It’s hard to imagine someone not having a spare key for their house, or their car, or not remembering the account # or even the bank that they left their money in. But it is never a surprise when someone does not know where their domain is hosted, where it is registered, which email address was used to register that account or let alone what the password is to access that domain.
If there is ever a facepalming moment for a “tech guy,” it’s when a client or coworker has done something so ignorant, and potentially harmful and/or destructive that it would be like starting over again. Might as well start typing out a brief resignation letter with your forehead.
Most people don’t undervalue their web properties as much as they should. Here are some very basic tips to keep you from losing your web properties:
Emails
If you bought it online you will have a receipt for it. Your domain registration and hosting should both send you an invoice, make sure that you save it, put it in a folder or tag it, so that it is easy to find. Web work is challenging enough without having to add in the legwork of finding the correct account credentials. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS use an email that you will never lose! If your account information is lost and you can’t remember which email you used to sign up you are going to be starting over.
Passwords
Your account is not designed to be secure, it is designed to be accessible and provide a reasonable level of security that will still allow usability. Your password should be easy for you to remember and difficult enough not to guess. Also, you should write down a list of your passwords and keep that someplace safe and away from your computer. If you can’t remember your password your email is usually enough to reset your account access. You may want to consider using LastPass, storing all of your passwords at one spot is like putting your eggs all in one basket, so use precaution.
Your web property is just like your real property!
Stop treating it like a rental and take care of it like you own it.
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