Domain transfers are without a doubt one of the most confusing things to a domain name owner, especially if you’ve never done it before and you don’t have a clue as to where to start. Unfortunately; it’s a fact and I can’t make it easy for you. But I can try to ease it up a bit.

The first thing you need to do is determine where a domain name is currently hosted. To do this, I must do a whois search.

Go to one of the websites below:

http://betterwhois.com
http://allwhois.com
http://completewhois

For this example; I will use betterwhois.com. Type your domain name in the text box provided.

The whois database gives info about the registrant: administrative contact, the technical contact, and the billing contact; including addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. This is available to the public.

I want info about notreallyadomain.com for this example. This domain does not exist, so any information is for example purposes only.

This is what you will see:

Domain names in the .com, .net, and .org domains can now be registered with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net for detailed information.

Domain Name: NOTREALLYADOMAIN.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.opensrs.net
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.tucows.com
Nameserver: NS1.NOTREALLYANAMESERVER.NET
Nameserver: NS2.NOTREALLYANAMESERVER.NET
Updated Date: 07-jan-2004
Creation Date: 08-mar-1997
Expiration Date: 08-mar-2006

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU domains and Registrars.

So, to break the whois search down:

Domain Name: The domain name you have inquired about

Registrar: The registrar the domain has been registered with

Whois Server: Who is database this information was pulled from.

Referral URL: The URL of the Registrar – who you need to contact in order to change the domain from one nameserver to the other, either by physically talking to them or using control panel access.

Primary Nameserver: The first nameserver the domain currently resides on.

Secondary Nameserver: The second nameserver the domain currently resides on.

Two nameservers are generally used, if the primary nameserver breaks; then the secondary can take over the primary nameserver duties until the primary is fixed.

Updated Date: When the whois record was last updated.

Creation Date: When the domain name was created.

Expiration Date When the domain name expires.

This domain was registered thru an Opensrs registrar/reseller. Scan the who is database; you will usually find the Registrar contact info. In this case; the info was towards the bottom:

Registration Service Provider: Domainmonger.com, service@domainmonger.com
+1.425-821-8032 http://www.domainmonger.com

I would then go to domainmonger.com.

Providing I have my userid and password; I could login and change my nameserver info, contact info or any number of functions.
Once I have changed my nameserver info, there is generally a propagation period as the internet as a whole updates with new DNS information.

For a new domain name, count on anywhere from 12 – 24 hours. For a domain name that is already in existence, and has already been moved, it can take anywhere from 12 – 72 hours. There is no definitive time, unfortunately. I’ve had domains propagate in a matter of hours, and I’ve had a couple take two weeks or more.

Recommendations to keep your domain name maintenance hassle-free:

Never use your domain name as part of your email address on your contact email for your whois record. Use a web-based email like Yahoo or Hotmail. If you experience any kind of issue, you’ll be emailed at your contact email, and if it’s your domain name and it’s broken, you’re out of luck.

Use yourself as a technical contact on your whois record. Use a second email address as well. Hosting companies do go out of business, and this could hinder your access should you want to move the domain name.

Keep track of the email addresses you use as contacts, the userids and passwords. Keep track of your domain name – when you ordered it, when it expires. If you let the domain name expire, your website will not be accessible through the domain name. Keep track of any userids/passwords associated with domain name maintenance.

ELizabeth Ramer has been working in the web hosting industry since 1997. Visit Flawebworks Web Hosting for web hosting and articles.