GravityFreedom – Discussions on Internet Marketing, Web Design and Web Development by GravityFree in Sarasota, Florida

The subject of domain names generally only comes up when a new site is being developed, or an existing site is being moved from one provider to another. During other times, domain names are generally ignored and fall into the background because they “just work” and nobody ever needs to do anything with them. The purpose of this writing is to help you to form a better appreciation for your domain names and understand what can happen if they are neglected. My hope is that these tips will help save you hours of grief later on through proper planning and management.Your domain name is your primary method of communication on the Internet. It is your online identity. People use it to access your web site, and to send and receive e-mails dozens (if not hundreds) of times every day. It is your single most valuable piece of online intellectual property that allows everything else to function.

However, your domain name can also become a single point of failure if it is not managed properly. Just in the last couple of weeks I have seen several cases where improper domain name management has led to immense losses.

In one instance, the DNS servers set on the domain were mysteriously switched to point away from GravityFree’s DNS servers. This caused untold numbers of visitors to see a generic “under construction” page at the registrar and disrupted e-mail service (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen).

In another case, a client approached us to inquire as to how they might get their domain back. Due to an administrative error, they had neglected to pay their renewal fee and the domain expired. Unfortunately, someone else had the domain on backorder and snatched it away before they could re-register it. Their chances of getting it back now are slim, and it will be very costly assuming the new owner is even willing to sell it back to them!

Another problem is with companies who send unsolicited, official-looking “renewal” notices that cause you to pay for your domain name twice, or be pulled into a false sense of security thinking you have renewed when you actually haven’t.

I work with and help manage thousands of domain names, and here are some tips that can help you to avoid some of the common problems I see on a regular basis:

1) Keep inventory. Know what domain names you own and where they are registered. Keep a record of the usernames and passwords readily available in case you need to access those accounts quickly. If you have someone else manage your domain names (see below), still keep a list of those names and what company is managing them for you.

2) Limit who has access to that information. Access to your domain names should be granted on a need-to-know basis, and then only to qualified IT staff or management. Your registry accounts should be treated like a valuable corporate resource. Someone who doesn’t know what they are doing can take your site down and disrupt e-mail service without realizing it.

3) Delegate responsibility and management to a qualified vendor. If you have qualified in-house IT staff, you should be comfortable keeping your domain names managed internally. If you do not have dedicated IT staff then I recommend delegating management of your domain names to a qualified vendor (such as GravityFree). We manage hundreds of domain names for our clients, and we can manage yours as well. Be wary of having an individual, independent IT consultant manage your domains. They can be great, and some are, but you may have little or no recourse if they pass away, vanish, or otherwise decide to be uncooperative with you. This could happen with any outsourced IT firm, but the chances of disaster are much higher with an independent consultant. ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy will provide some recourse if that happens, but it’s very expensive and time consuming to go through and it can cripple your business in the mean time. Use a reputable provider with staff who specialize in domain name and DNS management.

4) Renew for the maximum term you can afford. For most companies we renew domains for two years at a time. For larger companies that rely on Internet sales as a core part of their business, renew for five or ten years at a time. The benefit is that you don’t have to worry about renewing for a long time, but the downside is that you can forget to keep the contact information updated, so when it does come time for renewal you may not get the notice. That brings me to my next point.

5) Keep your contact information updated. This includes your general contact information with the registrar, as well as the information listed in the WHOIS database. If there are any problems with your domain name, your registrar will need to be able to get in touch with you. Additionally, ICANN requires that the information published in WHOIS be accurate as a matter of policy. If someone reports your WHOIS information as invalid, they will instruct the registrar to verify that information. If they cannot contact you, they will revoke your domain name. Another important reason is that our SSL (secure certificate) provider needs to verify requests with the administrative contact published in WHOIS before they will issue or renew SSL certificates. If they cannot verify the request, they will not issue or renew the certificate, which in turn means you would not be able to accept credit cards (and that would not be good). In short, it is imperative that the contact information be kept current. Another benefit of having GravityFree manage your domains is that we will do this for you and act as a proxy for any communications from the registrar and can deal with ICANN effectively if there are any problems.

6) Be careful about renewal notices you receive. There are a few companies that mail official-looking notices (specifically Domain Registry of America and Liberty Names of America) which are not related to your true domain registration. Unless you actually do have domain names registered with them, notices from these companies can be safely ignored and discarded. If you mail them a check they will attempt to transfer your domain from its actual registrar (which will fail unless you or your IT staff approve the transfer), and you will be out about $30.00. This can also create confusion when you get the REAL renewal notice from your REAL registrar (usually via e-mail, not postal mail) since you may think it’s already been paid. If you’ve renewed for many years (tip #4) then this becomes less of a problem. Inform the staff you receives your mail to be on the lookout for “renewal notices” from the companies mentioned above. I must also note that the notices that these companies send are not illegal. The fine print states that it is not an invoice, and no payment is required, but is a solicitation to transfer your domain to their system.

7) Maintain diverse DNS service. The majority of GravityFree’s clients do not have to worry about this as we usually manage their DNS, though there are some exceptions. Each domain must have a minimum of two DNS servers listed to service the domain. The DNS system acts like a traffic director telling computers where to find your web site, e-mail, etc. It is recommended that the two DNS servers be physically and logically separated in case one server or location fails. GravityFree maintains one DNS server in our Tampa facility, a second in Dallas, and a hot-spare in Los Angeles (just in case). DNS really is that important, but some people don’t take it seriously and it bites them at some point. If you manage your own DNS, be sure you have redundancy in that area.

I hope these tips will help you prevent many of the common problems that I see with domain names on a regular basis. It’s much cheaper to plan ahead and keep the information you need in a secure but handy place than it is to lose sales or worse. If you have any questions on this material or would like to discuss having GravityFree manage your domain name(s), please feel free to contact us any time. Thank you, and have a great day.

Justin Scott,
GravityFree Network Administrator