Knowledgebase

When regsistering a domain, it's a good idea to give some thought to the contact information given when your register. Sometimes, choices made for the contact informaiton on a domain name can make a big difference over how much control you have over the domain name you registered.

The Administrative Contact is the legal owner of the domain name. So if you use an independent contrator or a hosting company to register a domain for you, make sure the domain is actually yours by being listed as the Administrative Contact. If you get any static on this point whatsoever, run, not walk, to a new service provider!

The Billing Contact gets the bills, not surprisingly. Always use an actively checked email address for your billing contact so you don't miss renewal notices as some registrars may send them to this address.

The Technical Contact has access to your domain to do technical stuff (like change webhosts for you or help set up the domain for a specific use). It's common for hosting companies or web designers who help you manage your domain to be listed as the technical contact, although certainly not required unless you want them to be able to make changes to your domain name for you.

For all the contacts, it's a good idea to use email addresses that won't change. For example, accounting@mycompany.com would be a better choice for a billing contact than JoeBlow@mycompany.com, as Joe may leave the position. Also, it's best to use an email address not related to the registered domain, as that allows you to still get email regarding your domain even if the domain is not operational for some reason.

It's a good idea to only have people you trust listed on your domain, as authorized contacts can make changes to your domain name. Always keep this information current and accurate, and respond to email regarding your domain promptly.

If you follow these guidelines, you'll be much less likely to suffer any domain headaches!

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