Two Things You Must Know to Keep Your Website Safe

Imagine that you sit down at your computer oneAlso be sure that your contact information at the
day, type in your domain name, and instead of theregistrar is kept up to date so that they can reach
business website you've worked to build you seeyou with notices of approaching domain expiration
some crazy page that's definitely not your website.and other important information related to your
What happened? What do you do next?domain name. If you change email addresses, or
You may see a suspended hosting page asking youmove to a new address, you need to update that
to contact your website host, or a domain parkinginformation with your registrar or you may miss
page that says your domain expired and displays linksimportant messages and accidentally allow your
to your competitors! It can happen to you if youdomain name to expire.
don't know how to keep your website safe.2. Who is your website host and when does your
Here are the two things you must know to keephosting package expire?
your website safe.Your website host may be the same company that
1. Who is your domain registrar and when does yourregistered your domain name or it may be a
domain name expire?different one. It's the company you pay for the
A domain registrar is a company who offers domainspace on the server that your website lives on.
name registrations. Do you remember where youContact information needs kept up to date with your
registered your domain name? Did you save yourwebsite host as well. You should save a copy of
registration emails that listed the date your domainyour original welcome email and be sure to note what
expires?your payment terms are (for example, monthly or
You *must* know who handles your registration andyearly) and what payment method you chose. Keep
when it needs renewed. If you can, extend theyour email address and billing information current.
registration for several years.