It's one of the most common setups in small business, and usually nobody did anything wrong. Your designer registered the domain while building your website, in their name, on their account. It was the quickest way to get started.
But whoever the domain is registered to legally controls it. If your designer holds it, they control your website address and your email.
What can go wrong
- They move on. Designers change careers, move away or close their business. The domain keeps renewing on their card until the card expires.
- A renewal is missed. If the domain expires, your website and every email address on it stop working at once.
- You want to change designers. You'll need the old designer's help to move the domain, at a time when you may not be on the best terms.
- They're unreachable. Proving you're the rightful owner without them is slow and sometimes impossible.
How to fix it
- Ask nicely, now. Most designers are happy to transfer the domain, and many will be relieved to hand over the responsibility.
- Choose where it should live. Either keep it with the same registrar under a new account in your business's name, or move it to a registrar you choose.
- Change the registrant. For .au domains, the registrar runs a change of registrant process. You'll need your ABN or ACN, and the current holder will need to approve it.
- Set it up properly. Use a business email address you control, switch on auto-renew, add a card that belongs to the business, and turn on 2-step verification.
- Keep your designer's access if you like. You can still give them access to manage DNS or hosting. The difference is that you own it and can remove access at any time.
A note for designers
If you're a designer reading this, registering domains in your clients' names protects you too. You're no longer responsible for renewals you didn't agree to, and you're never the reason a client's email went down.
See where you stand
Deedbox shows whose name your domain is in, who has access, and what to do next, in plain English. The check is free.