As a web design & development company, we frequently get asked to do a redesign on an existing site. As most clients of this size don´t need their own hosting package they usually get it hosted by whoever does the design. This is not a problem because if they come to us for design they are happy to let us host as well.
The problem comes in when we have to get the DNS moved over and their "helpful" design company registered it for them… in their name. This means it´s an absolute pain in the arse to go through to get it shifted over! So here comes the bit of advice for anyone who is new to domains (web addresses).
For the love of Jolene Blalock – REGISTER THE DOMAIN NAME YOURSELF!!!
Its not difficult to do. We even do it for our clients, registering the domain under a new contract in their name. It means that even if we have a little "kafooy" then they still have control over the domain name.
No matter what a web design company may say, if they are getting the domain registered in their name, it is either lazyness or an attempt to lock you into their service. They can set themselves as an administrative contact so that the client isn´t bothered by DNS updates or hosting offers from the registrar.
The secrets out! Behave boys…
I'm a web developer based in the East Midlands, UK and if I keep up the current rate, I might have developed 3 million sites by the time I retire