Worth the Time & Money?
You, as the owner of a domain name, should always be the registrant (owner) and the Admin Contact. The Technical Contact should be someone you trust as a second level administrator to assist you in making changes if you cannot. Even though the registrant is the owner, they do not have the ability to make changes.
The other question that is asked quite a bit is whether the name should be privatized for an additional cost. I use to tell clients it was not necessary but in recent years this has become a source for spammers email addresses. So my answer now is to spend the couple of extra dollars and privatize the name.
Most businesses do not change domain names very often. Even if they do, the domain name can be redirected to the new one so you do not lose a possible client. This is the reason I believe that when your domain name comes up for renewal, you should consider upping it for 5 – 10 years. You can always change the information such as the address of the business, email address or any other contact information. Most registrants use email address. This can be a problem if you are trying to edit your information and you no longer use the email address included in the document. Always maintain a current email address or expect problems if you need to make changes. Not all registrants use this form of ID but the majority do.
I would recommend that you review your information now even if you do not intend to make any changes just to be sure it is correct. There are two quick steps to this process if you do not know who your registrant is. The first thing to do is go to: www.internic.net and fill in their “whois” with your domain name. This will tell you who the registrant that controls the domain is. The second step is to go to that registrant and look for their “whois” link. Add your domain here as well and it will tell you all the important information. If you cannot see the information then contact their support team.
It will be well worth the time. Some clients lose control of their domain names when they have incorrect information and do not receive the notice that it is going to expire. Unfortunately, we get calls about this every month.