think if nobody remembers your site name or see no visual look of what your site is about.
The temptation of a good domain name is so powerful; thats why some companies even paid ridiculously high prices to get the name they want. The domains Loans.com and Wines.com were both bought for $3 million each. Telephone.com was acquired for $1.75 million, while Bingo.com sold for $1.1 million.
So the main question is, what points we should consider when we choose a domain name. For better results, your domain name should be memorable and easy to remember. Remember the following tips when creating a domain name.
* The domain name should be short.
* The domain name should be simple.
* It should be suggestive of your business category.
* It should be unique.
* It should be easy to interpret and pronounce.
* It should be personalized.
* It should not be difficult to spell.
* It should not be difficult to remember.
Domain names can be registered through many different companies (known as registrars). You can register for 1 to 10 years - prices can vary anywhere from $10 to $20 per year. Most web hosting companies, will handle the registration process for you, but make sure that you are properly listed as the owner of the domain when it is registered.
If you have registered a domain name for a specific period, make sure you renew it in time. You can be surprised at the number of cases, where site owners have let a domain name slip by if they have not renewed in time.
How to use expired domains:
Did you know you can use expired domains to skyrocket your traffic Let me tell you about expired domains first. Thousands of webmasters invest time, effort and money to promote their site and build up traffic. Many of them then lose interest and move on, leaving their site active. That means that although they still own the domain, theyre not actively promoting it.
All the automatic marketing systems theyve put in place are still bringing in traffic. The site runs itself. Now, at some point the ownership of those domains is going to expire. If you snap up those domains once they come back onto the market, youve got a pre-built stream of customers. You can either rebuild the site, or redirect the traffic to your domain. You could set up an affiliate program get paid for users someone else paid for.
Its that easy.
Websites such as www.expiredtraffic.com or www.deleteddomains.com are doing great job for expired domains. They actually do all the legwork and let you reap all the rewards. Even you can back-order a specific domain name also.
Do be careful when using other sites though. There are some swindlers out there that will sell you subscriptions, provide you with outdated lists, take your money and keep the good domains for themselves.
There are tons of options, and lots of easy ways to make lots of money with very little effort. Opportunities like these are everywhere. All we need a strong determination to succeed, and a good mentor.
Raamakant S. is an Author of The e Success Code. An entire Internet Marketing Encyclopedia covers almost every topic of Internet marketing.If youve ever dreamed of having your own Internet Business that produces thousands of dollars each and every month, visit: