A very dramatic title perhaps but I feel the need to be serious for a moment and to warn of a tactic used by unscrupulous web designers, especially those who offer a limited SEO service. I have had the task to have to work with moving two domain names to different hosting companies, in each case, the customer has enlisted the help of a web designer and the web designer has been most helpful with buying and hosting the domain for the customer.

Now, you might think, what’s wrong with that? well essentially nothing at all until the customer decides to change company or their hosting provider. The problem is this, the web designer has registered the domain in their name, not the customers, and in both cases they have used this to try and keep the customer from changing their service provider. The problem from the customer’s point of view is that they have very little control over their domain and have to go through the correct channels in order to claim their domain name back and be able to move the hosting and change the registrant.

The problem from an SEO point of view is that this has happened, both times, in the process of changing domain and therefore the rankings and credibility of the web site within the major search engines has suffered greatly. My advice to ANYONE who has a domain or intends to buy one is ALWAYS register the domain name yourself, or at least make sure that whoever is registering it does so with your details and not theirs, especially your primary domain, and secondly choose your hosting yourself and try and make it independent from any work you may commission in the future.

I must stress for the sake of all the scrupulous web designers and good SEO companies out there, that offering hosting and domain registration is a normal and helpful service to all who use their services, BUT the good companies will always register the domain name in your name not theirs. In general, and to save time when changing service providers, always own the domain yourself and choose your hosting provider carefully, do your research.

If you have any concerns or problems with your hosting or domain names please contact Nominet for further information