Who owns my domain if someone else built my site?
Two minutes to find out, and it is worth doing today rather than on the day you want to leave.
SHORT ANSWER
Check it yourself at lookup.icann.org. The registrant is the legal owner. If your web company's name is there instead of yours, they control your address: if you leave, they keep it, and every link, map listing, printed brochure, and business card pointing at it becomes theirs. Ask for it to be transferred into your own registrar account now, while the relationship is good. A reputable company will do it without argument.
How to check
- Go to lookup.icann.org and enter your domain.
- Look at the registrant organization and email. Privacy protection may mask it, which is normal; what matters is the registrar account it sits in.
- If you cannot tell, ask your web company directly: "Which registrar is my domain in, and whose account is it?"
- Better still, log in yourself. If you have no login, that is your answer.
Why it matters more than the website
A website can be rebuilt in weeks. A domain cannot be recreated at all. Your Google Business Profile points at it, your reviews reference it, every directory links to it, your printed park maps carry it, and years of search history attach to it. Losing the domain resets all of that. Losing the site does not.
How to fix it
Open your own account at a registrar, Namecheap, Cloudflare, or GoDaddy are all fine. Ask your web company to transfer the domain to it. They will need to unlock it and provide an authorization code. Transfers take five to seven days. Do this while nothing is wrong, because a company you are leaving has little reason to hurry.
What to do if they refuse
Ask in writing for the reason. If you paid for the domain and it was registered on your behalf, you have a reasonable claim, and ICANN has a transfer dispute process. In practice, most refusals dissolve once you ask in writing. If it does not, weigh the cost of a lawyer against the cost of changing your address, and know that most parks in that position end up changing addresses.
Related questions.
How do I find out who owns my domain?
Look it up at lookup.icann.org, or ask your web company which registrar account it sits in. If you have no login, you do not control it.
Can my web company refuse to transfer my domain?
They can make it difficult. Ask in writing, and if needed use ICANN's transfer dispute process. Prevention is far easier than recovery.
Should the domain be in my name or my business name?
Your business name, with your own email as the contact. Not a personal email belonging to a staff member who may leave.
How long does a domain transfer take?
Five to seven days once the current registrar unlocks it and provides the authorization code.
Want this handled for your park?
We build and run websites for RV parks and campgrounds, and nothing else. Websites from $85 a month, SEO from $250.
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