Selling & Business Models
Who should own and pay for a client's domain name and hosting account?
The short answer
The client should normally be the domain registrant and primary owner of hosting, while the designer receives named delegated access. The client should also pay providers directly. That keeps the business’s essential assets from depending on whether the designer is available years later.
Set ownership correctly from day one
Use the client’s legal business name or chosen responsible person, business email, payment method, and recovery contacts. ICANN explains that the domain registrant enters the agreement with the registrar and manages the name through that registrar (ICANN registrant information). A designer listed as registrant can create a painful ownership problem even when everyone began with good intentions.
Ask the client to invite your work account as an administrator or collaborator. Avoid sharing one password. Turn on multifactor authentication and store recovery codes safely.
Separate the accounts
Keep domain registration, DNS, hosting, website management, email, analytics, and payment tools visible in an account map. They may live with one vendor, but they are different functions. Changing web hosts does not always require transferring the domain registrar. ICANN notes that a registrant can update nameservers or a hosting IP instead (ICANN domain-transfer FAQ).
The designer can manage renewals under a maintenance agreement, but the client should receive renewal notices and be able to enter the account. Never bury hosting inside an unexplained annual invoice.
Handoff safely
At launch, give the client the provider names, account-owner emails, renewal dates, billing owner, support links, DNS record, backup location, and access-removal plan. Test that the client can sign in before your project access is reduced.
If you resell hosting, disclose who owns the account, what happens when the service ends, how the site can be exported, and who is responsible for backups and security. Have local counsel review reseller and service terms. The goal is not to remove your ongoing value. It is to make sure the client is never trapped.
Sources and further reading
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Related Questions
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Related WAHMN resource
If you want to turn this website task into a service or build a stronger process for your own site, this system walks through the work in more depth. See Website & Landing Page Build System.