Far too often we get a case where a business owner doesn't know where their website is located, how to access their hosting space, is not the registered legal assignee for their domain name - therefore having no real access or control of their own digital assets. In this article, we show you how to check if you control your digital assets - and what to do if you're not in complete control.

Business domain registration records

Inexperienced web agencies sometimes register domains in their own names rather than the business owner name or the company name. Every time a domain is registered, the legal assignee of the domain is recorded and can be checked via the WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase who is) lookup service. There are many websites where you can check these records, we prefer Blacknight's Who Owns It service. Simply enter your domain name and check the corresponding details in the record returned.

If your company name or your personal name are not the official assignee, you will need to contact the official assignee and have them authorise the registrar to transfer the domain into your name so that you have the correct level of 'ownership' and control over your domain assets. In addition to being the official assignee, you will want to have access to control the domain in order to use it for your website, subdomains and email addresses.