Are
You The Master Of Your Domain?
By Nadine
Gilden; Curiouslight.com
It seems
like the issue has been coming up a lot lately - a web designer,
host, programmer just disappears or the customer service is
so bad you actually have to switch to someone new. I have
also heard of experiences where a site was shut down on an
online business, and the entire site was lost. YOU need to
take repsonsiblity and ownership of your domain. It is your
site and you need to be able to control it. Leaving everything
in someone else's hands is a recipe for disaster.
Here
is a MUST do list to protect yourself.
1. Purchase
your domain name yourself, this way you own it and
control it. Make sure to keep records of the username and
password for the domain so you can give your host access.
Use Go
Daddy or any other reputable Registrar.
2. If
someone else registered your domain name for you, make sure
to get the username and password for the
registrar account and make sure you are listed as the domain
owner.
3. Make
sure you get FTP access to your site. Yes,
this should be a given, but surprisingly, a lot of small business
owners do not know how to FTP to their sites. Heres the info
you will need to know: Host, Username and Password. Most hosts
send FTP login info. in the Welcome email when you sign up.
FTP Programs
you can try:
SmartFTP
(Freeware)
CuteFTP
(Shareware)
4. Backup
your site - you need to complete #3 before you can
do this, but once you do, get in the habit of backing up your
site whenever you do an major update. This way, if there is
ever a problem, you have a local copy you can use if you need
to.
5. Get
recommendations. Talk to people privately. Most people
don't want to say bad things in a public arena until its too
late. Find out about their total experience. Ask about customer
service, timeliness of responses, quality of their work and
how long they have worked with the company/person in question.
Nadine Gilden, owner of Curious
Light has been designing and building websites since 1994.
She offers high quality, affordable sites for small businesses.
Copyright
© 2006
