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Domain names & why to transfer them to us
- Jan 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 3
A domain name is your web address, eg something.co.uk or a something.com.
These are not free services, they are paid for through a domain registrar like GoDaddy or IONOS. Sometimes, web designers (like us) partner with one of these registrars in order to be authorised to look after client's domains on their behalf.
You must have at least 1 domain name in order to have a website online. Sometimes, people like to buy multiple similar domain names to prevent competitors from grabbing them.
A domain name then allows you to connect one or more professional email addresses, eg yourname@something.co.uk as opposed to a free service like @gmail.
Why transfer your domain name to us?
We have a GoDaddy Partner account. Here is why we recommend transferring your domain to us for management:
Comparable cost to managing yourself
Having your domain name with us is only £1 a month for a .co.uk address (comparative with managing it yourself, which is usually between £9 and £20 a year).
.com and other domains can vary in price from our provider, so we will need to quote you for these.
Stress-free
Domain names can be complicated to manage, and 99.9% of downtime is caused by clients incorrectly managing their domain names, misunderstanding DNS and other records, missing communication from their registrar, or not updating their credit card info.
It is in both ours and your benefit to manage it and keep your website online, as it will cost us more money and time in the long-run if you let your domain experience issues. It is not an upsell when we try and manage it, it is just more protection for everybody.
Risk-free - You remain the legal owner
If anything happens to us, you can approach GoDaddy and get hold of your domain name. We will ask you what contact details you want connected to it. This is not always normal practice, but we believe it should be.
In the past this wasn't an option, so a manager would also be the owner. This meant if something happened like the web designer went out of business, the client wouldn't be able to reclaim their domain name. This is thankfully no longer the case. You remain the legal owner, so having a domain manager is totally risk-free and provides peace of mind.
No transfer or extra fees
We can transfer your domain to us as long as it's with a provider who allows the transfer. Some providers may charge a fee to release it, which we will pass onto you. In the future if you want us to transfer the domain to yourself or another company, we will not charge a fee. We believe the domain is yours and should always be easy for you to access.
Can you manage them yourself?
As you can see from the prices above, we do not make profit on managing domain names. We offer this service to ensure our websites remain connected and safe, because it is in our interest to do so.
Managing your domain name also means we can set up and manage your business mailboxes, so it offers you a more all-in-one service.
Your responsibilities
If, despite the points above, you choose to manage your own domain, that is fine. At the end of the day, it is your business asset so it's important you are comfortable and happy.
If it's in your account with a registrar of your choice, this means you are responsible for keeping the website connected to it and dealing with any issues that arise, including but not limited to the following:
To get the website connected up you need to change the nameservers/DNS settings and understand the process and impacts of doing so. If you have other services such as a mailbox connected, you will need to understand how to preserve these settings too.
You will need to promptly and correctly deal with any communication the registrar sends you.
You need to remember to renew the domain name every year.
You need to remember to update your billing details if anything changes such as a new credit/card card (the most common cause of domain issues).
You will need to monitor and undertake any changes required or recommended due to GDPR, security or anti-spam laws.
If something happens and your domain name doesn't renew, this is usually not retrievable and would cause significant business disruption.
You will be asked to sign a disclaimer which acknowledges we are not responsible for any website issues that arise from an incorrectly managed domain name.
