I had two clients with domain name problems this week. Both were the result of having someone else register their domain name for them. This seems to be the most common issue that I run across with clients, so I’ve got this one rule of thumb that I always tell people, usually in the first phone conversation. It goes a little something like this:

“Register your domain name yourself!”

There are a lot of good reasons for this, but some of them are:

• Ownership
  If you register it, there is no question that you own it. No need for lawyers or arbitration if problems arise.
• Renewals
  When the registration is up, you get the notice. Heck, you can even set it to auto-renew with most registrars. No pesky “Uh-oh, why can’t I find my website” moments.
• Immortality
  I don’t have it. Should something happen to me (perish the thought!), you are not left out in the cold.

I understand that registering a domain can be an intimidating process, so I usually walk clients through the process. If I can’t do that, I recommend that they do like Nancy Reagan and “Just Say No” to all the extras that they try to sell you. Just take the domain and run. They’ll try to sell you the kitchen sink if you’ll let them.

So, remember those two clients I mentioned earlier? I was able to resolve one of their problems in less than an hour with a phone call. The other isn’t so fortunate. Their website is probably going to be down for at least three to five days because the registrar (*cough* 1and1) will only get the domain out of its redemption status if they fax a form and wait a couple of days for the paperwork to be processed.

Oy.