Your domain name (the yourcompany.com part) is one of the most important things you own online, and also one of the most confusing. We get questions about it constantly.
One contractor came to us stuck inside a website builder and could not figure out how to get his own domain out. Another got a phone call trying to sell him three thousand dollars of protection he did not need. Here is the truth, in plain terms.
What a domain actually is
Your domain is just the address people type to find you. It is separate from your website and separate from your email, even though all three work together. You rent it from a registrar like GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, or Google, usually for about ten to twenty dollars a year. Renting it does not mean someone else owns it. As long as it is registered in your name, it is yours.
Who should hold yours
There are two good options, and you get to choose which one you want when you start with us. Neither one locks you in.
You keep it in your own account
You stay the owner on record and just give us access to point it at your new site. Best if you like holding your own keys.
We manage it for you
We handle the registration and renewals on your invoice, so it never expires by accident. Best if you would rather not think about it.
Either way, the domain is registered in your name and you can take it with you anytime. That is the part that matters.
How a domain moves
Moving a domain sounds technical, but it is really just a few steps, and we handle them with you.
- Unlock the domain at your current registrar.
- Get the authorization code, sometimes called an auth code or EPP code. It is just a password that lets the domain move. We will tell you exactly where to find it.
- We point it or transfer it to your new site.
- Your site goes live and your email keeps working. We plan the switch so nothing goes dark.
The upsells you can ignore
Registrars make money on add ons, and most of them you do not need. A real example. A contractor was told he needed eighteen hundred to three thousand dollars of Brand Protection. He did not. It was just an upsell. Here is what you can usually skip.
- Brand Protection, or buying ten different versions of your domain. One good domain is plenty.
- Premium DNS packages. The standard settings are fine for a small business.
- Web hosting you are still paying for after your site moves. Once your new site is live, you can usually cancel the old hosting.
A warning about DIY builders
Some all in one website builders, like UENI, Wix, and Squarespace, make it hard to get your own domain out once it is tied to their system. If you feel trapped in one of these, you are not stuck. We help people free their domain and move it to a site they actually own all the time.
The Bottom Line
You always own your domain. Whether you hold it yourself or we manage it for you, it is registered in your name and you can walk away with it.