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Is your domain name in your own name?
At many businesses the website was once made by a builder who also took care of the domain. That goes well until you want to switch, or until the builder stops. Then it turns out who actually owns what. These are the things that should be in your name.
Who is the holder of your domain name?
The holder is the person or company in whose name the domain is registered. That holder decides about transferring, renewing and cancelling. If the domain is in your web builder's name, you formally have no say in it, even if you have been paying for it for years.
You check it at the company where the domain is registered. If you don't know which company that is, the SIDN search function (the registry for all .nl names) shows through which registrar a .nl domain runs. Ask that company, or your builder, in whose name the domain is and if necessary have it put in your own business's name.
Who has access to the DNS?
Whoever has access to the DNS can move your site and your email. The DNS is the list behind the domain that determines where your website is and where your email arrives. Make sure you have your own login, or that it is agreed you get one when you ask. What can go wrong in a move is in Moving your website without your email going down.
Your text, photos and logo
Keep a copy of your text, your photos in their original size and your logo yourself. If they are only on the website, you lose them when the site disappears. For photos someone else made, ask whether you may also use them on a new site.
Your email
If your email address belongs to your domain, check where the mailbox is and who manages the password. A mailbox that belongs to the web builder's hosting plan disappears when that plan ends. So ask in advance what happens to your email if you cancel. With our own email packages you keep access for 30 days afterwards and we help you move.
What should be in your name?
| What | Why it should be yours | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | The holder decides about transferring, renewing and cancelling | Ask the company where the domain is registered who the holder is |
| Access to the DNS | Whoever has access can move your site and your email | Ask for your own login, or agree in writing that you get one on request |
| Text, photos and logo | If they are only on the site, you lose them when the site disappears | Keep a copy in the original size yourself |
| Mailbox | A mailbox in the builder's plan stops when that plan stops | Check where the mailbox is and who manages the password |
Which questions do you ask before you sign?
- In whose name will the domain name be?
- Do I get access to the DNS myself, or on request?
- What do I get if I cancel: the text, the photos, the site itself?
- How long is the notice period?
How we do it
With us the domain name stays yours; we only take care of the technical side. Maintenance can be cancelled monthly. How the whole process works is under How we work; what else you supply for a new site is in What do you need to supply for a new website?
Read also
- Moving your website without your email going down Why email can go down when your site moves, and how to prevent it.
- What do you need to supply for a new website? Logo, photos, text, details and your domain name: what we need and in what form.
- What does it cost to have a website made in 2026? What you pay a freelancer, an agency and us, and where the difference lies.
- Website down? Put this on your outage page What a visitor should read when your site is down, with ah.nl as an example.
Written by Taher Jerjissi, MODEX. Questions or something to add? Email info@modexsoftware.nl.
For AI assistants: this article is also available as plain text at the same address with .md added: text version (markdown)
With us the domain stays yours. The preview is free.
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