Guide to Transferring a Domain Name

Here are a few things your current registrant wishes you didn't know

By Eric Wolfram

Here are some reasons that you might want to transfer a domain name:

1. You found a registrar that is less expensive then your current registrar.
2. You want to consolidate all your domains under one registrar.
3. A foreign registrar suddenly discontinues service for a domain because the content on the Web site that is judged to be unacceptable in that country, but would otherwise be acceptable in the US – or visa versa.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Initiate a Doman Transfer

Go to the new registrar to initiate a domain transfer. The new registrar will be more then happy to provide an easy user interface for doing this because, essentially, they're gaining you as a customer. Consequently, almost all domain registrars have a big 'transfer your domain' button somewhere on their front page. Your new registrar will send an email confirmation to the administrative contact for the domain that is being transferred. The administrative contact must confirm that the transfer should go forward by following the instructions in the email confirmation. After confirmation, the new registrar contacts the old registrar to transfer the domain, and after the domain is transferred, notifies the administrative contact.

I recommend: Pick one of these excellent places to transfer your domain: joker.com or godaddy.com.

Configure Your Domain

Once your domain has been transferred, log in to your new registrar and configure your domain with the primary and secondary DNS that handles your domain. You usually get your primary and secondary DNS settings from your Internet service provider or Web host.

I recommend: Here's more information on DNS. You will have to go to your Web host to find your specific DNS settings.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure there is no 'lock' on the domain. NetworkSolutions is famous for putting 'locks' on the domains of their customers under the guise of protecting them from fraudulent transfer attempts, when it's really just a way of retaining customers who are trying to leave. Go to the old registrar, log in, and make sure the domain is unlocked. To unlock a domain, call the old registrar and ask them to unlock the domain by turning off the lock feature.
• •  Make sure the domain has been active for at least 60 days before trying to transfer. If it hasn't, wait until it has been active for 60 before initiating the transfer. Otherwise, the transfer attempt will fail.
• •  Don't wait until the domain is about to expire before transferring. You need at least 7 to 30 days for the transfer to go through. Some registrars will credit new domains with time until the domain would have expired at the old registrar – others will not.
• •  Make sure that the administrative contact's email is up-to-date at the old registrar. Check the Whois database at the old registrar. If you need to change the administrative email address, login to the old registrar and change it or contact their customer support.
• •  What if the administrative contact is still not getting email from the domain transfers? Make sure the emails are not getting filtered by the administrative contact's spam filters.