Don't take chances with your web site

Know your registrar info and run backups often

People are the same all over. We have web accounts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina, to name a few. Ask most of these folks for their domain name registration information or ask "when did you last backup your web site" and you get the same answer : "I dunno."

It's common for a web site owner not to understand the process of purchasing a domain name (that's www.yourwebsitename.com). Often, the web developer buys the name, registers it in his or her name and doesn't inform the client. Time goes by, the business gets a new web site designer, and guess what, no one can get into the registrar account! And with tight security these days, the registering company like GoDaddy, DirectNIC or Network Solutions, won't give out any information unless you have the correct credentials. Now, they're stuck.

Moral of the story, buy your own domain names and make sure you are listed as the contact in all the right places. Some registrars want the name of the administrative, business and technical contacts. So that's 3 places to deal with. Next, write down your login and password to the account and keep it safe. Don't fool yourself with "I'll remember it." You won't.

Chances are you have no clue how to backup your web site. Discuss this with your hosting company or web designer. If you don't know how to do it, pay them to do it. It's a great investment.

Digital Business Services recently faced a major issue with our web clients when a major disaster hit the power center next to the data center housing our web server. This fire and explosion at The Planet put 9,000 web servers in the dark for days. Luckily, all of our customers were back online because we had backups of every site safely stored in a second location.

If you're web site is a valuable part of your business, take the steps to protect both its name and data by retaining your registration information and implementing a sound backup strategy.