This is a growing concern amongst many business owners. Does your web design company own you? This may be possible if you've allowed them to host your web site for you and also register your domain name for your company.

Web design companies have a lot of control over their clients. I refer to this as "False Power". The sad reality is that most of their clients don't even know they are stuck in this potentially painful predicament. This power is usually exercised when a client of a web design company finds a better deal on hosting for their web site and they simply want to switch their hosting provider, or when "client" wants to upgrade their web site for a better rate than their current web development provider is offering.

Here's what usually happens to so called "traitor clients":

- Current web design company sends their client a hefty bill for switching - The web design company cancels their client’s account - They may point domain name to another place - They sometimes take down entire website until further notice

You get point! Too much power is given to web design company. I truly believe that it is your right to shop for better prices and it is your right to own your domain name even if you didn't have a hand in registering your domain name.

As owner of website, you put your trust into your web design company to represent your business appropriately and honestly, only to find out down road that honesty isn't in their vocabulary.

I truly believe there should be a law against web design companies that can be summarized as such: For any domain name registered by web design company on behalf of their client, domain name may not be disputed or need to be disputed, domain name is automatically owned by client and is automatically bound by their web development contract.

With every new venture, there is always going to be loopholes. From aforementioned example, what if there is no contract? If you are reading this and are in process of searching for a web design company, please ENSURE that you have a contract drafted, outlining everything you are entitled to and that you have sole rights to your domain name.

See what most business owners fail to realize is that their domain name is as important as registering their business name itself. I will repeat that... Your domain name is "hot real estate", would you want someone else owning your property?

Domain registrations have just broken 50 million mark and this week there were another 10 domain names sold in $10,000 to $50,000 price range.

There are billions of websites and thousands more popping up each day and they all require a name. As competition on Internet intensifies, more and more people are actively looking for a quality domain for their site. Unfortunately for them there are already over 30 million dotcoms taken, which often times leaves webmasters with two choices. Settle for a long unpleasant looking domain or spend thousands to purchase a quality one from a private owner. Examples of few most valuable domains ever sold are:

• Business.com sold for $7,500,000
• Casino.com sold for $5,500,000
• AsSeenOnTV.com sold for $5,100,000

Exceptional domains are obviously worth a lot of money, but what good does that do anyone now? Here is where expired domains come into picture. While there are over 20,000 domains being registered each day, most people don't realize that there are also just as many expiring. Many times their owners don't realize how valuable domain is when they let it go. Because of this, it's not uncommon to hear about a user grabbing an expired domain for $20 and selling it for 100 times that.