We interrupt our ongoing series on Modern Web Design in order to bring you this important news flash:
IF YOUR WEBSITES DOMAIN NAME IS NOT UNDER YOUR CONTROL YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!
You’d think this is a simple truth that everyone knows, but – alas! – many do not. We just recently ran into this trouble once again.
One of our author clients just had a new book published and needed their new website up immediately. We completed their website and needed to point the domain name to the site. The author did not buy the domain name for himself. Someone else got it for him. He did not know what company it was registered with. He did not have the username and password. The account was not in his own name. His previous “web design company” had purchased it for him.
NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU
In my opinion any “web design company” that offers to get a domain name “for” you should be fired immediately. Any website owner who lets this happen should be… well, you can fill in the blank.
The company who controlled the domain name took over a week to release it to the client. Then a new account had to be created, which took two days. Then the ownership of the domain name had to be transferred, which took another week. The site finally went “live” almost three weeks after it was needed for the launch of the book.
IT CAN BE EVEN WORSE
If you think this is bad, we’ve seen situations where the person or company who controlled a client’s domain name completely disappeared, never to be found again. That is a worse nightmare. It can take months to straighten out that situation, if it can be straightened out at all.
And by the way, if your domain name expires, it can take over a year to get it back – or you may never get it back!
I’m sure you get the idea. It is actually far worse to lose your domain name than to lose your site. A new site can be built. A domain name can disappear from your control forever. We’ve seen it happen.
Own your own domain name and use a reputable company for your web design. Need one? Email us at hello@21thirteen.com or call us at 646 808 0249.
Perry Yeldham, 21Thirteen Design
