How to Register a Domain Name and Keep It Yours

By Graeme Preston, Founder & Owner · Published

Registering a domain name takes a couple of minutes. Registering it so that it stays yours, with nobody else able to lose it, block it or hold it to ransom, takes a little more thought. Here's what to check before you buy, and how to make sure you stay in control afterwards.

Choosing the name

  • Keep it short and easy to say. If you have to spell it out on the phone, it's too complicated.
  • Avoid hyphens and numbers unless they're part of your business name. People forget them.
  • Check it isn't someone else's trade mark. A quick search of the business name and the UK IPO trade mark register can save a dispute later.
  • Look at social media too. If the same name is free on the platforms you use, everything matches.

Which ending: .co.uk, .uk or .com?

  • .co.uk is the familiar choice for UK businesses, and tells visitors you're based here.
  • .uk is shorter and newer. If you register the .co.uk, it's worth registering the matching .uk as well so nobody else does.
  • .com suits businesses that sell abroad, or where the .co.uk is taken.
  • .org.uk is used by charities, clubs and churches, though anyone can register one.

Many businesses register two or three endings and point the extras at their main website. It costs a few pounds a year and protects your name.

Register it in your own name

This is the most important step, and the one most often got wrong. The person or business named as the registrant legally owns the domain. If a web designer, a former employee or a friend registers it in their own name "to save you the bother", it's theirs, not yours.

  • Use your own name, or your business's legal name, as the registrant.
  • Use an email address that you control and will keep: not one at a designer's company, and ideally not one on the domain you're registering.
  • If someone else is setting up your website, ask them to register the domain in your name, or give them access to your account rather than letting them use theirs.

Not sure who owns your existing domain? Log in to the account where it's registered, or ask the company that registered it, and check the registrant name. If it isn't you or your business, ask for it to be changed before you rely on it.

Keep it from expiring

Domains are rented a year (or more) at a time. When a domain expires, the website and email stop working, and after a grace period anyone can register it.

  • Turn on auto-renew and keep your payment card up to date.
  • Keep the contact email working. Renewal reminders and transfer approvals go there.
  • Consider registering for longer if the name is central to your business.

If it does lapse, act quickly: see what happens when your domain expires.

Privacy

Public domain lookups (WHOIS) no longer show most registrants' names and addresses by default, for .uk or for most other endings. But the registry still holds them, and they must be accurate: false or out-of-date details can lead to a domain being suspended, and can make it hard to prove it's yours.

After you've registered it

Registering with MyWebsiteHost

You can search for and register a domain on our domains page. Prices for the first year and for renewal are shown side by side, so there are no surprises. Every domain comes with free DNS management in your client area, and it's registered in the name you give us.