Who owns your domain?

Who owns your domain name? You know, that URL thing in your browser window up there? Mine is KyleSexton.com and yours is likely BusinessName.com or YourChamberName.org or something like that. I've been alarmed to learn that you might not have control of your own domain name, which speaks to EITHER a great amount of trust in your website partner, or a great amount of apathy on your part. 

I've built a lot of websites for chambers and other businesses. In fact, when I was learning website development back in 2001, I volunteered to intern for one of our chamber member web companies so that I could better understand the commercial side of web development... all of this while I was still working full time for the Chamber. 

It concerns me when chambers feel that they are being held hostage by their website contractors and it happens more than you think. So I have three simple tips to get control of your own domain. 

1. go to godaddy.com/whois and type your domain name into the search bar. Follow the prompts and it will tell you who the registrar of your domain is

2. Go to the website of your registrar and click on "log in" and then "forgot my password" to see if your email address is in their registration system, if it's not... 

3. Contact your web site provider and tell them Kyle said you need to be listed as the admin on your domain name registration. You should own your own domain. You should also be listed as the admin and billing organization under your domain.

If your web provider ever gets hit by a bus, you'll have full access to the controls you need to keep your website up and running with a new provider.