Tracking Your Online "Paper" Trail
Updated 2006
By: Marie Mushing

Ah, the age of technology, a simple click of the mouse can add your business information to many online directories, search engines and more. We move along the internet, like it should follow us and track all our movements, moods and know when things change, and react accordingly. Sounds like a faithful puppy doesn't it?

The one big drawback to this, "the puppy" is not trained. It is amazing how quickly, we assume technology should move once we get used to it. Maybe one day, we can have all the Internet update all our online information from one central location, but this is not something that will happen soon, so we still need to track all our online movements, so that we can go back and update our records if something relevant changes, especially our e-mail address or web site links!

You should have a database of all the links your web site is hooked up with on the Internet, especially, those that hold time sensitive information, such as your domain registration and domain hosting information.

Most people don't realize that the e-mail address they use when they register their domain is the one that the renewal will be sent to, and if you don't update this information, you could lose your domain name to someone else. It isn’t up to your registrar, your web design person or anyone else to make sure you don’t lose your domain name. If the notices are sent to your email address, then you are the one responsible if you lose your domain name. I usually recommend that my clients mark their calendar for the coming year ahead and note when they need to renew their domain name. That is a great time to check and make sure your domain registration information is current and the email address is correct.

The reality is that there are many "Virtual" Pirates, which will whisk your domain name away from you if you aren't monitoring it carefully. Your domain name could be picked up within hours of expiry and it would be lost if you don't react fast enough. Then they want to offer it back to you for an outrageous price.. usually at least $200 or sometimes much more! You then may need the help of a professional web developer or registrar to assist you to regain control of your domain or to at least know if it is even possible.

If you don’t know where your domain originated, you can go to the following link to see what company holds it. http://domains.doctor-pc.com/whois. Simply type the domain name in the box. example: mydomain.com. You should now print the information and keep in in a safe place with other important papers for your business or household. You may think your domain name is of no interest to anyone else, but chances are good it could be scooped up anyway. Simply keeping track of your domain name and hosting service expiries will ensure you do not lose your online visibility due to missed expiry dates.

Paid online directory listings are another important place to make sure your records and links are kept up-to-date. If you are linking to other online directories and sites, you should check occasionally to make sure the links are still valid.

Don't forget about you also have to consider your newsgroups, blogs, bulletin boards etc.. If you are a regular user of newsgroups or a blogger and your critical information changes, make sure people can still contact you or follow your old link to your new site. This is a great time to hire that virtual assistant to help you track all these links and online associations. In just a couple hours a month even, they can update your links, create new associations and keep track of your online presence for your web site.

Updating your search engine information immediately and using forwarding pages if you make changes to your web site, domain name or e-mail address is also important, especially if you rely on online markets to gain business or use paid search engine inclusion.

In conclusion, keeping a database or file in your favourites of critical web sites that need to be updated if you change your e-mail or web site address, makes it easy to return to these sites and effect changes. Your web designer should also be able to assist you with updates to your domain information when you make any profile changes, but ultimately tracking your domain name is your responsibility.

|Back to Business Articles|