Who should own my business domain name?
Your business should. Register the domain in the business's name, with contact details you control, in a registrar account the business can log into. Your web team can be given access to manage it, but shouldn't hold it in their own account. Then you can change designers, hosts or email providers without asking anyone.
The short version
- The registrant, the legal holder of the domain, should be your business.
- The registrar account should have a login the business controls.
- Contact details should go to an address that won’t disappear when someone leaves.
- Your web team can manage it with their own access, not by owning it.
How do I check who owns my domain?
- Find the registrar. A public domain lookup shows which company the domain is registered with, even when the owner’s details are hidden. ICANN’s free registration data lookup shows the registrar, and our domain and SSL checker shows the expiry date.
- Find the login. Search your email for messages from that registrar. If nobody at the business can log in, that’s the first thing to fix.
- Check the registrant details. Inside the account, the registrant name should be your business, and the email should be one the business keeps, such as an owner’s or office address.
- Check who else has access, and remove anyone who no longer works with you.
Why does it matter?
Your domain carries your website and your email. ICANN’s registrant responsibilities say the registrant assumes sole responsibility for the domain and must keep contact details accurate. If that registrant is a former designer, renewals, transfers and changes depend on them answering. When a business does own its domain:
- You can switch web designers or hosts without a fight.
- Renewal reminders reach you. See what happens if a domain expires.
- A falling-out with a supplier can’t take your email offline.
What are the common mistakes?
- Registering in an employee’s personal name or personal email.
- Letting the designer hold it “for convenience,” in an account mixed with many other clients’ domains.
- Privacy turned on and no record kept of where the domain is.
- Confusing the registrar with the DNS host. They can be different companies. Read what DNS is.
What if I can’t get control of it?
Ask the person or company that holds it, in writing, to move it to an account in your business’s name. If they’re unresponsive, contact the registrar’s support; they have their own process for registrants proving ownership. If you’re moving it to a different registrar, see how to transfer your domain. A domain dispute that goes beyond that is a legal matter; this isn’t legal advice.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
Moving a domain into your own account at the same registrar usually costs nothing. Transferring to another registrar normally includes a year’s renewal at the new registrar’s price. Timing depends mostly on the current holder; a transfer between registrars can take several days to complete.
How does E-3 handle this?
The domains we manage stay in the client’s name. We’ll look after renewals and DNS if you like, but you keep the keys. Our article on owning your digital assets covers the rest of the logins a business should hold.
Related questions
Common questions
- My web designer registered it. Is that a problem?
- Not if you can get it moved. Ask for the domain to be transferred into an account in your business's name, or for the registrant details to be changed to your business.
- How do I find out who owns my domain?
- A public lookup shows the registrar but often hides the owner behind privacy. Your registrar account, and the registrant details in it, are the real answer.
- Can my web company manage it without owning it?
- Yes. Most registrars let you add a user or delegate access, so your web team can make changes while the business stays the registrant.
Rather talk it through?
Call our team, or send a note and we’ll reply within one business day. No pressure and no jargon.