RisenA domain name is your business's address on the internet. You don't buy it outright. You register it for a year or more through a registrar, and you keep it by renewing. Your business, not your web designer, should be listed as the registrant, so you can always move your website and email wherever you like.
Key points
- Registering a domain is closer to leasing than buying. You keep it by renewing on time.
- The domain, the DNS records and the website hosting are three separate things, often with three different companies.
- The person listed as the registrant controls the domain. Make sure that is your business.
- If a domain expires, your website and your email stop working. Turn on auto-renew and keep your contact details current.
What a domain name is
A domain name is the readable address people type to reach you, like yourbusiness.com. Computers find each other by number (an IP address), and the Domain Name System, or DNS, translates the name into the right number.[3]
A name is read from right to left. The last part, .com, .org or .us, is the top-level domain (TLD). Some are open to anyone. Others, such as .gov and .edu, are restricted.[2] The official list of every TLD is kept by IANA.[12]
You register it. You don't buy it.
ICANN, the nonprofit that coordinates the internet's naming system, says plainly that paying to register a domain "is not the same as 'buying' it outright or permanently."[1] It is closer to a lease: you pay for one or more years, and renewing keeps it yours.[1][2]
Registry, registrar, DNS and hosting: who does what
Four different jobs are involved, and a small business often has three different companies doing them without realizing it.
| Piece | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Registry | Keeps the master list for one TLD, such as every .com name. | Verisign runs .com |
| Registrar | The company you register through and pay each year. Registrars are accredited by ICANN.[4] | Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap |
| DNS / nameservers | Hold the records that say where your website and email live.[3] | Often your registrar or Cloudflare |
| Web hosting | The server that actually delivers your website's pages. | Your web designer's platform |
Some web and hosting companies resell domains on behalf of a registrar. They aren't ICANN-accredited themselves, and the registrar remains responsible for the registration.[4] ICANN itself doesn't sell domains or control what is on websites.[5]
Make sure your business is the registrant
The registrant is the person or company the domain is registered to, and the registrant is the one in control. This is the most common domain problem we see: a designer or relative registered the name years ago under their own account, and now nobody can log in.
ICANN describes exactly this situation, where a developer "may have registered the domain name using their own contact details," and you may need proof of payment to show you are the rightful holder.[1] ICANN's own advice is that it is "not recommended" to list website designers or hosting providers as the registrant.[8]
As the registrant, you also have responsibilities: keep your contact details accurate, respond to your registrar within 15 days if it asks you to confirm them, and keep payment details current if you use auto-renew.[7]
What happens if a domain expires
ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy sets the rules for most domains:[6]
- Your registrar must remind you at least twice before expiry (around one month and one week ahead), and once more within five days after.
- After expiry, the domain stops resolving. That means your website and your email both stop working.
- Most generic TLDs offer a 30-day redemption grace period after deletion, when the name can still be restored, usually for a fee.
Reminders go to the registrant's email. If that's an old address or an ex-employee's inbox, nobody sees them. That's another reason to keep the registrant details current.
How to check who holds your domain
Use ICANN's free lookup tool at lookup.icann.org.[11] It shows the registrar, creation and expiry dates, and the domain's status. It uses RDAP, the system that replaced WHOIS as the official source of registration data for generic domains in January 2025.[10] Owner contact details are often redacted for privacy, but the registrar is always listed, and the registrar is who you contact.
Moving your domain
You can move a domain to another registrar at any time. Your current registrar must give you the transfer authorization code within five calendar days of your request. After a change of registrant name, a 60-day transfer lock may apply.[9]
You don't have to move your domain to change web designers, though. Usually only the DNS records change.
Common questions
Do I own my domain name, or does my web designer?
Whoever is listed as the registrant controls the domain. ICANN warns that a developer may have registered it with their own details, and recommends against listing your designer or host as the registrant. Ask your designer to put your business's name and email on the registration.
What's the difference between a domain, DNS and hosting?
The domain is the name (yourbusiness.com). DNS is the set of records that says where that name points: your website, your email provider and so on. Hosting is the computer that actually serves your website's pages. You can change hosts without changing your domain.
What happens if my domain expires?
Your website and email stop working once the name stops resolving. Registrars must remind you before and after it expires, and most domains can still be recovered during a grace period, but don't count on it. Turn on auto-renew.
How do I find out who my domain registrar is?
Search your domain at ICANN's free lookup tool (lookup.icann.org). It shows the registrar and the key dates, using the RDAP system that replaced the old WHOIS.
Can I move my domain to a different registrar?
Yes. Your current registrar must give you a transfer authorization code within five days of asking. One catch: if you have just changed the registrant's name, you may have to wait 60 days.
Sources
- ICANN. General Questions (FAQ)
- MDN Web Docs (Mozilla). What is a domain name?
- Cloudflare. DNS concepts
- ICANN. Registering domain names
- ICANN. What does ICANN do?
- ICANN. Expired Registration Recovery Policy
- ICANN. Registrants' benefits and responsibilities
- ICANN Blog. Do you have a domain name? Here's what you need to know (Part IV). March 26, 2018
- ICANN. FAQs for registrants: transferring your domain name
- ICANN. ICANN update: launching RDAP, sunsetting WHOIS. January 27, 2025
- ICANN. Registration data lookup tool
- IANA. Root zone database
This guide is general information for small business owners, not legal advice. We check it against the sources above and update it when they change. Spot something out of date? Email hello@risendesign.app.