Should your web designer own your domain name, or should you?

Should my web designer own my domain name, or should I?

You should own it. At Page Cove our rule for every client is that the domain is registered in the client's own name, on the client's own account, and the client pays for it, usually about $20 a year. Here is what that looked like on a real launch: when we put a one-page site live for an Ottawa drywall contractor on October 6, 2026, he bought the domain on his own Cloudflare account and invited us in as an administrator. If he ever leaves us, nothing has to be handed over.

The rule applies to every client, with no exceptions. We don't hold a domain for anyone. On the drywall job, the site, the domain and the hosting all sit in his account, so a change of designer would mean no transfer to request and no password to chase from us. It is already his.

What your designer actually needs is access

To build and launch your site, a designer needs to be able to work on your domain. They don't need their name on it. Our own pricing says a one-page site goes live on your domain within 2 business days of approval and payment, once we have access to the domain. Access is something you grant from your own account; ownership is whose name and whose account the domain sits in. A designer who asks for the second when the first would do is asking for more than the job needs.

Being an administrator also let us do work the owner shouldn't have to learn. The drywall contractor keeps using Gmail and his domain sends no email, so we added records that stop anyone sending email pretending to be his domain (SPF set to -all, DMARC set to reject). If your domain doesn't send email either, ask your designer whether those two records are set.

The paperwork matches the setup: once a Page Cove website is paid for, the website, its code and the domain belong to the business.

Questions to ask before you pay

Ask these before you pay anyone for a website, and get the answers in writing:

• Whose name is the domain registered in?
• Whose account is it in, and can you log in yourself?
• Who pays the renewal each year?
• Can the site live in your own hosting account?

A contractor near Toronto asked us that last one on October 20, 2026. Our answer was yes: once it is paid, the complete source code and every file are his, and we set up the hosting account and hand it over. Each of the four has a short, plain answer.

What you pay us is listed on our Page Cove pricing page. The domain is a separate bill: roughly $20 a year, which you pay yourself to the company you registered it with.

If your designer holds your domain now

If your current designer registered the domain in their own name, start by asking them to move it into an account in yours. Moving an existing site is its own job, and our page on redesigning an existing website explains how we handle it. If you run a trade, our page on websites for contractors and trades shows what we build for that work.

If you'd rather not deal with hosting and edits at all, our optional care plan is $79 a month or $790 a year and covers hosting, security updates and everyday edits. The domain stays in your name either way.

To start fresh, request a one-page site, built first. If you don't have a domain yet, we'll help you buy it, in your name and on your account.