Domain and hosting basics for business owners
A domain is your website's address and hosting is where its files live. You rent both, you renew both, and both should be registered in your name. This guide shows how to check yours in a few minutes.
Three words
- Domain. The address people type, such as yourshop.in. You rent it by the year.
- Hosting. The computer that stores your website and sends it to visitors. Also rented, by the month or by the year.
- DNS. The settings that connect the domain to the hosting and to your email.
What people ask
On 17 October 2026 we typed these into Google India's suggestions. They show direction, not volume.
| What we typed | What came back |
|---|---|
| who owns my domain | Who owns a domain, how to check it and a lookup |
| domain renewal | Renewal charges, a price in India and a check page |
| how much does a website domain cost in india | A question about domains, separate from one about hosting |
People look for the owner, the renewal and the price. Those are the three things worth knowing about your own domain, and the rest of this guide answers them.
Who owns the domain
ICANN's Transfer Policy gives the registered name holder listed for a domain the authority to approve or deny its transfer, and says that authority wins in a dispute. For practical purposes the name holder is the owner. If your designer registered the domain under their own name, they are the owner and you are a customer.
To check, search your domain on ICANN Lookup. Some registrars hide the owner's details for privacy. If yours does, log in to the account where the domain was bought, or ask whoever manages it to show you the account and the email it uses. If the owner is not you, ask for a transfer into an account of yours.
What to keep safe
- The email address the domain is registered with. Renewal reminders and transfer codes go there.
- The domain login and the hosting login, saved somewhere other than one person's phone.
- The renewal dates for both.
We keep this site's domain and hosting in an account we control. It is a dull habit, and a worthwhile one.
What happens if you forget to renew
The website goes offline and email on that domain stops working. ICANN's Expired Registration Recovery Policy, which covers domains such as .com, .net and .org, tells registrars to warn the name holder at least twice before expiry, about a month ahead and about a week ahead, and to send another notice if the domain is still unrenewed five days after. It also lets the registrar delete an expired registration at any time after the date, and where a registry offers one, the former holder gets 30 days after deletion to buy it back.
Treat those as the minimum. Other kinds of domain follow their own rules, and the .in registry is not covered by that policy, so ask your registrar what applies to yours. The safe habit is to turn on auto-renewal and keep a card or UPI mandate that works.
Keep your contact details current
ICANN lists duties for the holder of a domain: give accurate details, keep them up to date, and answer your registrar within 15 days. If your registrar's emails go to a designer who has left, the reminders never reach you. Change the email to one you read.
Five minutes to check your own
- Search your domain on ICANN Lookup and note the registrar and the expiry date.
- Log in to the registrar's account, or find out who can.
- Check that the email on the account is one you read.
- Write down the renewal date for the domain and for the hosting.
- Turn on auto-renewal.
If something is wrong, send us what you found. We will tell you what to fix first, even when it is not something we sell.
Sources
- Transfer Policy, ICANN.
- Expired Registration Recovery Policy, ICANN.
- Registrants' Benefits and Responsibilities, ICANN.
- ICANN Lookup, ICANN.
Quick answers
What is the difference between a domain and hosting?
A domain is the address of a website, such as yourshop.in. Hosting is the service that stores the website's files and sends them to visitors. A website needs both, and each is renewed separately.
How do I find out who owns my domain?
Search the domain on ICANN Lookup, or log in to the registrar's account where you bought it. If the details are hidden, the account holder at the registrar is the one who controls the domain, so ask your designer for the account email.
What happens if my domain expires?
The website and any email on that domain stop working. For domains such as .com, ICANN's policy gives the owner a window to renew after expiry, but the length of it and the price differ between registrars, so renew before the date.
Who should pay for my domain and hosting?
You should, directly or through an account in your name, whoever builds the site. That way the domain and the site stay with you if you change designers.
Contact
Not sure where to start? Tell us what your business does.
We will tell you what to fix first, even when it is not something we sell.
Questions about this guide are welcome, and so is a message about your own site.