End of Year Checklist: Part 3 – Your Other Stuff

Make sure your website and marketing is ready for 2015

an old post card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently did a presentation at one of the networking groups I am a member of. Instead of talking about Your-Web-Guys and all the boring geek stuff we do, I figured it would be better for everyone if I gave some helpful information instead. After creating and printing a paper version of this information, I thought it might make for a good blog post.

As I wrote the post and added information that i couldn't add due to the constraints of paper, I realized it aught to be more than one, so here is the second in a three part series. Here is a link if you missed the first part, End of Year Checklist: Part 1 - Your Website. Here is a link if you missed the second part, End of Year Checklist: Part 2 - Your Marketing.

For Your Domain

Domain Registrar/Host
Do you know when your domain expires? Do you know the renewal date of your hosting agreement? These are two different things sometimes. Your Registrar is where you update and renew your domain. Your host is where the actual files of your website reside. Make sure your login information is correct and saved in a secure place for both. While there, make sure your credit card and contact information is current too. Many times a business owner will change their email address and forget to update an expired credit card. When it comes time to renew, the expired card fails, the owner does not get the message, and the website goes down.
Whois Data
Whois data is the contact information associated with your domain name. ICANN, (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the governing body for domain names on the internet. On their policy page it says: "At least annually, a registrar must present to the registrant the current Whois information, and remind the registrant that provision of false Whois information can be grounds for cancellation of their domain name registration. Registrants must review their Whois data, and make any corrections." It is imperative that the whois information for your domain is up to date. If it is not, your registrar may turn off your domain without any warning.
Turn Off “Privacy”
Privacy is one of the hottest buzz words on the internet lately. Many registrars and hosts now offer “privacy” settings for your domain or other accounts with them. It is just a way for them to make extra money, but ultimately does little to no good. In fact it can be a major problem. Many times, because of the privacy service, a business owner cannot transfer or update their own domain. It is typically a totally separate system with different login credentials provided by a third party. So even if you know your registrar login information, you might not know your privacy login information. This is not a good idea - why would you want your business info private? Save your money and your sanity and simply keep your domain whois information public.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Did i leave anything important out regarding your website? Do you disagree with any of the items above. I would love to know. Leave a comment, we may include your opinion in future posts.

If you missed it, check out Part 1 - Your Website
If you missed it, check out Part 2 - Your Marketing too