Domain name ownership is something most companies only think about once a problem shows up. They have lost touch with the person who built the website years ago, the renewal notice went to a former employee's inbox, or someone changed a DNS setting and email stopped arriving. In this post we start with choosing a domain name, then walk through the most common mistakes around ownership, renewal and DNS management, and how to protect yourself from them.
What to look for when choosing a domain name
If you are buying a new domain or considering an extra one alongside your current name, these criteria make life easier:
- Keep it short and easy to say over the phone. Pick a name nobody has to ask "is that a hyphen or an underscore?" about.
- Avoid Turkish characters. Domains with characters like ç, ş or ğ are technically possible, but they can cause trouble in email and some systems.
- Choose the extension deliberately. .com.tr is a widely recognized trust signal for businesses in Türkiye, and it is allocated through TRABIS, the national .tr registry. .com gives you international recognition. If you can, get both and redirect one to the other.
- Protect similar names. Registering common misspellings and other extensions is cheap insurance against impersonation and phishing attempts.
- Check trademark registrations. Make sure the name you choose does not clash with someone else's registered trademark.
The most common risk: a domain registered to an agency or an employee
In a domain registration, the "registrant" field shows the legal owner of the domain. The problem we run into most often in practice is that this field names the agency that built the site, a freelancer or an employee who has since left, rather than the company itself.
When that happens:
- If you part ways with the agency, you depend on their cooperation to transfer the domain
- If the registrant email is no longer valid, proving ownership becomes difficult
- In a dispute, your website and your email can become bargaining chips
Checking is easy: you can see the registration details in your registrar's control panel or through public lookup (WHOIS) services. If the details are hidden for privacy reasons, ask your registrar for written confirmation.
Renewal: the silent disaster
Domains are leased for fixed periods. If a domain is not renewed when the term ends, it is first suspended and then, after a set period, released. In the meantime your website and email stop working. Valuable names that become available can be snapped up quickly by people waiting for exactly that moment.
To avoid missing a renewal:
- Turn on auto-renewal and make sure the payment method on file is valid
- Check that renewal notices go to a shared company address (for example IT or accounting)
- Renew for several years at a time if you can
- Keep a list of all your domains and their expiry dates
DNS: your domain's address book
DNS records decide which server your domain points to for the website and which server handles your email. A single wrong change can stop your email while the site keeps working, or the other way around.
| Record | What it does | If it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| A / AAAA | The website's server address | The site will not load |
| CNAME | Points one name to another name | Subdomains stop working |
| MX | The server that receives your email | Incoming mail gets lost |
| SPF, DKIM, DMARC (TXT) | Authenticate the email you send | Your mail lands in spam |
DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to propagate across the internet. That is why it is a good habit to save a full copy of the existing records before any change, make the change during business hours on a quiet day, and then test the website as well as incoming and outgoing email.
When you move a website or switch hosting, the email records should be left alone. Setting up these records correctly is part of our business email service.
Domain name checklist
- The registrant is the company's official legal name
- The admin email is a shared company address, not a personal one
- At least two people in the company can access the registrar's control panel
- Auto-renewal is on and expiry dates are on a list
- Transfer lock is enabled where the extension supports it (it prevents unauthorized transfers)
- A copy of the DNS records is kept on file
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are in place
How we handle it at Globya
In every project we set up, the domain is registered in the client company's own name; we are only authorized as the technical contact. We track renewal dates and always take a backup before making DNS changes. If you are not sure whose name your domain is registered under right now, we can find out as part of our free preliminary analysis and guide you through the transfer process if needed. Hosting and domain management are included in our hosting and maintenance service.
Frequently asked questions
What should we do if our domain is registered to our former agency?
Start by sending the agency a written request to transfer it. If you do not get a positive response, the process can be handled through the registrar and, for .tr domains, under the applicable allocation rules. Which step is right depends on the type of registration.
Does moving a domain to another registrar take the website offline?
Not if it is done correctly. As long as the DNS records are preserved during the transfer, the website and email keep working without interruption.
How many domain names should we register?
Alongside your main domain, it is usually enough to register the other common extension and the most frequent misspellings. All of them should redirect to one main website.
The Globya assistant is online 24/7; it answers right away and passes your question to the team if needed.