Launching a news portal or e-paper website is an exciting venture—but beneath the surface, many technical pitfalls can quietly jeopardize your online presence and revenue. From domain mismanagement to overlooked renewal costs, even small oversights can lead to big losses. In this post, we’ll uncover four critical mistakes news publishers often make with their domains—and how you can avoid them. Whether you’re just starting out or already running a digital news site, these tips will help you secure your online identity, improve monetization, and ensure long-term stability.

1. Beware of Discounted Domains with High Renewal Costs

Many new top‑level domains (TLDs) like .news, .live, .top, or .xyz are often offered at rock‑bottom prices for the first year. For example, some registrars give away a .news or .help domain for just a few dollars initially. However, these promotional prices hide a trap: renewal fees can skyrocket. In one case, a user paid $30 to register a .help domain, only to find the renewal jumping to over $1200!. New gTLD operators are free to set steep renewal prices (sometimes orders of magnitude higher) to recoup their investment.

Solution: Always check the renewal price before buying. If possible, register the domain for multiple years upfront. Generic TLDs (like .com, .net, .org) typically have modest, predictable renewals. For newer TLDs, consider a 5–10 year registration to lock in the current rate. This prevents sudden price hikes and gives your news venture stability. As one expert advises, “it makes no sense to renew [domain] from one year to another; it should be registered for at least 5 years in advance”.

2. Own Your Domain – Don’t Let Developers Control It

A frequent scenario: a developer or agency “buys” your domain on your behalf. If they use their own account, you may not even know the registrar or login credentials. This is risky. Vedanta Software warns that if the original purchaser (say, a now-closed design firm or a freelancer) is unavailable, regaining control of the domain can be “time-consuming and costly,” and in worst cases, you might lose the domain altogether. Imagine losing email and website access just because you don’t have the domain password.

Solution: Always register the domain yourself using an email address you control (preferably a business email). If someone else is helping, ensure the ownership (registrant details) is your organization, not the developer’s. Keep your contact info up to date with the registrar. Business owners should “always have access to [their] domain registrar account” – that means knowing the username, password, and recovery optionstruefitmarketing.com. Use domain locking and enable two‑factor authentication (2FA) for extra security. Store login details in a secure password manager and share them only with trusted team members.

3. Use Subdomains for Your E‑Paper, Not Separate Domains

Many news portals make the mistake of setting up their online newspaper (e‑paper) on a separate domain (e.g., myportalnews.com and myportalnews-epaper.com). This can hurt both branding and monetization. First, Google AdSense (and similar ad networks) require that the main domain be approved before showing ads on subdomains. Once the parent site is approved, any subdomain can be used without separate approval. If your e‑paper is on a different domain, you’d need to get that domain approved too. Second, e‑papers are largely image‑based (scanned pages), with very little textual content. AdSense’s ad crawler relies on text to serve relevant ads. Without text, “it can’t really work properly” and may reject the site.

Solution: Host the e‑paper as a subdomain of your main news site (for example, epaper.mynewsportal.com). This way, the trusted main domain covers it, and AdSense will allow ads on the subdomain once the parent is approved. You’ll also maintain a single brand and easier SEO. If the e‑paper has mostly images, consider adding brief text descriptions or captions for important images to give ad crawlers some content. This keeps your site compliant and monetizable.

4. Don’t Ignore Renewal Reminders – Keep Your Domain Alive

Domains must be renewed periodically (usually every year). If you overlook renewal emails or forget the date, bad things happen. Domains can expire without notice if the contact email is outdated or ignored. Common reasons for forgetting include not tracking the renewal date and having old contact info, so reminder emails go unseenregister.domains. Once a domain expires, it will eventually stop working – meaning your website goes offline and your email addresses stop receiving mail. You then enter a costly redemption phase. During this phase (often ~30 days after expiry), you must pay a redemption fee (often $80–$150 or more) on top of the renewal fee to restore the domain. After that window closes, someone else could snatch the name.

Solution: Put safeguards in place. Enable auto-renewal with a valid payment method to let the registrar renew for you. Also, add calendar reminders a month before expiry. Always ensure your email contact and phone number in the domain account are current. Your team should have a clear process: one person monitors renewals. As Vedanta Software advises, “Track your domain renewal date carefully—never let it expire.”. By staying on top of renewals, you avoid downtime, redemption fees, and the need to scramble for a new domain at the worst time.

Conclusion: Keep Your News Site Running Smoothly

By avoiding these four mistakes, news portal founders can save money and headaches. The key is planning and control: choose the right TLD and registration term (check renewal costs), own your domain account, centralize your e‑paper under your main domain, and never miss a renewal. These best practices will keep your site online, maintain your brand’s credibility, and meet AdSense requirements. For professional support, our team offers custom news portal and e‑paper solutions to help startups launch and manage their sites hassle‑free.

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