Online marketing
What would happen if your website and emails went offline?
Don’t find out the hard way! Recently I had a text telling me that my website and emails were down. Luckily it was a Sunday and I was able to rectify it pretty quickly (after I had kicked myself for being so lax!) I am ashamed to admit that my domain name registration had expired and because I set it up a few years ago, the email address they had been using to remind me and prompt a renewal was one I no longer use.
The most common reason for websites going offline is that either the domain name registration or the hosting agreement has expired. So how can you avoid this happening to you?
Do you know when yours expires? If not, find out and make sure the contact details they hold for you are current.
Don’t forget that the domain name registration and the hosting could be 2 separate organisations – for example 123-reg, Namesco and UKreg offer domain name registration i.e. you buy the license to use the website name of your choice such as www.yourcompanyname.com for a number of years.
Siteground, 1 and 1 and Fasthosts offer web hosting … and many of them offer both. This means they host your website and all its files on their servers, again typically for a number of years.
If you’ve had a domain name for some time, and have a new website created, it could be that they are out of sync with each other, so it doesn’t necessarily follow that because one is due it means the other is too.
To compound the problem, many of us now use several email addresses for different purposes and it’s easy for things to slip through the net.
My recommendation is to keep a file (either a physical one or a digital one – preferably both) containing all the information on your website and emails – who hosts it, who created it, how do you get updates done, when are renewals due etc. and do an annual check so you’re prepared. Designate one email address for all website related correspondence
Trust me, you don’t want to be trying to do this when you’re flat out busy, with looming deadlines and your emails and website aren’t working – do it soon!
