Marketing TIp #24 - Who Owns Your Domain Name?

Last week I heard from a website designer who was closing his business and moving on to a whole new endeavor. And it made me think, who owns my domain name? I discovered that chances are good that the person who created and manages your website has ownership of your domain name as part of the set up process. In order to protect your personalized email address, it is in your best interest to transfer the ownership into your name. Usually, all that is required is to identify the hosting company with the help of your web person, put the account in your own name and then simply pay them the minimal yearly fee directly. You will still need to pay a monthly fee to your web site person for ongoing hosting and maintenance, but you will own your domain name.  If you can’t find out who actually owns your domain name, you can go to http://www.domaintools.com/ and trace the history.