Domain Name Management

By Managed Web
Posted Monday, October 4, 2004

As more domain names are registered, so are more expiring, and all too often businesses find themselves losing their domain names because they forgot to renew them. Most domain names are valid for 2 years, and the problem is that some businesses change their contact details in that time but don't update their details with their domain registrar. Most registrars will automatically email you a reminder, but of course if your email address has changed you may not get the email, and could therefore lose the domain name if it's not renewed in time.

Is your domain name about to expire? Check it now at 123-Reg!

Definitions:

1) Domain Name: The bit after the www of your website address e.g. managedweb.com

2) Registration: Domains names aren't bought - they're effectively rented for a specific period.

3) Domain Registrar: The company that registers your domain for you.

4) Renewal: After the initial registration period, you need to renew your registration in order to continue using your domain name.

5) Web forwarding: This allows you to forward visitors to (www.yourdomain.com) to another website, for example if you have free web space from your ISP you want to use.

6) Email forwarding: This allows you to forward emails sent to you@yourdomain.com to another email address, for example if you have free email from your ISP you want to use.

7) Cloaking: Most web forwarding services offer two options. The first is direct forwarding, whereby visitors to your domain are redirected to your free or other webspace, but the free webspace's domain shows in the location bar at the top of the screen, e.g (www.freehost.com/users/managedweb) - not very pretty and not much point in having paid for a domain name! The other option is cloaking - this is the same as above, except your paid domain name remains in the location bar, so visitors effectively don't even know they've been forwarded to another website.

8) Domain Transfers: If you want to move your domain from one provider to another, perhaps because the current registrar is too expensive, then you need to arrange to transfer your domain name. You will need to speak to both the host you are transferring to, and the company you are transferring from for the correct procedure as this does vary. Alternatively, please contact us for assistance.

9) Detagged Domains: A detagged domain is a domain that is no longer associated with any nameservers - in simple language it's not being used anymore. A domain will be detagged if for example it's due to be renewed but the current registrant cannot be contacted. The ISP will then detag the domain so that they are not serving it anymore. They will then try to contact the owner to cancel it - this can take a long time and some domains are still detagged after a year after expiry. Nominet has now implemented new processes so that domains will be cancelled 90 days after expiry if the owner cannot be contacted.

Costs:

Costs vary considerably, as do the services you receive with different registrars. Some service providers may just register the domain and anything extra costs extra, for example web forwarding or email forwarding.

.uk domain names should cost no more than £20 for 2 years including email forwarding. Web hosting is likely to be extra, but you can get a small amount of webspace plus email forwarding and a free domain name for as little as £20 per year. UK domains can only be registered for 2 years.

.com domain names should cost no more than £50 for 2 years including email forwarding. Web hosting is likely to be extra, but you can get a small amount of webspace plus email forwarding and a free domain name for as little as £20 per year. Com domains can be registered for up to 10 years.

About Managed Web
Managed Web provides website maintenance, marketing and management services, including one-off or regular updates, website support, search engine marketing and website management. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at (http://www.managedweb.com/newsletter.shtml) for advice and information on running your website, or contact us via (www.managedweb.com) for more information.