If you are planning to redo your website, change hosting providers, or connect it to certain web services, first you must figure out where your domain is registered. It may seem strange that people would not know where to find their domain, but it’s quite common. Many people bought their domain name years ago and opted for autopay when it needs to be periodically re-registered. If you don’t know how to identify your domain registrar or host, read on.
What Is a Domain Registrar?
A domain registrar is a place to purchase your domain, and you are able to use their hosting service that manages domain name system servers and the DNS records for those domains. These companies use those DNS records to connect your domain name with websites, email, and other web services. A few well known domain hosts are GoDaddy, enom, and DreamHost.
Fortunately, identifying which company has your domain registered or hosts your domain is pretty simple. You may have records from when you bought your domain name. You can do an email search using your domain name to check to see. If you do not find it in your email records, there is another solution:
- Go to the website who.is
- Enter your domain name in the search field and click on the magnifying glass
Who.is will give you a variety of information, including who your domain host and the registrar of your website, at least two domain servers and information on when the domain was registered, when it expires, and when it was last updated. It will also tell you who owns the domain name and in what state/province and country they live.
This service also lists similar domain names for people who are looking for domains for the websites they would like to create. Often domain names will be taken but are not being used and their owners can be persuaded to surrender them either voluntarily or for a price.
Once you know your domain registrar and host, you will be able to update your domain records to make the changes you need.
If this seems complicated or you need help in identifying your information or making changes, call us at Corporate Conversions. We would be happy to make this process simpler for you.
