Ever wonder why it is so important that your ministry manages its own domain? Is there a difference between a website and a domain? Dot org or dot com or dot net? During this class Worship Times founder and president Michael Gyura goes over the all the ins and outs of domain names and the registration process.

Who should control my domain name registration?
Your domain is your organization’s name and brand. It’s the guide to your emails and your website. We have a number of long-term partners who have asked us to take on the responsibility of managing their domain and we’re happy to do that. However, we generally recommend that organizations maintain ownership of it themselves.

Why should your domain name match your email address?
When an individual receives an email from an official email address that matches the domain of an organization they feel more confident because they are convinced that you officially represent your organization. Scams targeting church members most frequently are sent from personal email accounts and almost never domains. Organizations should consider putting policies in place that require all church-related communications from staff members to be sent from the church’s email system. As an example all emails should be sent from a team member’s yourchurch.org email address, and never from a gmail.com or similar account.

Is it a good idea to change domains?
If you’ve had a domain name for a long time then we wouldn’t recommend changing it. It’s likely been bookmarked by members of your community and other partner organizations are likely linking to it off their sites. The only times that might warrant a change are if you have a really long and complicated domain name or if you lost ownership of your domain and had to purchase a new one.

What should we do if we own multiple domains?
Please reach out to our team so that we can make sure all domains are redirecting to your main website.

TOP Domain Management Tips

• Enable auto-renewal – Most people have no idea when their domain name is set to expire. Email filtering and spam protection makes it hard to know if you’ll even see the notifications of an expiring domain. Protect your domain by setting it up for auto-renewal.
• Place information about your domain and the company you have it parked with in the same place your store critical documents related to your banking or insurance provider.
• Register your domain for the longest amount of time available. Some companies offer up to nine or ten years. Your domain is something you’ll need and use forever so make the long term commitment and protect that piece of digital property.

You can watch all of our Webmaster Classes in our Class Archive.

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Worship Times

Worship Times is a full-service digital marketing and communication team that specializes in helping ministries of all sizes and denominations reach their people. Whether you need help setting up a social media account, or a plan to post, we are here to support your ministry. Let’s get started with a free website review today.

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