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Domain names are the key to your website and it is what gives your website its identity. The easiest part of the web hosting process can easily cause you the most headaches and even cost you the most money.

One of the most important and also most neglected parts of ensuring your site is hosted successfully is your domain name.  Your domain name IS your website.  It is the name that perspective visitors will type in when they wish to view your site.  The domain many times tells the visitor exactly what they will see when they visit your site, like www.totalhosting.com.  We can tell from the name that this site is all about getting your site hosted on the web.

Domain names are registered in one year blocks.  When your register a name, you are saying that you have exclusive rights to that name.  As long as you keep the registration current,  that domain name is yours to use when hosting your website.

The problem with domain names is that the "owners" do not keep them current or allow them to expire and go into redemption.  If a domain name is allowed to expire the first most noticeable  issue is that your web site will no longer function.  Visitors will be taken a generic page depending on the name registrar and no longer show your content.  Even worse, once a name expires and goes into redemption, you risk the chance of losing the rights to your name.  When a domain name is in redemption you will need to pay as much as $100 or more to have the name re-activated.  Waiting too long though will ultimately leave your domain available for other users to register it for their own use.

What can you do?  Keep your domain name registration information current.  Registering a domain name through Total Hosting is only $20 per year (far less than the $100 re-activation fee).  You can register your name for up to 5 years.  If it is a name that is important to you, consider locking it down for 5 years so you have no need to worry about it every year.  Lastly, ensure you registration info is current.  When you domain name comes up for renewal your domain registrar will attempt to contact you.  If your email has changed, contacting you will not be possible causing your name to lapse into redemption.