Verify The Ownership Of Your New Domain
The final step is to verify the domain ownership through the email address you used when registering the domain. The email usually arrives within a few minutes after finishing the domain setup. Simply click the verification link in the email to verify your contact information.
If the email doesnt arrive, resend the request from the control panel. We recommend doing it immediately, as waiting for 15 days or more will lead to a temporary suspension from the registry.
Thats all there is to it. Now you know how to buy a domain name and complete the initial registration process.
Tip from Darius
To make the most out of your newly acquired domain, consider authorizing it with the Google Search Console. This will provide you with important analytical insights and make it easier for Google to crawl the content of your site.
First, log into your Google account and head to the Search Console page. If you want your entire domain to be crawled, enter the URL in the bar on the left. Once thats done, click Continue and youll be presented with a code. Then, copy it and do not close the tab.
Now, log into your Hostinger account, head to the hPanel, and on to the DNS Zone Editor. Under Manage DNS Records, select TXT as the Type. Unless youre only adding a specific subdomain to the Search Console, leave as the Name. Next, copy the code youve received previously as the TXT Value. We recommend leaving the TTL Value as the default. To finish it all off, click on Add Record.
S What To Do If Someone Else Has Registered Your Domain
Step 1 If you know the person/company get in contact with them and request a domain transfer. This is where you can bring a domain over to your own domain registrar .
It is possible that you are unable to contact the account holder or do not have access to the account holding your domain name, in these circumstances, you will need to provide the registrar with proof of identity as the owner of the domain name.
Step 2 If you dont know the person/company then its back to the WHOIS Lookup to find the registrar. Once you have this information you are going to have to contact them and regain access request.
Step 3 All domain registrars are slightly different in what information they require as proof of ownership but here are some examples:
Individuals
- Bank Statement
- Utility Bill
- Driving License or Passport please be aware we will need to see the address too, so additional documentation may be required if using a Passport.
Companies
- Bank Statement
- Utility Bill
- Companies Incorporation Certificate
If you are supplying an Incorporation Certificate, information held with Companies House will be used to confirm business name and address details, as such these need to match the details shown on the WHOIS Lookup.
Charities
- Proof of Identity from a trustee
- Proof of appointment as a trustee
- Proof of address of the charity
Schools
Alongside this, please provide a standard utility bill as proof of address.
- Bank Statement
- Utility Bill
- Driving License
Why Is This A Big Deal
Forgetting to renew your domain registration can be a costly mistake. In September of 2015, Google accidently sold their domain name for $12. After realizing the mistake, they cancelled the order but they still ended up paying more than $10,000 to get it back.
Money is one major reason losing your name is a big deal. When a domain is not renewed in time, it goes up for sale and anyone can purchase it. This means if you lose your domain, it could be held for ransom forcing you to pay the domain owner a lot of money to get it back. Domains that are valuable enough could be held for millions of dollars.
Losing your domain could also leave it open to being registered and then used for malicious purposes. Put in the wrong hands, your domain could be used to spread malware or to gain access to users personal information. This puts your users identities in harms way and compromises the integrity your company.
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How To Get Your Domain Name Back After Forgetting To Renew It
By | Submitted On September 05, 2016
Once you decide on a domain name, the next step is to check if it has not been taken and eventually have it registered. When you register, there are two choices you can explore:
Since you will be creating a site anyway, option number two would be the most convenient. Think of it as relying on a one-stop shop for all your website needs.
Now, managing a site can be a handful. Thus, it is natural to forget the smallest things – even renewing your domain name once it expires. If this happens, what can you do to get it back?
The answer lies in how much time passed since the domain expired. Chances of reclaiming the domain name become slimmer the more time passed. Here are the options you can explore depending on how long you missed the expiration date:
- Only a couple of days
There is still a huge chance you can renew it with no hang-ups – especially if you maintained it regularly. Most domain registrars usually have a renewal grace period that lasts up to 40 days.
- 19 – 40 days
If you missed the expiration date by this amount of time, the only way to know if you could still renew is to ask your hosting company.
- 41 – 70 days
- 71 – 75 days
What if someone else takes my domain?
So if you forgot to renew your domain name, all is not lost yet. Just take note of these time periods to help you decide what you can do to reclaim your domain name.
How To Get Backlinks
Do you want to boost the number of backlinks for your website? Backlinks play an important role in improving your search engine rankings.
Your backlinks are one of the top search ranking factors for Google. The more high-quality backlinks to your website you can get, the stronger your chance of ranking higher.
In this article, well show you how to get backlinks using quick and simple strategies that anyone can try.
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Where Can I Go If I Get Stuck
You can always ask us, well do our best to advise the best course of action. Weve overseen the domain transfer process countless times, so well quickly be able to advise the best way to proceed. You can also try contacting the registrar in question directly. If youre not sure what to do, please contact us and well let you know what to do.
Contact The Domain Registrar Or Participate In An Expired Domain Auction
Most domain registrars offer a 20-30 day period for domains that are expired before placing them into an auction. Note that the rules between domain name registrars may vary when it comes to reclaiming lost domain names.
If less than 20 days after the domains expiration date, try contacting the domain registrar. They often offer assistance to reclaim and renew the lost domain name.
However, the cost of reclaiming the lost domain will not be at the annual renewal rate, so expect to pay roughly around $100 or so to reclaim the lost domain name.
If the domain has gone to auction, youâll have to participate in the expired domain auction. Get ready to hope and pray to outbid others at a reasonable price, not outside your budget.
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Be Ready To Prove Previous And Recent Ownership Of The Lost Domain
Iâve been contacted by individuals about reclaiming lost domain names. They were able to prove the legitimacy of previous ownership without a shadow of a doubt. In return, I transfer the domain at cost or no cost, if under a certain amount.
But Iâve also had people try to get over on me too with a sob story of how they lost a domain that was never theirs, to begin with. In short, they are essentially trying to steal the domain from me.
Nevertheless, contact the new domain owner to explain your situation of how the domain was lost. But donât count the new owner rolling over and just handing over domain because of your story. Always make a reasonable, market-driven offer when contacting a domain owner. Understand their asking price may not be cheap at all.
Most honest domainers aim to work a reasonably priced deal of some sort with you. You may have to legitimately prove previous ownership of the lost domain name that are in question. In some cases, domainers gladly return lost domain names to you at no cost but donât count on it.
See, if the new owner of the lost domain has paid money using either a backorder service or bought the domain name via an expired domain auction, then you may very well have to pay the new domain owner the amount that they paid for the lost or expired domain name.
This reason alone makes reclaiming lost domain names a very costly experience.
How Exactly Does A Domain Transfer Work
In principle, transferring a domain from one provider to another works the same way with every web hosting provider. Nevertheless, you should always be aware in advance of the details of each individual transfer, which can vary from site to site. The fundamental procedure of a domain transfer is as follows:
- Backup data: before approaching the new providers database, you should first save backups of all data that is saved on the old providers server. Whether its saved on your computer or an external harddrive, you should back up all your files . You wont be able to access the files on your old domain provider once youve changed, which means you risk losing the entire structure of your website.
- Auth code: you need an authentication code, or auth code, in order to authorize a domain transfer. This authentication code works to verify that your domain is registered under your name. The code can be obtained from your previous hosting provider or registrar. You can also inform your current provider that you will take your domain to another host and cancel your contract.
- Import the database: once your domain has been registered and activated by the new provider, you can transfer your websites data to the new server.
Also Check: Transfer Shopify Domain To Another Host
Need Help Resolving Your Issue
We got a lot of calls because of this post and we understand you may want or need help getting control of your website. But calls to assist you with these issues can be time consuming for us.
If you would like us to try and help you regain access to your website or consult on your issue we can offer consulting at a flat rate of $50 for 30 minutes of our time.
If you are interested, then please contact us describe your problem in detail and we will then send you an invoice.
Once the invoice is paid we will then research your website and contact you via phone for your consultation to help guide you.
Please understand we CANNOT GUARANTEE that we can help you, sometimes that is just not possible because of the legalities of copyright. Our fee is not refundable in these instances as you are paying for our time.
We also cannot offer legal advice on copyright, trademark or contract law. We highly recommend you contact an attorney for those issues.
Who Really Owns Your Domain Name
Your domain name or URL is where your website resides on the internet. Who actually owns it depends on a few different things!
- If you did not buy your own domain and someone bought it for you technically they own the domain if they bought it in their name or account.
- If you hired someone to build a website without putting in writing they will pass ownership to you upon completion and final payment they may actually own the website.
- If you contracted with someone to build a website and you do in fact have it in writing that after final payment is made that you will own the website then YOU own the website!
- If you purchase your own domain then YOU own the domain.
If you cannot remember who purchased the domain name you can try using ICANN Lookup to see if you can find out who owns it. Some information may be private, but it may give you what you need to trigger some recollection if you purchased it or someone did on your behalf.
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Before We Begin Dont Just Go And Get A Different Tld
If your desired domain name is taken, you might be thinking that theres a third option worth considering: getting the same domain but with a different TLD, like .net or .org instead of .com.
However, this is not a good idea. First off, people will never remember what your correct TLD was, so they will usually go for .com anyway ending up at the wrong website.
Additionally, registering existing names can also result in legal trouble. The owner of the original .com might argue that youre trying to infringe on their brand name by registering a similar domain name.
At the end of the day, youre really better off either trying to get the original domain name that you wanted from the start, or changing your focus to a different name entirely.
With that said, lets talk business:
How To Track Your Website
It’s important to get feedback on how your audience is growing, and one of the benefits of being online is that all of the metrics you need are trackable. Here are a few simple ways to get a handle on how your site is doing:
Google AnalyticsGoogle offers a range of tools to measure your website data to get more insights about your visitors. Solutions range from free basic tools to sophisticated enterprise analytics. Learn more on the Google Analytics website.
Social media metricsMost social media platforms offer basic data measurement. For good indications of your progress, track your number of followers and their growth over time, as well as their engagement on your posts .
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Get Your Domain Name Yourself
Even if you don’t plan to design your website yourself, you should at leastregister the domain name for your websiteyourself. I know some people’s minds go blank whenever they have to do anything related to the computer, even if it isa very simple thing. But if you don’t make an effort to learn to do even this very basic task, thenyou may end up being the sucker that everyone takes advantage of.
Your domain name is one of the most important things you need to have control of when you start your website. With control over it,even if your web host cheats you, or even if your web designer tries to block you from updating your website, you can easily just moveyour website elsewhere. Without control over it, your only hope is to get a lawyer. The lawyer route takes a lot of time to resolve,not to mention money, and in that time, you’ll lose the sales you might have gained from your website.
As you can see from my guide on How to RegisterYour Own Domain Name, it’s actually an easy task to get a domain yourself. It’s just like buying something on the Internet.In fact, it is buying something on the Internet, except that you won’t get physical goods shipped to you.What you get is the right to use a name for your website, and to point that name to any location on the Internet any timeyou want.