Simple rules for protecting your domain name

We work with a lot of internet service providers, and one of the biggest headaches is determining who actually owns a particular domain name or account, particularly when the website is created by a third-party webmaster or other service provider. Here are a few tips which will help you protect your valuable online presence:

• Register the account yourself, in the company name, with a company credit card
• Don’t give out the password except as needed
• If your web designer or staff opened the account, make sure someone in management has the password as well (or, better yet, require that it be re-registered in the name of the company)
• Make sure you change the password before firing anyone who has access to the account
• Most registrars offer the ability to lock a domain name, use it!
• Make sure you are listed as both the registrant and administrative contact for the domain name
• Use an e-mail address for the account which you know you’ll keep, and which isn’t in a domain which is in the account
• Keep an offline backup of the website
• Address domain/password ownership in any contract for design or hosting (or, in the case of business partners, in the shareholder’s agreement

CNet offers up another excellent idea – maintain (or create) a copy of the company website on a second server if you think (or know) that your webmaster may not be around for long. This allows you to switch to the backup website quickly in the event of a problem.