8

MANAGING CLIENT DOMAINS

The Definitive Guide

8 chapters Last updated 21 September 2026 Free to read, no account

If you look after websites for other people, their domains become your problem regardless of whose account they sit on. When one lapses, they call you.

Most agencies discover this the expensive way, and most have no systematic way of knowing what they are responsible for across a client base that grew one project at a time.

This guide covers how to take on a client without inheriting invisible liabilities, what to track across a portfolio, how to charge for it, and what to hand back when a relationship ends.

In this guide you will learn:

  • What to establish in the first week of a new client
  • Who should hold the registrar account, and why it is not you
  • How to track renewals across a portfolio without spreadsheets rotting
  • How to bill infrastructure oversight as a line item
  • What to hand over when a client leaves, and why doing it well matters
  • How to demonstrate to a client that any of this happened

Contents

1

What you inherit, whether you meant to

Practical responsibility versus contractual responsibility.

2

The first week

The inventory that converts an unknown into a written list.

3

Who should hold the account

Arguments for client ownership, and how to keep access anyway.

4

Tracking a portfolio

Why the spreadsheet stops being accurate in month four.

5

Charging for it

Framing oversight as a service rather than an overhead.

6

When something lapses anyway

What to do, and what determines whose fault it was.

7

Ending a relationship well

What to hand back, and why it protects you.

8

Showing your work

Demonstrating oversight rather than asserting it.

Chapter 1

What you inherit, whether you meant to

Practical responsibility versus contractual responsibility.

What you inherit, whether you meant to

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 2

The first week

The inventory that converts an unknown into a written list.

The first week

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 3

Who should hold the account

Arguments for client ownership, and how to keep access anyway.

Who should hold the account

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 4

Tracking a portfolio

Why the spreadsheet stops being accurate in month four.

Tracking a portfolio

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 5

Charging for it

Framing oversight as a service rather than an overhead.

Charging for it

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 6

When something lapses anyway

What to do, and what determines whose fault it was.

When something lapses anyway

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 7

Ending a relationship well

What to hand back, and why it protects you.

Ending a relationship well

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Chapter 8

Showing your work

Demonstrating oversight rather than asserting it.

Showing your work

This chapter is not written yet. Drop the prose into guide-bodies/<body>.html and rebuild.

Check yours

See where your own domain stands.

Everything in this guide, checked on your domain in about ten seconds. Free, no account, every finding shown in full.