Managing Domains for Clients

Ownership and access

• Register domains in the client's name and account; ask for delegated access rather than their password.
• Use a shared password manager for any credentials you must hold.
• Record who owns the registrar account, DNS host, email provider and hosting.

Documentation template

Domain: example.com
Registrar: Cloudflare (account: client@example.com, 2FA on, auto-renew on, expires 2027-04-12)
DNS host: Cloudflare
Website: Render service "example-web" (www CNAME, apex flattened)
Email: Google Workspace (MX, SPF, DKIM "google", DMARC p=quarantine)
App email: Resend on mail.example.com (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Other records: Google Search Console TXT, CAA letsencrypt.org
Last reviewed: 2026-10-21

Renewals

Expired domains take websites and email down at once, and some registrars auction expired names quickly. Use auto-renew, multi-year registration for important domains, and a calendar reminder to check cards before renewal dates.

A setup checklist for every new site

• [ ] Domain in the client's account, 2FA and lock on, auto-renew on
• [ ] DNS host chosen, nameservers verified
• [ ] Apex and www pointed at hosting; HTTPS working; canonical redirect
• [ ] CAA record for the certificate authority in use
• [ ] Mailbox provider MX records; SPF, DKIM, DMARC
• [ ] App email on a subdomain with its own SPF/DKIM/DMARC
• [ ] Search Console and analytics verification records
• [ ] Documentation written and shared with the client

Final project

Set up a complete domain for a small business (real or practice): website on a PaaS with HTTPS and a canonical redirect, mailbox email with SPF/DKIM/DMARC moving to p=quarantine, transactional email on a subdomain, CAA, Search Console verification and a client-ready documentation sheet.

Check yourself

• Why use delegated access instead of a client's password?
• What happens when a domain expires?
• What belongs in a domain documentation sheet?