Who Should Own Your Business Domain Name, You or Your Web Designer?

By Bill Stilwell · Last reviewed October 16, 2026

The short answer

Register your domain in a registrar account your business controls, using a business email you own, with your business listed as the registrant. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) says the registrant is the person or entity that holds the rights to the domain. If a web designer or employee is listed instead, they hold it, not you.

What this means

A registrar is the company you buy and renew a domain through. The registrant is the person or business named as the holder. The account is the login where you manage it. All three should point back to your business.

ICANN, which oversees domain names, says every registrant has to give identifying and contact information, and a registrar can refuse a transfer if your name isn’t listed as the registrant.

Say a landscaper’s nephew built their site and registered the domain in his own account with his own email. Years later he moves away and stops answering. The landscaper can’t renew the domain, change the email, or move the site, because on paper the domain is the nephew’s.

Outline line 8.4.1 says the same thing from the branding side: register the domain through a business-controlled account. It’s covered here.

Why it matters

You can lose your website and email. Whoever controls the domain controls where your site and email point.
Disputes are slow. Getting a domain back from someone who won’t cooperate can take months and may need a lawyer.
Notices go to the wrong person. ICANN says renewal reminders and dispute notices go to the contact details on the registration. If those are someone else’s, you won’t see them.
Accuracy is required. ICANN’s registration data rules say registrants must give accurate contact details and update them within seven days of a change. Registrars can suspend or cancel a domain over knowingly false information.

Who this applies to

Every business with a domain. It’s urgent if a past web designer, marketing agency, or employee set up your domain, or if you don’t know which registrar it’s at.

How to do it

Find out where your domain is. If you don’t know, use the ICANN Lookup tool at lookup.icann.org. It shows which registrar the domain is with. Contact details are often hidden for privacy.
Create a registrar account for the business, using a business email on a domain you control. Avoid a personal email or one owned by a vendor.
Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) and save the login in your password manager (see 11.7.3 Multi-Factor Authentication and 11.7.2 Password Manager).
Set the registrant to the business. Use the legal business name as the organization, and an owner or manager as the contact. Check spelling against your Master Business Record.
Add a second business-controlled admin if the registrar allows it, so the business isn’t locked out if one person is unavailable (see 8.4.6 Two Business-Controlled Administrators).
If someone else holds your domain, ask them in writing to move it to your account. If they’re at the same registrar, ask the registrar how to move it between accounts. For a different registrar, they’ll need to remove the transfer lock and give you the transfer code (see 13.1.6 Domain Transfer Lock).
Know about transfer waiting periods. Under ICANN’s current Transfer Policy, a registrar may block moving a domain to a new registrar for 60 days after it’s created or transferred, and must apply a 60-day lock after a change of registrant unless you opt out beforehand. ICANN approved shortening some of these rules in June 2026, but no start date has been set, so check with your registrar.
Add vendors as users, not owners. If a developer needs access to the Domain Name System (DNS) settings, give them limited access where possible (see 13.1.4 DNS Access).
Record it in your access inventory: registrar, account email, admins, and date checked (see 11.7.5 Access Inventory).

What proof to keep

Screenshot of the registrant contact information showing the business name
Screenshot of the account’s users or admins
Your registration and renewal receipts
Any written agreement or email where a vendor handed over the domain

Keep these in your legal and website records.

Common mistakes

Letting the designer “just handle it.” It saves ten minutes and can cost you the domain.
Using an email on the same domain as the only login. If the domain expires, that email stops working, and you can’t get the reset link. Use a backup email on a different domain too (see 11.7.4 Account Recovery Methods).
Leaving an ex-employee as the contact. Update the contact when people leave.
Fake or sloppy contact info to avoid spam. Use the registrar’s privacy option instead. ICANN requires accurate data.
Changing the registrant right before a planned move. Under the current policy, it can trigger a 60-day transfer lock.

When to get help from a pro

An attorney: if a former vendor or partner won’t hand over your domain. Questions to ask:

Does our contract say who owns the domain and website?
What are my options if they won’t cooperate?

Your registrar’s support team: for moving a domain between accounts. Ask what they need from both sides.

Bill’s note

[Bill: add a short story or lesson here. For example, a client who discovered their domain was in a former agency’s account, how long it took to get it back, and what you check first now when you take on a new client.]

If you’d rather have this done for you, SiteSmarty helps local businesses set up domains in accounts they own.

How I did this for SiteSmarty

[Date I did this:]
[What I actually did, step by step: which registrar I used for SiteSmarty, how I set the registrant, and who has admin access]
[What it cost and how long it took:]
[What surprised me or what I’d do differently:]
[Screenshot or photo to add, with private info blurred: the registrant contact screen and the account users screen]
[Result so far:]

Questions people ask

How do I find out who owns my domain? Use ICANN Lookup at lookup.icann.org to find the registrar. Then log in there, or ask the registrar how to confirm the registrant.

My web designer registered my domain. What do I do? Ask them in writing to move it into an account in your business’s name. Most will. If they won’t, talk to an attorney.

What is a domain registrant? ICANN says it’s the person or entity that holds the rights to the domain name.

Can I move my domain to a different registrar? Usually, yes. Remove the transfer lock, get the transfer code, and start the transfer at the new registrar. Waiting periods may apply.

What contact info should be on my domain? Accurate business contact details. ICANN requires accuracy, and you can use the registrar’s privacy option to hide them from the public.

Audit check

Question: Is the domain registered in a business-controlled account, with the business listed as the registrant and accurate contact details?
Pass looks like: Business registrar account with MFA. Business named as registrant. Accurate contacts. Two business admins where allowed. Recorded in the access inventory.
Fail looks like: Domain in a designer’s, agency’s, or ex-employee’s account. Personal or vendor email as the only login. Wrong or fake contact details.
Evidence to collect: Registrant screen screenshot, account users screenshot, receipts, and the access inventory entry.

Where this fits

Do this first: 13.1.1 Domain Selection, 12.1.2 Email Accounts and Shared Inboxes

Do this next: 13.1.3 Domain Renewal

Sources

ICANN, "The Domain Name Registration Process" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN, "Registrants' Benefits and Responsibilities" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN, "Keeping Registration Data Accurate" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN, "Do You Have a Domain Name? Here's What You Need to Know" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN, "Transfer Policy" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN, "Registration data lookup tool Frequently Asked Questions" (checked October 16, 2026)
ICANN Board, "Approved Resolutions, Regular Meeting of the ICANN Board, 7 June 2026" (checked October 16, 2026)

This page explains general rules and Bill's own experience. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.