Once your website and email are working, your domain name may go years without much attention. That’s why ownership problems often surface at the worst time, such as when an employee leaves, a supplier relationship ends, or the domain fails to renew.
A web designer, employee, marketing agency, or IT provider may have registered the domain when the business was first set up. But if the registration remains in that person’s account, your company may depend on them whenever it needs to renew, transfer, or update the domain.
Sometimes the first warning is an outage: email stops working, the website disappears, and nobody knows where the domain is registered.
You can avoid that situation by checking your domain now.
Why Control of Your Domain Matters
Your domain helps direct visitors to your website and email to your company. If it expires or its DNS settings change, your website and email may become unavailable even if your hosting or Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscriptions are still active.
Someone with control of the domain may also be able to change DNS settings, potentially redirecting website visitors, affecting email delivery, or disrupting services.
Your registrar account should therefore receive the same attention as other important business accounts.
What It Means to Control a Domain
ICANN defines the registrant as the person or organization that registers a domain and enters into an agreement with the registrar.
For a business, authorized people within the company should be able to:
- Renew the domain.
- Update its information.
- Recover the registrar account.
- Approve a transfer.
- Manage or authorize DNS changes.
Your business should not depend on a former employee or previous supplier to perform these tasks.
Rules vary depending on the domain. ICANN policies apply to generic domains such as .com, .net, and .org, while country-code domains such as .uk, .au, .ca, and .de follow their local registry rules.
Find Out Where Your Domain Is Registered
For most generic domains, use the ICANN Registration Data Lookup to identify the registrar. It can also provide information such as registration and expiration dates, domain status, and nameservers.
Country-code domains may require their country registry’s lookup service.
Your registrar may not be the same company that hosts your website or manages your DNS. It is normal for the domain, DNS, website, and email to be handled by different providers. The important thing is knowing who handles each service and how the business can access it.
Make Sure Your Business Has Access
Once you identify the registrar, confirm that someone at your company can sign in and see the domain.
Having access to WordPress, a website builder, or hosting account does not necessarily mean you control the domain registration.
Inside the registrar account, verify that the business can manage its:
- Contact information
- Payment method
- Renewal settings
- Nameservers
- Account recovery options
The primary email and recovery information should belong to the business, not an employee’s personal account or an outside supplier.
If an IT provider or web designer manages several clients from one registrar account, ask them to move your domain into a separate account created for your business. They can still manage it for you, but your company maintains control.
Check the Registration and Recovery Details
Review the information stored inside the registrar account, including the organization, email address, phone number, and registered name holder.
Public lookup results may hide this information because of privacy protections, so a redacted result does not necessarily indicate a problem. The information inside the registrar account and registration agreement is more important.
Use contact details that will remain with the business when employees or suppliers leave.
At least two trusted people should know where the domain is registered and how account recovery works. Store credentials and recovery codes in a company password manager rather than in email or shared documents.
Make Sure the Domain Will Renew
Check the expiration date and enable automatic renewal using a payment method controlled by the business.
Don’t rely on auto-renewal alone. Cards expire and payments can fail, so add a reminder before the renewal date to confirm that renewal was successful.
ICANN requires renewal reminders for generic domains, but those reminders won’t help if they’re going to an outdated email address.
If a domain expires, your website and email may stop working. Recovery options vary, so renewing before expiration is far easier than trying to recover the domain afterward.
Check Who Controls Your DNS
Your DNS may be managed through a different account from your registrar.
DNS tells internet services where to find your website and deliver your email. Check the nameservers and document:
- The DNS provider
- Who has access
- How the account can be recovered
- Who is authorized to approve changes
Your IT provider can continue handling DNS day to day, but the business should retain enough information and access to recover the account if that provider becomes unavailable.
Protect the Registrar Account
Once everything is correct:
- Use a unique password.
- Store it in the company password manager.
- Enable multifactor authentication.
- Remove access for former employees or suppliers.
- Enable security and change alerts where available.
- Turn on the domain’s transfer lock.
A transfer lock, sometimes called Registrar Lock or Client Transfer Prohibited, can help protect against unauthorized transfers. It should be used alongside strong account security and MFA.
What If a Supplier Controls the Domain?
If a web designer, agency, or IT provider currently controls the domain, address it before ending the relationship.
Ask for the:
- Registrar name
- Expiration date
- Registered holder information
- Current nameservers
- Process for moving the domain to a company-controlled account
Create the new account using business information, configure recovery options, and enable MFA.
Moving the registration does not necessarily mean moving your website or email. However, accidental DNS changes during the process could cause an outage, so your IT provider should make sure the website and email continue working correctly during the move.
If a former employee or supplier will not cooperate, gather contracts, invoices, payment records, registration emails, and other records showing the domain was registered for your business. Contact the registrar to determine what documentation it requires. Ownership or contractual disputes may require legal advice.
Review Your Domain Every Year
Once everything is in order, review the domain annually and whenever you change IT providers, web companies, marketing agencies, or employees with domain access.
Check:
- Registrar and expiration date
- Auto-renewal and payment information
- Registration and recovery information
- MFA
- Transfer lock
- Nameservers and DNS provider
- Authorized account users
Keep this information with your company’s IT records, while passwords and recovery codes stay securely in the company password manager.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I find out who registered my business domain?
Use the ICANN Lookup tool for most generic domains or the appropriate registry lookup for a country-code domain. Public contact information may be hidden for privacy.
Does private registration mean my business doesn’t own the domain?
No. Privacy services can hide registration details from public lookup results. Check the information inside your registrar account and your agreement with the provider.
Does my web designer own the domain if they registered it?
Not necessarily. Check the registration details, which account contains the domain, who pays for it, and your agreement with the designer. Ideally, the domain should be held in an account controlled by your business.
Do my domain and website need to be with the same company?
No. Your registrar, DNS provider, website host, and email provider can all be different companies. Just make sure your business knows who handles each service and how to recover access.
What happens if my domain expires?
Your website and business email may stop working. Recovery may be possible, but the process and cost vary by registrar and domain type. Renewing before expiration is the safest option.
Sources and Further Reading
- ICANN: Information for Domain Name Registrants
- ICANN: Registration Data Lookup
- ICANN: Registering Domain Names
- ICANN: Domain Name Renewals and Expiration
- ICANN: About Locked Domains
- ICANN: Country-Code Domain Policies
Ask your IT provider to confirm who controls your domain registration, DNS, and account recovery. If you don’t have an IT provider, reach out to Takala Technology and we’ll help you make sure your domain is securely under your business’s control.
