Your domain name (eg abcfinancial.com.au) is at the centre of your online presence and a valuable digital asset. It forms a key element of your brand, enabling you to effectively manage your email and website.

Unfortunately, when setting up websites, we regularly come across financial service businesses that are unsure or have no idea where their domain name is hosted and who is in control. We get it, there is a high chance the domain name was probably set up years ago by a previous staff member or tech support company and over time, details have gone astray. Nevertheless, it is important that you update the records and maintain control over this asset.

Who is control of your domain?

Here’s how you can do a quick check. Click on the following link and go to the Whois lookup type in your domain (without the www) and click submit. It will show you;

• The registrant – who owns the domain
• The registrant contact name and email
• Registrar name – the company that hosts your domain name.

If these are out of date, you need to log into or contact your domain registrar and have the records updated. Make sure you keep the login details secure.

What about your website?

Firstly, your domain name hosting and your website hosting are different. Think about your domain name as a street address and the website as the house located at that address. You don’t have to have your domain and website hosted with the same company.

At Advant, we know how important it is to maintain a financial services website, especially for compliance considerations. So, it is important you have the login details to the admin area of your website and you have a good working relationship with your web developer.

As your business grows and develops so should your website, as this reflects who you are and the services you provide – it’s your brand.

Having admin access or a working relationship with your web developer means you can make changes to your website as and when you need, whether this be a change of address, adding new team members or updating your business services.

However, it is always surprising for us to hear how many advisers have lost control of their website and can’t make any changes. Typically, the reasons for this are;

• ‘We don’t know how to contact our web developer. They have disappeared.’
• ‘We have had a falling out with the web developer, and we can’t get any details’, or
• A situation like – ‘our website was set up by the nephew of a staff member and that staff member has left.’

This is where Advant may be able to help. If you are in a situation where you are frustrated with your current web developer, or unsure who is hosting your website, please contact us to discuss.