Keep your URL registration up-to-date

I had a frantic call last week from a client whose website was offline. Huge chunks of sky were falling all around her and the demise of their business was near. And it was all my fault.

Of course the problem was simple. They had let their domain name expire.

As a web solution provider, I encourage my clients to buy their website for at least 5 years per renewal. This is helpful in both lowering the total cost and rumor has it will give them better search results ranking. (All other things being equal).

The negative is that they are likely to:
1) Forget who they registered the domain with.
2) Change e-mail addresses, rendering them unspammable by the registrar.
3) Change home addresses.
4) Change credit card companies.
5) Change computers.
6) Change web developers. (If considering this, please contact me.)

This means no way to get a reminder and no way to get an "auto-renewal". My suggestion is to create a document called "Important Web Info" and enter all of the pertinent data. Domain Register, Hosting company, Expiration, UserID and Password. Save a copy on your PC, print a copy and put it in your file cabinet. Give a copy to your attorney or accountant to file away.

The filtering of spam and the persistence of "offers" from hosting companies can leave you ignoring the truly important reminders. When the worst case scenario happens, make sure you have all your data in a convenient stash.