Domain name registration

Who this is for (and who it is not)

This is for hotel and rental owners who want their domain name, website, and email to stay under their control, year after year, without surprises. It’s for people who don’t want to “hope” the web guy renews it, and don’t want to find out during high season that nobody can log in. It’s also for owners who have changed agencies, freelancers, or relatives who “helped once”, and now the domain sits in an account nobody can access. If this feels uncomfortable, we are not for you, because the fix starts with clear ownership and boring paperwork.

The risk is simple: you can lose everything overnight

A domain is not your website. It’s the name that points to it. When the domain expires or gets taken over, your website can go dark, and your email can stop working, even if the site files are still somewhere safe. Owners usually notice this when guests say “your email bounced” or “your website is gone” and by then you’re already losing bookings.

This happens more often than people admit, because domain access is usually handled casually. Someone registers it quickly, uses their own email, and never hands over the account. Then years pass, cards expire, staff changes, and the renewal notices go to an inbox nobody checks. I’ve seen this fail many times, and it always feels “impossible” right until it happens.

For what it’s worth, domains are governed by registrars and central registries, not by your web designer. If your registrar account is not yours, you’re basically renting your own name from someone else’s login. That’s not a technical detail, it’s a business risk. If you want the background, ICANN explains the roles and responsibilities clearly: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrant-2013-09-17-en

What changes when domain registration is handled correctly

When this is set up properly, you stop depending on one person’s memory and goodwill. You know exactly where the domain is registered, who controls the login, what email is used for recovery, and how renewals are paid. If you change web developers, you don’t renegotiate your identity each time. You can move hosting, rebuild the site, switch email providers, and the domain stays yours.

In real operations, the biggest change is calm continuity. Your reception is not stuck explaining to guests why emails bounce. Your Google Business profile doesn’t point to a dead site. Your paid ads don’t send people to an error page. It becomes boring, which is what you want.

If you’re not sure why the domain is tied to email and reputation, it’s because many businesses use the domain for branded email, and email systems rely on DNS records under that domain. A domain problem is often an email problem. Google’s own documentation makes it clear how much depends on domain DNS: https://support.google.com/a/topic/1615038

What this does not solve

Domain registration won’t fix a weak website, bad photos, or poor pricing. It won’t fix low demand, bad reviews, or a broken booking process. It also won’t solve deliverability issues caused by spammy sending or a messy mailing list, even though domain setup affects email authentication. And it won’t protect you if multiple agencies have access and keep changing records behind your back. That situation needs a different conversation first.

This also doesn’t replace security on your email accounts or devices. If your laptop is compromised, or someone has your email password, they can still cause damage. Domain control is one layer. Important, but not magic.

When this is a bad fit

If you insist the domain must stay in a third party’s account “because they did it years ago” and you don’t want to touch it, then this is not for you. If you can’t name a single person responsible for approvals and access, it will break again. If your business has ongoing disputes with a former partner or agency about who owns what, we won’t step into that without clear written authority. Domain work is admin work, and admin work needs clean lines.

It’s also a bad fit if you want us to “just fix it” while other vendors keep full access to DNS and email settings. No optimisation if other agencies have access. Not because we want control, but because we’ve watched small changes create outages and then everyone points fingers.

Ownership and access: plain terms, no jargon

There are four things that decide whether you truly own your domain in practice. Not in theory, not in a verbal agreement, but in the only way that matters when something goes wrong.

1) The registrar account (where the domain lives)

The registrar is the company where the domain is registered. That account has the power to renew, transfer, change contact details, and unlock the domain. If the registrar login belongs to a freelancer’s personal email, the domain is not really under your control. Even if you “paid for it”, you’re still depending on their access.

A common trap is when the domain is registered through a hosting company or a web agency portal. That’s not automatically bad, but it often hides the real registrar and makes transfers painful. Owners usually find out when they try to move and suddenly need approvals from someone who has disappeared.

2) The registrant contact details

Registries store contact data for the domain. In many cases the public WHOIS is masked for privacy, but the registrar still has the real details. If the registrant name and email are wrong, recovery becomes harder. In a dispute, incorrect registrant data can also become a problem.

You don’t need the domain to show your home address publicly. You just need the registrar to have accurate, controlled details for the business. Wikipedia’s overview of domain ownership and WHOIS is a decent plain explanation if you want context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHOIS

3) The recovery email and phone

The recovery email is the key that opens the door when passwords are lost or when the registrar flags suspicious activity. If the recovery email is an old Gmail you don’t control, or worse, an email under the same domain that might go down, you’re setting yourself up for a lockout. This is one of those details that “works fine” for years, then fails on the worst possible day.

We prefer recovery to be on an email that is stable, monitored, and not dependent on the domain itself. That way, even if the domain DNS breaks, you still receive the alerts and can act.

4) Renewals and payment responsibility

Renewals fail for boring reasons: expired credit cards, invoices going to spam, old accountants, or a registrar account tied to someone who left. Auto-renew helps, but it’s not a guarantee. You still need the notices to reach someone, and you need a second way to catch it if a payment fails.

In operations, we treat domain renewal like electricity. You don’t “set it once”. You make sure the responsibility is assigned, documented, and checked. If you run multiple properties and multiple domains, this matters even more because one missed renewal can take out a whole brand family.

What we do (and what you can expect to be different)

We handle domain registration and renewal as support, meaning it should feel boring and reliable. The end state is not “a domain exists”. The end state is: you can prove control, you can recover access, and renewal is not dependent on one person’s memory. We don’t turn this into a project with endless meetings. We do it carefully, then we document it so you’re not guessing later.

• Register a new domain under the correct owner details and a controlled registrar account.
• Transfer an existing domain from a previous provider if needed, without breaking website and email continuity.
• Set renewal handling so notices go to the right people and payment responsibility is clear.
• Secure access: registrar login, recovery email, and proper contact information, so lockouts are less likely.
• Keep records you can actually use: where it’s registered, who has access, and what to check before making changes.

A small but important boundary: we don’t “rebuild” your DNS from scratch as part of domain registration unless it’s necessary for continuity. DNS changes can break email and bookings fast. The goal is stability first. If there’s a need to clean up DNS later, that’s a separate decision with a clear risk check.

How domains get lost in real life (the usual stories)

The most common story is not hacking. It’s neglect mixed with unclear ownership. Someone built the first website years ago, registered the domain in their own account, and used their own email. The business paid invoices and assumed that meant ownership. Then the person moved on, and nobody can get a reset link because the recovery email is dead.

Another story is an “auto-renew” that quietly fails. The card expires, the bank blocks an online charge, or the registrar changes billing rules. Notices go out, but to an inbox nobody reads. The domain expires, the website starts showing a parking page, and email stops. Then panic starts, and the recovery becomes expensive in stress, not just money.

The third story is a transfer done badly. A new provider pushes a move, DNS gets changed too early, and email breaks. Guests never tell you nicely. They just book somewhere else. If you run Google Ads, you pay for clicks to a site that doesn’t load, which is a very clean way to burn budget. Google’s own guidance on landing page experience makes the point, even if they don’t say it as bluntly: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6368661

What you should document (so you’re not stuck later)

You don’t need a big binder. You need a small, accurate record that survives staff changes and vendor changes. If you can’t answer these questions in five minutes, you don’t have control yet.

Write down the exact domain name, including spelling. Then document the registrar name, the login email, and who can access it. Add the recovery email and phone, and make sure they are current. Finally, note where DNS is managed and who is allowed to change it.

Keep this record somewhere the business controls, not on a freelancer’s laptop. And keep it separate from the domain itself. If the only copy is in an email account under that domain, you’re building a trap for yourself. It sounds obvious when you read it, but in real life people still do it.

Security expectations (no drama, just basic reality)

Domains are valuable targets because taking one over can redirect traffic, intercept email, and damage trust fast. You don’t need to be famous to be hit. Sometimes it’s automated. Sometimes it’s a former vendor being careless. Sometimes it’s just a weak password reused across accounts.

We focus on boring controls: strong unique passwords, recovery methods that the owner controls, and limiting who has access. If a staff member needs access, it should be via a controlled method, not by sharing the master password in a WhatsApp message. If that feels like “too much”, remember what’s at stake. Your domain is your sign on the road.

How you’ll know it’s set up correctly

You can log in to the registrar yourself, using an email you control. You can see the domain listed there, with your business as the registrant contact. You can confirm renewal settings and see where notices go. You can also request an auth code for transfer and understand who would approve it, even if you never plan to move.

You’ll also be able to make changes without fear of breaking email, because you’ll know where DNS is managed and who touches it. That’s the difference between “we have a domain” and “we control the domain”. Owners usually notice the value after the first season where nothing goes wrong, and they stop thinking about it.

What we need from you to check your current situation

If you want us to take this on, don’t send long explanations. Just send the facts you have, even if they’re incomplete. We can work with partial info, but we can’t work with guesses.

Send:
Your current domain name or names. Tell us who registered them, if you know. Tell us whether you control the login, meaning you can reset the password without asking anyone else. If you have invoices or emails from the registrar, forward them, because they often reveal where the domain actually sits.

If you’re not sure what counts as “control”, a simple test is: can you log in today, and can you receive the recovery email on an account you own? If the answer is “maybe”, that’s already the problem.

Common questions owners ask (and the straight answers)

“The domain is in my web designer’s account, but he says it’s fine. Is it?”

It might be fine until it isn’t. If the relationship stays perfect forever, you’ll never notice the risk. But businesses change vendors, people retire, emails get deleted, and disagreements happen. When the domain is not in your account, you are depending on someone else’s process and mood.

We’ve seen cases where the designer was honest but disorganised. Renewal notices went to an old inbox, and the domain expired. Nobody intended harm, but the result was the same. Intent doesn’t keep your email running.

“Can’t we just move it quickly if needed?”

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Transfers have rules, locks, and verification steps. If the registrant email is wrong, or the domain is locked, or the old provider won’t cooperate, it can get messy. Also, moving a domain is not just moving a name. If DNS is changed carelessly, your email can stop.

That’s why we treat transfers as continuity work, not as a “click here” task. The goal is: guests don’t notice anything. If guests notice, it’s already too late.

“If the domain expires, can’t we just register it again?”

Not safely. After expiration, there are grace periods, redemption periods, and then the domain can drop and be taken by someone else. Some expired domains get picked up fast, sometimes by automated systems. If that happens, you might have to negotiate, or you might lose it.

Even if you get it back, the damage is real. Broken email, lost trust, and confusion in search results can take time to stabilise. This is one of those areas where prevention is cheaper than recovery, and also less humiliating.

“We have multiple domains. Do we need all of them?”

Maybe not, but you should control all of them. Extra domains are often used for old brands, misspellings, or different properties. If you decide to keep them, they still need proper renewal and access. If you decide to drop one, do it intentionally, not by accident. Accidental drops create problems because guests and partners still have old links and old emails.

We can help you sort which domains matter operationally, but we won’t push you to buy more names. This is about control, not collecting.

Boundaries that keep this stable

We don’t run social media campaigns, and domain support is not a marketing tactic. It’s infrastructure. We also don’t do “optimisation” while other agencies have access to DNS and keep changing things. That’s how outages happen and nobody can trace why. If you want stability, access must be controlled.

We also don’t share internal working methods in a way that teaches competitors how we do it. You’ll get clear documentation and clear ownership, but not a play-by-play that creates more risk. The point is that you’re not dependent on us, not that you become your own registrar support desk.

Make the decision like a business owner

Ask yourself one question: if your domain stopped working tomorrow morning, who would fix it, and how fast could they prove control? If the honest answer is “I’m not sure”, then you’re operating on luck. Luck works until the week it doesn’t, and tourism businesses don’t get to choose when problems happen.

If you want this handled quietly, with clear ownership and clean access, contact us with your domain name or names, who registered them, and whether you control the login. We’ll tell you if it’s straightforward, or if it’s the kind of setup that usually breaks when someone changes a password and forgets to tell anyone.

Not sure where to start? Contact our local team for friendly, personalised advice and to arrange a meeting in person.

No shortcuts. No noise. Data analysis. Use only what works.