How NOT to lose your website

Have a website that you love? Have you ever considered that you could lose it on accident? How does one accidentally lose a website? It happens probably more than you would realize, and sometimes with tragic results.

There are a number of ways you could lose your website without realizing, so today I’m going to run down the list of ways I have personally seen people lose their website and how to avoid it.

#1: Domain Name Related Issues

The #1 way I see people lose their websites is because they fail to renew their domain name. How in the world does this happen? Lots of ways. Primarily, the credit card expires in their account, they don’t realize it, the payment fails, so the domain expires.

But wouldn’t you get emails about that happening? Yes. Yes you would. Trust me, your domain registrar does not want your domain to expire. They want your money. So what happens to those emails? Either 1) you have gotten a new email and not updated that in your account or 2) those emails are getting flagged in your spam filter or 3) you ignore the emails because you assume they are sales emails. A lot of these companies do send a lot of spam, so it’s easy to overlook when legit messages come through.

What happens when your domain expires?

When a domain name expires, it typically goes through a series of stages. There is usually a grace period where you can login and renew it without any additional fees. Then the next stage is the redemption period which generally lasts approximately 30 days. During that time, the domain is held for you and you can login to your account, renew the domain by paying an additional fee, and get your domain back up and running.

After the redemption period, the domain will go into a “pending delete” phase, where it is not available for registration. Then finally, the domain is released and becomes available for registration by anyone.

What happens if your domain goes back up for sale?

If your domain has expired to the point that it goes up for sale, you can login and buy it without the redemption fee. However, so can anyone else. And this is the point that I tell you that there are domain squatters waiting to steal your domain when it expires.

What is a domain squatter?

Domain squatting is buying a domain to hold it with the point being to profit off of it, but not make a website on it. There are people who are just waiting in the wings watching domains expire, and when they do, they will snatch them up. And then when you want it back, they are more than willing to sell it to you… often for a hefty price.

How do you avoid all this drama?

1. Register your domain in your own account and your name. Having someone else register the domain for you may sound like a great idea because it is easy and convenient, but if something happens to them, you may not have access. Had a very sad tale of a business owner who lost everything – website, domain, etc. – because the very well-intentioned person who took care of that for them passed away unexpectedly. If someone does register it for you, have them grant you domain access so you can still manage it.
2. Use a generic email address, like a Gmail, that you will always have access to as the email address on your account. Because guess what? If your domain expires and you are using a domain email address (like info@yourdomain.com) your email goes down too. And that can make it very tricky to login to your domain registrar, particularly if they require two-factor authentication.
3. Keep your domain registrar information up-to-date. Login to your account once a year, check your credit card that’s on file, check your email address and phone number that’s on file, so you never lose access. If you have two factor authentication enabled on your account, which many companies require, and you change your email address or phone number, you may not be able to login to your account. Set a reminder on your calendar to do this annually. Only takes a few minutes to do, and you’ll possibly save yourself a lot of hassle down the road.

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#2 Hosting Related Issues

Your domain is your online address, but the web hosting is you “house” where all your files and databases are stored. And you can lose your website due to these hosting issues as well. Common issues include nonpayment due to credit card expiration, account hacking, human error, or datacenter issues.

A lot of people will buy their web hosting and domain names all at one place, so follow all the same rules from above. Use a personal email that you know you won’t lose access to for the account (like a gmail) and check your account at least once a year to make sure your information is up to date.

Other ways you can lose your website due to hosting issues:

• Hacking: Your account could be hacked. I’ve seen anything from having malicious files installed, phishing scripts inserted, to just having all the files in your account deleted, including the backups.
• Human Error: I’m not going to lie, I’ve done this myself. Accidentally delete a file or database and inadvertently take down your own site. Whoops.
• Datacenter Issues: Your website files and database are being stored on a server, and that server lives somewhere. There could be a power outage, a hardware issue, network problems, or even a natural disaster. Years ago a hurricane hit a datacenter and several sites went down. These are usually temporary, but there are ways to mitigate the impact.

How to avoid hosting issues:

• Use reputable, quality web hosts. When it comes to web hosting, you often get what you pay for. Paying $5 a month for hosting may seem like a good idea at the time, but there may be less incentive for that company to help you if you have an issue.
• Keep your account information up-to-date. Don’t let a missed email cause you to lose your site.
• Use strong passwords. One of the most comment reasons sites get backed is due to weak passwords.
• Keep your software up to date. The other most common reason sites get hacked is because there is out of date software that has vulnerabilities. There’s a reason updates get released, and often those updates include security patches. (Our support plans include keeping all your software up to date.)
• Make backups of your backups. Backup, backup, backup. I’m a big proponent of backups. Don’t just rely on your hosting company to backup your site. If a hurricane hits your datacenter, those backups aren’t going to be accessible. If you store your backups in your site and a hacker gets in…. that hacker will delete your backups. You need regular, off-site backups. You can use a service like Updraft to manage your backups, but if you are on one of our support plans, we are taking a daily backup and storing it off-site for you.

#3 Personal or Legal Disputes

A website’s existence can be jeopardized by a range of personal and legal disputes. Intellectual property conflicts, such as copyright and trademark infringement, are common culprits, potentially leading to court-ordered content removal or complete website shutdown. Similarly, defamation and libel lawsuits can arise from publishing false or damaging statements, while privacy violations, particularly concerning the unauthorized collection or distribution of personal data, can trigger legal repercussions. Contractual disagreements with partners or service providers can also result in website removal as part of a settlement. Content ownership disputes, especially in collaborative projects or family/business conflicts, may lead to legal battles over control.

How to avoid these types of issues?

I’m not a lawyer, so take this advice with a grain of salt, but start with having a good contract with any person or agency you partner with. If you aren’t on the same page, and one side feels like the bargain isn’t being kept, this could lead to issues.

Be sure any content, photos, or documents you add to your website are yours or you have written permission to use or share.