THE SHORT ANSWER
Get the domain into an account in your own name first, then move the site. Before anyone changes anything, find out who controls the domain, the DNS, the hosting and your email, and save a copy of the site. Change only the records that point to the website, leave the email records alone, and keep the old site up until the new one is live.
Step 1: Find out who controls what
Four things that feel like one often live in four different places. Write down where each one is and whose login it is.
| Piece | What it is | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Domain registration | Who owns yourcompany.com and pays the yearly renewal | The renewal email or invoice, or a public lookup like ICANN Lookup, which names the registrar |
| DNS | The settings that send visitors to your site and email to your inbox | Often at the registrar, sometimes at the host or a service like Cloudflare |
| Hosting | Where the site itself lives | Your designer's account, a site builder, or a hosting company |
| The inbox behind you@yourcompany.com | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or a mailbox at the host |
Add the logins that hang off the site: your Google Business Profile, Search Console, and any booking or payment tool. Ask your current designer for this list in writing. A good one will.
Step 2: Get the domain into your name
If the domain sits in your designer's account or name, get it moved to you before you announce the switch.
There are two ways. Your designer can move it to an account in your name at the same registrar, which is usually the quickest. Or the domain moves to a registrar you choose: the current one unlocks it and gives you an authorization code (also called an auth or EPP code), and you start the transfer at the new registrar.
- Check that the registrant contact is you, with an email address you read.
- Check the renewal date. Don't let the domain expire in the middle of a switch.
- Ask whether a transfer lock applies. Some registrars block transfers for a while after a domain is registered or moved.
If a designer won't hand over a domain you paid for, ask in writing and keep a copy. What you can do next depends on your contract. That's a question for an attorney, not for a guide like this one.
Step 3: Keep your email working
Your email usually runs on the same domain but not on the website, so moving the site shouldn't touch it, as long as nobody deletes the wrong records.
- Take a screenshot of every DNS record before anyone changes anything. The MX records are the ones that route your email.
- If your mailbox is hosted by your old designer or their host, move the email first, as its own project.
- Never cancel the old hosting until you know where your email lives.
This matters for a lot of owners: 41% of the websites of Florida's registered pool businesses show an email address on their own domain (Study No. 03).
Step 4: Save a copy and list your pages
Save everything you'd hate to lose before anything changes.
- Your texts and photos, including the ones only on the site
- A list of every page address. Many sites have one at yourcompany.com/sitemap.xml
- Where your contact form sends its messages
Step 5: Keep old links working
Every old page address should lead to the matching page on the new site.
Search results, old emails and other websites point to your current addresses. If a page moves, set up a permanent redirect (a 301) from the old address to the new one. If the addresses stay the same, even better. After the switch, open a few old links and check where they land. A switch can still change how you show up in search for a while, and nobody can promise you a ranking.
Step 6: Switch, then check
Point the domain to the new site only when the new site is ready, and change only the website records.
- Review the new site at its temporary address first.
- Change the website records: usually an A record for yourcompany.com and a CNAME record for www. Leave the MX records alone.
- On your phone, check both yourcompany.com and www.yourcompany.com, the padlock, and a test message through the form.
- Send yourself an email and reply to it.
- Check the website link on your Google Business Profile.
- Cancel the old hosting only after a couple of quiet weeks.
How it works with us
If you already own your domain, it stays yours, and we never ask for your registrar password.
We send you the two records that point your domain to your new site, an A record and a CNAME for www, and your email records stay exactly as they are. If you'd rather not click through it alone, call us while you're at your computer and we'll walk you through it.
If you don't have a domain yet, we register one for you, included up to $29 a year. It's moved to your name within 5 business days of asking (a new domain after its first 60 days), and that's included in your plan. And if you ever leave us, give 1 month's notice: your site stays up until then, and we hand over your files and your domain. The full rules are on What you own, and the steps on How it works.
When you don't need to switch
If your designer still answers, the domain is in your name and you mostly want access, you may not need a new designer at all. Ask for your logins and a copy of the site, and keep working with them.
Switch when you can't get answers, can't get your domain, or the site no longer does its job. Not sure? Our pool service website checklist helps you judge the site, and you can ask us a question first.
Questions
Will I lose my email if I switch web designers?
Not if the email records stay as they are. Email and website usually share the domain but run on different services. Screenshot your DNS records first, change only the website records, and don't cancel the old hosting until you know where your mailbox lives.
What is an authorization code?
A code from your current registrar that proves you may move the domain to another registrar. You usually get it after unlocking the domain in your registrar account, or your designer can request it for you.
Do I have to move my domain to switch designers?
No. The domain can stay where it is. Only the website records have to point to the new site. Moving the domain is about making sure it's in your name.
