The message here is short and sweet. If you’re setting up a Web site, no matter who you’re hosting with, make sure you have control over your domain name. This is Very Important! If you sign up for a deal where your host registers your domain for you and you ever decide to leave that host, you could get stuck in a transfer battle with that host for a very long time, and if it’s a particularly nasty dispute, you could be facing legal action as your only recourse.

Even if you already have a Web site, this should be a concern. Take control now. Set up an account with a domain registrar (I recommend GoDaddy.com) and transfer the domain. You’ll need to know your host’s nameservers, but this information you can easily find by doing a WHOIS search of your domain name.

Don’t let someone else have control over your Web site name. Be the master of your domain.