| Recent case studies of 5 small business owners who | | | | Most web site owners acquire a www domain for |
| had their web sites disappear from the internet may | | | | personal or business use through a registrar who acts |
| be the subject of an upcoming eBook. The situation | | | | on your behalf and applies for your domain with the |
| happens more frequently than some people realize, | | | | registry. Approval is usually received within 24 hours. |
| so the following advice is being released now. Free | | | | Your registration information is then kept on file with |
| domain registration information is easily retrieved and | | | | the registry. This is long forgotten until a problem |
| should be reviewed by any site owner who is | | | | occurs, usually by surprise! |
| unfamiliar with the term "WhoIs". | | | | The solution: Using any major search engine, do a |
| Many web site owners may not know what WhoIs | | | | search on "whois" and follow the links to access a |
| means, so here is the short version and action plan. | | | | whois database. Most have a search box for entering |
| Do this today! | | | | your www domain name, and once you hit enter or |
| Web sites disappear for a variety of reasons, and | | | | the go button the report is retrieved in a matter of |
| small business owners are particularly susceptible to | | | | seconds. |
| this problem because they are too busy running a | | | | Reports may vary in format, however, all should |
| business to learn about risks involved with a www | | | | display key information including registrar, registrant, |
| domain or hosting. | | | | administrative contact, technical contact, and perhaps |
| Here is an outline of the basic cause in each of the 5 | | | | billing contact. Confirm the accuracy of each, |
| case studies: | | | | however, if any ONE piece of data is critical it is the |
| 1. Inactive Administrative Contact Email Address | | | | administrative contact. It should be you, and it should |
| 2. Hidden Registrar and Incorrect Registrant | | | | list a current active email address. If either is untrue, |
| 3. Expired Credit Card for Hosting | | | | it needs to be corrected. Next, let's explore the |
| 4. Hijacked Domain and Identity Theft | | | | importance of the administrative contact. |
| 5. An Example of an ISP Shown as the Registrant | | | | The only recognized authority for controlling your |
| Learn from the mistakes that others have made, and | | | | domain, including changes, is the administrative |
| in a few easy steps you can prevent this | | | | contact, but wait. Changes can only be made by |
| unfortunate surprise. Advice includes a cast of | | | | email correspondence, therefore your name as the |
| characters that may not be familiar. Let's introduce | | | | registrant (or admin contact) does not make you the |
| them first so you understand the difference | | | | authorized person for changes. It is whoever |
| between registry, registrar, and registrant. | | | | answers the email listed under administrative contact, |
| Registry - the worldwide authority that controls | | | | so an old or invalid email address will not work. The |
| issuing of www domains to avoid duplicates | | | | admin email address needs to be yours, and it needs |
| Registrar - a service company authorized to register | | | | to be kept current. |
| or renew domains with the registry | | | | Review your registration information. Problems? Begin |
| Registrant - the entity, person or company, who | | | | with your internet service provider to learn how to |
| owns the license for a particular www domain | | | | have entries corrected. You may need to contact |
| * Note: No one owns a domain. Registering is an | | | | your registrar, also. |
| exclusive license for a set period of time. | | | | |