Florists, Do You Own Your Business Domain Name?
“By becoming self-aware, you gain ownership of reality; in becoming real, you become the master of both inner and outer life.” –Deepak Chopra
I see it day in and day out when working with new clients. They are unsure if they own their business website domain name or if their current website provider is the one in control of their domain.
What Is A Domain Name?
A domain name is an address that you type into a browser to get to a website, for example, the domain name for this website is https://www.weloveflorists.com.
A domain name cannot be shared by multiple websites- it is unique to your website just like a home address.
Contrary to popular belief a domain name and website are separate entities. You can change your website hosting at any time and keep your current domain name or vice versa you can change your domain name and keep your current website hosting.
In short, a website hosting company should not need to own your domain to provide you with website hosting.
How do I know If I Own My Domain Name?
I come across lots of clients who are utterly surprised to find out that their domain name is not within their control/ownership.
As a floral business owner, it is important for you to know whether or not you own your business domain name- if you are unsure you may then go to https://www.whois.com/.
- Enter your domain name in the upper right-hand corner search field and click on WHOIS. The information will be listed under Registrant Contact.
Why It Is Important For Floral Business Owners To Own Their Domain Name:
Domains contain your valuable SEO (Search Engine Optimization)- if you are ranking organically good on search engines this is to be considered a priceless domain for your floral business. Regardless if you currently have optimal SEO rankings-it will happen better to own you business domain from the get-go.
Your floral business domain can also be held hostage as some website providers can refuse to give you access to your domain in the event you want to switch to a different website provider.
While some website providers may release your domain they may charge you unnecessary fees or the process can take weeks or even months causing a hold up on your website sales. Some website providers even register your domain with their own business name, this is not ideal as in this case you have no ownership of your domain name at all.
There is no better feeling than being in full control of all your floral business assets your business domain name is a HUGE asset. Purchase your own domain and NEVER let a website hosting company take control of it or offer to purchase it for you in their name.
Someone Else Owns My Domain…EEEK!
Chances are that your current website hosting company does own your current domain name. Do not stress about this! You can get it back into your possession. Whether or not at this time you want to leave your current website hosting provider you should still own your business domain. Call them and ask them to change into your business name and release it to you so that you have control over your floral business domain name ASAP!
When signing up with a floral website hosting company be sure that their Terms do define that you have ownership of the domain. If your website hosting company opts to purchase your domain or gain control be sure you also have the username and password to your business domain registrant.
Where Can You Buy Your Domain Name?
If you are looking to purchase a domain name, below are my favorite domain registrars.
A good takeaway from this article is that all floral businesses or any business for that matter NEED to own their own domain name.
Please go ahead and check to see if you do own your own domain name and if not start the process of adding your business information to the domain registrar and releasing it back to you with your website hosting company – remember they do not need to own your domain to host your website.
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