For many organizations, your domain was purchased and configured many years ago by a former staff member, volunteer, marketing agency, or IT provider. When it’s time for a website redesign or migration, nobody is quite sure where the domain is registered, where the DNS lives, or who even has access anymore.
The good news is that it’s usually pretty simple to sort it out once you understand what you’re looking for. First, let’s break down the technical elements involved in launching a new website.
Domain vs. DNS vs. Hosting
Domain names, DNS and hosting are often confused, but they each serve a different purpose.
Domain
Your domain is how you access your website (like landslidecreative.com). It might also be called a website address or URL.
A domain registrar manages the ownership of domain names. Common domain registrars include GoDaddy, Namecheap, Network Solutions, and Hover. Your domain registrar is the company where your domain name was purchased.
DNS
DNS (Domain Name System) acts like the internet’s phone book. It tells browsers and email providers where your website lives, where email should be delivered, and what services are connected to the domain. Cloudflare is the most widely used external DNS provider.
Your DNS may or may not be managed at the same company as your domain registrar. For example, your domain could be registered at GoDaddy (the registrar), but your DNS could be managed through Cloudflare (the DNS provider).
Hosting
Hosting is how your website files are stored so that they can be accessed by anyone on the internet. Common hosting providers are SiteGround, DreamHost, WP Engine, and Kinsta.
You can have your domain registered with one company, use a different DNS provider, and host your website with another company. Or, you can use the same company for two or three of these services.
1. Find Your Domain Registrar and DNS.
If you’re trying to figure out where your domain name is registered or where your DNS is managed, a great place to start is with the ICANN Lookup tool.
- Go to https://lookup.icann.org/en.
- Enter your domain name and click “Lookup.”
- View publicly available information about your domain name.
Under Registrar Information, you can see where your domain name is registered. You may have to dig one level deeper from here, as some registrars own multiple companies. (For instance, the registrar for our domain is listed as Tucows.com. Tucows is the parent company for Hover, which is where we registered our domain name.)
Under Domain Information, you can see a section for Nameservers. This should indicate where your DNS is managed. These might need a bit of decoding. For example:
- ns1.cloudflare.com → DNS likely managed in Cloudflare
- nsXX.domaincontrol.com → DNS likely managed in GoDaddy
Try Googling something like “domaincontrol.com nameserver” and you should be able to tell what DNS provider that nameserver is associated with.
2. Access your Domain Registrar and DNS accounts.
Once you know where your domain name and DNS are managed, you need access to the account(s). Hopefully someone in your organization has the account credentials handy. If not, there are few things you can try:
- Use the platform’s password reset tool. If you have access to the email address and/or mobile number associated with the account, you can reset the password.
- Contact the platform’s support team. If you don’t have access to the email address or mobile number, you may need to contact the support team for help. They likely have an account verification process to confirm you are the rightful owner, and then they can reassign the account.
3. Keep a record of your Domain Registrar and DNS account details.
Now that you have access, make sure you don’t lose it! Ensure you have a system to keep track of:
- Your domain registrar and login credentials.
- Your DNS provider and login credentials.
- Your hosting company and login credentials.
It’s also a good idea to record:
- Domain name expiration dates – Turn on automatic renewals so you don’t accidentally lose your domain name. Set calendar reminders to double check your account ahead of time.
- Credit cards on file – An expired or canceled credit card can mean your account gets disabled and you lose access to your domain name. Have a backup card on file if possible.
- Recovery email addresses and mobile numbers – Add additional email addresses and mobile numbers as backup if someone leaves the organization or an email is compromised.
Make sure you have a way for this information to transfer from one employee to another. Consider sharing it with multiple departments (admin, marketing, IT, etc.) for backup. Even a simple spreadsheet can save hours of troubleshooting later.
Why This Matters During a Website Launch
During a website redesign or migration, access to your domain registrar and DNS provider is often required to:
- point your domain to the new website
- configure SSL certificates
- connect email services
- verify third-party tools
- launch the new website without downtime
One of the most common causes of launch delays is simply not knowing where the domain or DNS is managed — or not having access to the necessary accounts when it’s time to make changes.
Taking a little time now to document this information can make future website projects, staff transitions, and technical troubleshooting significantly easier.
