Recently had your website designed? Make sure you can access your domain name!
by Sam Davis
Recently, I have seen a number of circumstances where a web development company or agency will take on a re-design of a website, and they’ll proceed to move the client’s domain name to their own registrar. As someone who likes to offer total transparency with all clients, I see absolutely no reason as to why this should be done – apart from, that is, if they can significantly save you money by transferring to their own service.
To get a website online, you need two things – a domain name, and hosting. A domain is simply an address/URL which points to the hosting company or server (the place where the physical website is) via a number of settings. The domain name does not need to be registered with the same company as where the website is hosted.
Depending on the type of domain name you buy, the price varies, however – most companies nowadays will charge almost identical rates to renew the domain. Therefore whether you purchase the domain with LCN, GoDaddy, Names.co.uk or 123 Reg (to name but a few) – there will usually not much between them price-wise.
When you come to me for a website, you will be in one of two positions: you may have your domain name already, or you may not. Either way, since it is your company, it is absolutely vital that you are in ownership of your own assets, so I either ask permission to get access to your domain’s registrar account in order to change the nameservers/DNS to point to my hosting, alternatively, I will organise a domain name for you – the ownership of which is transferred to you instantly. This means that you have the logins and you therefore have total control.
You need to be totally confident that, should the developer go AWOL or the company cease to trade, you have the right credentials you need to access your own assets.
If a web design company takes control of your domain for whatever reason, request access to it, and make sure you have the ability to transfer it to another provider should you wish to. You need to be totally confident that, should the developer go AWOL or the company cease to trade, you need to have the right access you need to your own assets. What if they fail to renew it for you? Then what?
This is why I simply choose to cut the admin and let the client use their own registrar and/or have full access to their domain control panel once I register it for them. This does mean however that the responsibility falls to the client to renew their domain when they need to, however, the registrar always will send reminder emails, as do I – ensuring there is no danger of your domain expiring.
In the meantime, you may wish to check out the following article which can help you to choose which person or company you choose for Bournemouth Web Design, as it provides a useful number of points to investigate before hiring someone. Of course, I’d love you to choose me, however – the next best thing I can do is make sure you at least make the right choices!
Choosing the right Website Developer
Sam Davis
I am fanatical about providing useful web experiences, via bespoke websites which engage, inform and entertain. I have been making websites since a young age, and am a keen supporter of AFC Bournemouth.
