How to keep control of your domain and website accounts

Before commissioning a site, establish who controls the domain, hosting and other services. Clear ownership makes renewals and future changes easier to manage.

Create an account inventory

List the domain registrar, DNS provider, host, business email, form provider and booking or payment services. Record the account owner, renewal date and recovery contact. You do not need to put passwords in this inventory; keep secrets in an appropriate password manager.

Confirm registration details

Check that you can access the domain account and receive its administrative messages. If a supplier registered the domain, ask how ownership or management will be handed over. Do not assume that paying for a website automatically gives you control of every related account.

Use supported access controls

Where available, invite a developer with the permissions needed for the task. Keep recovery and billing ownership with the business. Avoid sending a shared master password by email. Agree when temporary project access will be removed and who will keep maintenance access if ongoing work is approved.

Preserve existing services

Before a DNS change, have the developer record relevant current settings and identify website, email and verification records. Changing the website destination should not casually replace mail settings. Ask for a written description of the proposed changes and a fallback copy of the prior configuration.

Check the handover

• You can sign in to the accounts you are supposed to own.
• Renewal reminders reach the right person.
• Source files or platform exports are included as agreed.
• The deployment process and dependencies are documented.
• Former access is reviewed without breaking agreed maintenance.

An illustrative ownership note might say “Business controls registrar and hosting; developer has project access; domain and hosting renew separately.” Keep this alongside the quote. If ownership is unclear, resolve it before launch. The objective is a maintainable business asset, not a collection of accounts that only one person can recover.

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