A domain name is not for life!
Half of all UK (replace with other regional/vertical sector stats as appropriate) businesses don't realise that their domain name registration needs to be renewed, thereby risking their entire Internet presence.
Domain names form the basis of all web site and e-mail addresses and those ending .uk have to be renewed every two years. Without them, the company effectively disappears from the Internet and cannot be contacted electronically.
"There have been several high profile examples recently of companies not renewing their domain names and losing Internet access - albeit temporarily - as a result," said Lesley Cowley, managing director of Nominet UK, the national Registry for domain names which carried out the survey. "We are therefore advising people to check when their domain name registration is due for renewal and make themselves a diary note!"
Most domain names ending .uk are registered through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and need to be renewed every two years. In the first instance, Nominet sends the renewal invoice to the ISP, who should contact the Registrant for payment. If, for any reason, the ISP does not renew the registration, Nominet tries to contact the Registrant directly to offer them the opportunity to renew the registration.
However, anyone can check the renewal date of a .uk domain name by going to the Nominet UK home page (www.nominet.org.uk) and entering the name into the domain name search. This currently shows the date of registration, from which the renewal date can be calculated, but from autumn this year will also show the date of renewal itself.
For further help, contact Nominet's customer support team on 01865 332211 or see the web site at www.nominet.org.uk.