Your clinic's domain should be registered in the practice's name, with a clinic-controlled email and login. The same goes for hosting, business email, your Google profile and analytics. To check, log in to the registrar account, or ask for access, and look at the registrant name, email and renewal date. If a developer or agency holds it, ask in writing for a transfer now, while relations are good.
A gynaecologist calls her web developer to change the clinic's timings. No answer. She tries for a week. Then the website goes down, replaced by a page saying the domain has expired. The developer, it turns out, registered it in his own name six years ago, with his own email, and has since moved on. The renewal reminders went to an inbox nobody at the clinic had ever seen.
She has to choose between waiting to see if the domain becomes available again, or starting over with a new address. Six years of search history, every printed prescription pad and every visiting card with the old address, all pointing nowhere.
I've seen versions of this more than once. It's entirely avoidable.
Why does it matter who owns the domain?
Because your domain is the address of the one place online you fully own. In Known Doctors Get Booked I say exactly that about your website: social platforms change their rules overnight, but your website stays yours. That's only true if the domain and hosting are actually in your name.
There's a second reason, and it's in Rich Doctors Walk Away. When you check any contract, one of the things to look for is ownership: who owns the patient data, the brand, the content and the work produced. If you ever want to bring in a partner, raise money or sell, a buyer's team will check that the practice actually owns its brand assets. A domain held by an ex-developer is the kind of surprise you don't want in due diligence.
What exactly should the clinic own?
Not just the domain. The whole chain. Here's the list, with who should hold each and how to check.
| Asset | Should be held by | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name (yourclinic.in) | The practice's legal entity, with a clinic email | Log in to the registrar; see the registrant name and email |
| Domain registrar login | A clinic email the owner controls | Can you log in today, without asking anyone? |
| DNS settings | Inside the clinic's registrar or hosting account | Someone at the clinic can see the records |
| Hosting account | The practice, paid from the clinic's account | The invoice is in the clinic's name |
| Website files and database | The practice, with a recent backup | Ask for a full backup file and store it |
| Website platform login (admin) | The clinic owner, with full admin rights | You have the highest level of access |
| Business email (doctor@yourclinic.in) | The practice's account | You can reset passwords yourself |
| Google Business Profile | Primary owner: a clinic account | Check the users list on the profile |
| Analytics and search reporting | Clinic account as owner or admin | Check the access list |
| Social media pages | Clinic account as admin | Check page roles |
The rule of thumb: agencies and developers get access as managers or users. The clinic holds ownership.
How do you check who holds your domain right now?
Do this today. It takes twenty minutes.
- Find the registrar. Search your domain on any public domain lookup tool. It will show the registrar's name, even if personal details are hidden for privacy.
- Find the renewal date on the same lookup. Note it.
- Search your email for messages from that registrar. If you find none, someone else is receiving them.
- Try to log in to the registrar's website with any clinic email.
- If you can't, ask your developer or agency, in writing: "Please confirm who the domain is registered to, the email on the account, and the renewal date."
- Repeat for hosting and business email.
Write the answers in your compliance calendar. In Rich Doctors Walk Away I recommend one calendar with every renewal date and a reminder sixty days before each one. Your domain and hosting go on it.
What if a developer or agency registered it?
Most of the time this isn't bad intent. Developers register domains in their own accounts because it's quick. The fix is usually a friendly request.
- Ask while relations are good. Not at the end of a dispute. Today.
- Ask in writing for the domain to be transferred to an account in the clinic's name, or for the registrant details to be changed to the practice.
- Ask for hosting access too, and a full backup of the website.
- Change passwords once you have control, and keep them in a password manager the owner controls.
- Keep the developer as a user if you still work with them. Nothing changes for them day to day.
Registrars have their own transfer processes, usually involving an authorisation code. Your developer will know them.
If they refuse or go silent, don't threaten them on WhatsApp. Gather what you have: invoices showing you paid for the domain and website, emails, any agreement. Then speak to a lawyer about your options. If the domain is about to expire, note the date and keep checking. It's one more reason the renewal date belongs on your calendar.
What should your next agency or developer contract say?
Before you sign with anyone new, check that the agreement covers:
- Ownership: the domain, website, content, designs and data belong to the practice.
- Registration: the domain is registered in the practice's name.
- Access: the clinic gets owner-level access to everything from day one.
- Exit: on ending the contract, the provider hands over all logins, files and backups within an agreed number of days.
- Patient data: how enquiry data from forms is stored, who can see it, and that it's deleted from their systems when you leave.
The same rule from that book applies: have your lawyer review anything long-term, high-value or involving patient data before you sign.
How much is a lost domain really worth?
Example: Say your website brings 40 enquiries a month. Your desk books 35%, so 14 consultations. A third of them start treatment averaging ₹25,000. That's about 4 or 5 treatment starts, worth over ₹1,00,000 a month linked to the site. Losing the domain doesn't just cost a new website. It can cost months of that while the new address builds up again.
That example is illustrative. Look at your own enquiry log, by source, to see what your site is worth.
If you'd like a second look at how your website, profile and accounts are set up, our growth consulting work includes exactly this kind of ownership check. And if you're thinking about building a practice you could one day sell, the rest of what buyers look for starts with owning your own brand.
The short version
- Your domain, hosting, email, website files, Google profile and analytics should all be owned by the practice.
- Check the registrar, registrant email and renewal date today, and put renewals on a calendar with a sixty-day reminder.
- Developers and agencies should be users or managers, never owners.
- If someone else holds your domain, ask in writing for a transfer while relations are good.
- Put ownership, access and exit terms in every agency contract, reviewed by your lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out who owns my clinic's domain name?
Search your domain on a public domain lookup tool to find the registrar and renewal date. Then try to log in to that registrar with a clinic email. If you can't, ask your developer in writing who it's registered to, which email is on the account, and when it renews.
My web developer registered my clinic domain in his name. What should I do?
Ask him politely, in writing, to transfer the domain to an account in your practice's name, and to give you hosting access and a full backup. Often that's all it takes. If he refuses or disappears, gather your invoices and messages and speak to a lawyer about your options.
What happens if my clinic's domain expires?
Your website and any email on that domain can stop working, and depending on the registrar's process the domain may be lost to someone else. Put the renewal date on your compliance calendar with a reminder sixty days before, and make sure renewal emails reach a clinic inbox.
Should my marketing agency have owner access to my clinic's accounts?
No. Give agencies manager or user access to your domain, hosting, Google profile, analytics and social pages. The practice should hold ownership of everything. Write this into the agency contract, with a clear handover of logins and files when the contract ends.
On a free growth call, my team traces your last month from enquiry to treatment and shows you your biggest leak in rupees.
