Why you should own your own domain, and how to check

If your web person disappears, do you keep your website address? Many Maine small businesses find out the hard way that they do not.

Check in two minutes

Search "whois" plus your domain. If the registrant is your web company, or a name you do not recognize, you do not own it. If it says your name or business, you do.

Why it matters

The domain is what is printed on the truck and the cards and what customers have bookmarked. Lose it and you start over. It also holds your email.

Getting it into your name

Ask your current provider to transfer it to a registrar account in your name; they are obliged to release it. Expect a few days and a small fee. Then set it to auto-renew with a card that will not expire.

Every York Web & Brand site is registered in the client's name from the first day, with the login handed over at launch.