What Is A Domain Name Registrar
Domain Registrars are companies that can register and maintain domain name information for customers. That is accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers .
Any place where one can register a domain name must use a domain registrar. Domain registrars make sure that there are no multiple registrations of identical domain names. Domain name registrars are also accountable for keeping the attached contact information current for the domain names registered through them. That protects the person that purchased the domain name from third-party attempts to steal said domain name.
After you purchase a domain name from a registrar, you are capable of the following administrative actions:
- Manage the contact information on the registration entry.
- Manage the nameservers that your domain uses.
- Create a Secure Space by adding an SSL/TLS to it.
Note:
Although we often refer to registering domain names as purchasing and owning them, the fact is that registries own all of their domain names, and registrars only offer the opportunity to reserve domain names for as long as the customer keeps paying for that reservation.
In case you have failed to pay for your domain renewal in time, keep in mind that many registrars honor up to 45 day Auto-Renew Grace period which allows you to redeem an expired domain name.
What To Do If Your Domain Name Expires
In case your domain name expires, you should contact the registrar that provided your domain name registration services for possible renewal options available to you. To determine your current registrar, conduct a WHOIS search by visiting whois.icann.org, as we already explained in the post.
Note: Keep all your important business information permanently recorded somewhere safe. That includes your registrar name, login username, password, and domain management somewhere with your most important business papers. Ensure that all your information is properly added when registering your domain name.
Consider A New Domain Name
Theres a decent chance that even if you take all of these steps, the person that owns that domain now either wont want to sell, or will only accept a higher price than you can pay.
In that case, youre far from the first person to have to come up with an alternative to the first name you set your heart on. Consider different domain name extensionsif the .com is taken, the .net or .co may still be available. And brainstorm new domain name ideas. You may just come up with something you like even more than your original idea.
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Avoid Spam And Identity Theft
PRIVATE REGISTRATION
The Private registration service allows you to hide the WHOIS domain name contact information for all generic domains that you have already registered or that you wish to register, and to avoid becoming the victim of these attacks.
What is the WHOIS database?
TLe Whois vous indique que le nom de domaine n’a pas de propriétaire: enregistrez le chez Amen.fr avant qu’il ne le soit pas quelqu’un d’autre. Pour effectuer cette opération, rendez-vous sur la page enregistrez le nom de domaine de votre activité.
Why should I consult the WHOIS database?
Consulting the database can be useful if you wish to identify the owner of a domain name that you are interested in recovering. Domain names similar to notorious brands and trademarks are often registered to divert traffic to competitors’ websites or to websites offering counterfeit goods. Register.it can help you recover the domain name you are interested in by means of a negotiation with the current owner or, when necessary, by legal action.
Can I check the expiration date of a domain name by searching the WHOIS database?
Yes, the WHOIS database shows the expiration date of all registered domain names. This can be helpful, as it may help you decide whether to wait until it becomes available again or whether to register an alternative domain. Register.it can help you find a valuable domain name alternative!
Make Sure The Domain Is Registered
You wont know for sure if the domain youre interested in is registered until you check for yourself. The easiest way to check is to search for the domain name at a registrar like Name.com. That way, if the domain is available, or being resold as Premium Domain, you can easily purchase it directly from the registrar. If the domain is listed as unavailable, it is likely already registered and youll need to turn elsewhere for more details.
But before you resort to trying to buy a domain that is already registered , its worth looking into alternative options for domain names. You might find that by using a different or new domain extension, you can get the SLD you want for a fraction of the price.
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Two: Check The Whois Directory
Every time someone registers a domain name, the domain registrar that processes the sale is required to collect basic contact information. In some cases, that information then gets submitted to the WHOIS directory, so that theres a record of who runs each website online.
The WHOIS directory is therefore our next stop for seeking out a domain name owner.
Put in the name of the domain youre looking for and scroll down to find all the data the WHOIS directory lists for it. In a few cases, that may contain the owners contact information. If so, you can skip the next step.
Even if not though, it will always include at least their domain registrar and domain expiration date. That lets you know if the domain will be coming up for renewal soon. If so, you may be able to snap it up for cheaper when it expires than if you buy it from them directly. But that only works if they dont renew, so youre taking a chance.
Either way, knowing the domain registrar enables you to take the next step.
Tools To Use For Checking A Domain Names History
At this point, you should already understand that it is important to be aware of your domains history before you actually purchase and use it. The Internet leaves a trail that can easily be traced and you cannot hide anything online. The domain you may be interested in buying could have a history of its own, which may include sensitive content and malicious code. It may even have different owners before you.
Thankfully, it is possible for you to figure out the history of the domain you are using or any domain name that you may wish to buy. You can investigate whether it is worth your investment or not. Here are the best tools that will let you check the history of a domain:
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How To Determine Who Owns A Domain Name
Naeem MobasharDecember 28, 2010 | Updated: December 9, 201570
The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the organization that authorizes registrars to issue or assign domain names to public. A registrant is the person or entity who is considered to be the domain name owner authorized to make or request for changes to be made in vital information related to domain name. It is, therefore, critically important to know the owner registrant of a domain name and also the person or entity having administrative, billing and technical rights related to domain.
Start With The Domain Name
Domain names are unique. Thats great because when you look one up, youll get the right info.
I have a habit of copying and pasting everything. I probably copy and paste over 150 things a day. I use it all the time because it helps ensure that I dont mess up. So for this first step, bring up your website in your web browser and copy the domain name from the address bar to make sure you get it right .
What you want is the domain name without the www part. When you add the www part to it, thats actually a sub-domain. So, for example the domain name for this website is:
- tonyherman.com
- www.tonyherman.com
- http://www.tonyherman.com/
Once you have the domain name copied , you want to do what we call a whois lookup on the domain name. You can do this online go to: whois.net .
Search on your domain name and youll get some results. It looks like this:
Gibberish, right?
There are a few parts you want to look at here the registrar and the name servers:
With the registrar, you can see where the domain name is registered. This is a clue hang onto it. You might also see more information about the registrar, like the Referral URL or other information.
The registrar is where the domain name was purchased.
Sometimes, the registrar is a reseller. In this case, thats true. Wild West Domains is the reseller arm of GoDaddy. There are other ones like Enom that do the same thing.
But, were trying to figure out the hosting, so lets look at the name servers:
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Find Your Domain Host
Your domain host is typically who you bought your domain name from. If you dont remember who your domain host is, search your email archives for billing records about registration or transfer of your domain name.
Your domain host is listed on your invoice.
If you cant find your billing records, you can search for your domain host online. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit organization that collects domain information. Use the ICANN Lookup tool to find your domain host.
Domain resellers
Some domains are hosted by resellers through a separate registrar. If you cant sign in with your listed registrar or the registrar field is blank, your domain host may be a reseller.
If there is no reseller listed, contact the listed registrars support team for help.
Why Is Whois Data Important
Every time a domain name is registered, registrars need to verify the identity of a domains owner or registrant. This information is important because any domain name disputes and technical issues will need to be resolved by the domain name owner.
Beyond this, WHOIS information is used by different parties in many different ways. In some cases, domain names may be put up for sale and having WHOIS information is a way to determine and generate leads in the sale of a domain name. WHOIS information can also be used by network administrators to combat spam, fraud, identify trademark infringement and track down registrants that may be engaged in damaging or illegal activities.
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Looking Up Who Owns A Domain Name
The first thing you need to know is that WHOIS is not an acronym. Its a rare internet find where the word just makes sense.
Who is the owner of this domain and how can I find them?
A WHOIS lookup is a simple method to gain contact information and find out who owns a site.
Heres an example of how WHOIS lookup works with ICANN WHOIS Lookup:
Ever wondered who is behind a certain website?
If youre looking for a way to check who owns a domain name, youre in the right place.
In this article, we discuss how you can find out a domain owners information easily by using a WHOIS lookup tool.
Why You Might Want To Find The Owner Of A Website
Wanting to purchase a domain is the most common reason for learning how to find the owner of a website. Lets say youre starting your own website, and you do a URL availability search or a Bluehost domain search only to find that the domain you want is taken.
You can find the owner of the domain or website and contact that person to see if theyre willing to sell you the domain.
There are a few other reasons you might want to find the owner of a domain or website. Perhaps you wish to contact the website owner for another reason, such as having a question about their content or design.
And finally, you might want to find the owner of a website if you believe that the content or the business is questionable.
Whatever reason you choose, there are several strategies you can use to look up a websites owner or domain registration history.
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Your Domain And Its History
The first step when building a website for your brand is to register the domain name. You will need to pick the domain registrar, and from there, you will find whether the domain you want to use is available or not.
Most of the time, people would opt for a domain name that is new with no history at all. However, there are cases where buying an old domain is more beneficial than a new one, especially with ranking fast in Google. As you know, using a new domain name that Googles spiders have never crawled into before may not be effective if you want the search engine to rank you high in the results page.
With an old domain, you have a previously registered domain name. Often, it has built authority over time, and you may even benefit from its connections. Plus, Google trusts these old sites, which can give you a high ranking quickly.
For some reason though, the owner stopped paying the registration fees for the domain. The registrar will immediately put it in an auction. If no one buys it, the name expires. Although the expired domain may have a bad reputation on Google and all its data might reset to default, it could still build authority over time. The longer it has been around, the more trustworthy it could become for Google.
Web Hosts And Domain Names
You needn’t go to a dedicated registration service to buy a domain name, though. The best web hosting services, such as DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds routinely offer a registration mechanism as part of the sign-up process. Hosting services typically offer a free domain name when you sign up for a web hosting package.
Keep in mind, however, that free domain names are usually free only for one or two years, after which the registrar will bill you for the annual or biennial fee. In other words, the provider of the free domain name pays only for the first billing from the registrar. Also take note of whether or not the provider charges a fee for setting up a domain name. Most services offer to transfer an existing domain name to their servers at no cost, but sometimes you’ll find a setup fee over and above the registrar’s fee.
Please note that not all web hosts give you the option to register a domain name. Cloudways, for example, is a solid web host that requires you to purchase a domain name from elsewhere.
Registrars offer a wide variety of registration durationsone year, three, five, and even ten. Be careful about registering for more than a year, though. First, there might be restrictions on your ability to transfer the domain name should the registrar give poor service. Second, the registrar could go out of business, leaving your domain name without a host. Check the policies closely.
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