Domain Names = Business Asset

I recently had the pleasure of wrestling a new client’s domain name and web site from their current developer. It is not a pleasant experience but when you ask the developer to make changes and nine weeks later they haven’t even returned a phone call, something has to be done.

But even more disconcerting is when I find out that the domain name is registered under the web developer’s name.

Your domain name is a business asset. To have anyone else hold that name in their possession is a disaster waiting to happen. But many business owners don’t realize the value of those domain names. Keep in mind that if I wanted to buy your business sometime in the future, one of the assets I want is your domain name.

Another thing that concerned me about this situation is that when I initiated the transfer of the domain name to a registrar in the business owner’s name, the web developer told the owner that doing that would mean he would relinquish control of the domain to the registrar. Mis-information like this really annoys me. Are they uninformed or just lying?

Please remember that when you want a web presence, work with someone who understands marketing and business to help you through the process. I’ve sent this message out before and I’m repeating it again because of the importance of being in control of your marketing tools. Today, with marketing depending so heavily on the web, you cannot take chances on someone else being in control of your domain name.