Domain Renewal

If you own a domain name, make sure to keep the contact information updated at least on a yearly basis. This will avoid the possibility of you missing a renewal notice and forgetting to renew your domain. Your forgetfulness could lead to the domain being deleted and/or purchased by a third party. As often as people move and/or change their contact information, although you may remember to update your address with the post office, take a moment to log on to your registrar's website and do the same. The couple of minutes could save you a lot of hassle in the future by avoiding having to deal with the new registrant of your domain.

ADA Compliance

As newer widgets and add-ons are being created for everyone's website, one thing that may be overlooked is ADA compliance. When you first think of ADA compliance, you may be thinking about the wheel chair ramps that lead up to buildings or the wheel chair parking spots at local businesses. What most people forget is that the services and goods provided over the Internet should be presented in an ADA compliant manner, if your company is subject to being ADA compliant. It may not require a major over-haul of your website, however, some minor tweaks can be made. There are several websites and documents out there to assist you. One of the keys will be to allow your site to be navigated in a text based format - without reliance on anything contained in images.

Domain Name v. Website

Some confusion arises when setting up a domain name - most people don't distinguish that from a website. In the event you are looking to get a domain name, remember that it is basically an address on the Internet for people to find where you are. As for your website, you will need a separate 'web hosting' solution to help you build the home page and other pages you want people to see. Once your 'web hosting' is set up, you can then direct your domain name to the website so people arrive and can take a look around.

Private Whois

When you register your domain, your contact information will be available via a Whois database. If you are interested in privacy, there are some alternatives:

1) The 'Do-It-Yourself' Method -
a) Set up a phone number for free w/ voicemail and possibly call forwarding
b) Set up a fax number for free
c) Set up an e-mail address for free
d) Set up a P.O Box or other mailbox which may have a monthly fee

For 'free' options, there may be limitations (i.e. maximum number of voicemails / month or faxes / month), however, they provide you with a low cost option for contact information to list in a Whois database, if you don't want to list your primary contact information.

2) The "Pay-For-It" Method -
a) There are several companies and registrars out there that provide Private Whois services. Essentially, they list their contact information in the Whois database and forward communication to you. Their fee for providing this service may be similar to or less than the cost of setting up a P.O Box or other mailbox. However, when comparing options, check to see if there are any additional fees on top of any monthly / yearly fees with respect to each item that is forwarded to you (if you get a lot of mail / voicemails, the 'forwarding fee', if any, could add up quickly).

Password Protection

As more websites come online, there are more places for you to sign up with a username and password. Be careful of using the same password for every single website because in the event of falling victim to a phishing scheme, the phisher will only need to fool you once to get into several of your accounts. Try to use a combination of numbers and letters and avoid dictionary terms. It may help to incorporate the website name into the password to ensure it is different for each website you use.