Domain, hosting and logins: what should be in your name

Your domain name, hosting, email addresses, source code and Google accounts should be registered to your business, with logins you control. Your web developer gets access that you can remove. For a .ch domain, the holder recorded with the registrar decides: the registrar must let the holder move the domain to another registrar at any time.

Who owns your domain, hosting and the rest of your website?

The nine parts below each have their own account, owner and logins, sometimes with different providers.

• Domain holder: the person or business recorded as the holder of the domain name. The holder can move the domain to another registrar or apply to transfer it to a new holder, under the General Terms and Conditions of SWITCH, the .ch registry (section 3.2.2).
• Registrar: the company your domain is registered with and to which you pay the yearly fee, as Hostpoint defines it. All .ch domain names are registered and managed exclusively by registrars accredited by SWITCH. According to the SWITCH FAQ, in most cases it is the company that hosts your website.
• DNS (name servers): the settings that tell the internet where your website and email are. A domain only works for a website or email once name servers have been set up for it; after a change, it may take several hours or even days before the new name servers respond.
• Hosting: the server or service that keeps the website online. The hosting account holds the website files.
• Email: the mailboxes on your domain, such as hello@your-business.ch. According to SWITCH, web and mail servers are usually organised by your hosting provider, so the email account needs the same care as the hosting account.
• Source code: the files that make the website work. Holding them lets you move the website or hand it to another developer. The article on WordPress or a custom website shows what they contain depending on the technical base.
• Search Console: the Google tool that shows how your website appears in search. Google distinguishes the verified owner, who proved ownership with a token placed on the website, from delegated owners and from users with full or restricted access.
• Google Business Profile: your listing on Google Maps and in local search. It can have multiple owners but only one primary owner, who has full control of the profile. Setting it up is covered in the Geneva local SEO checklist.
• Analytics: the tool that counts visits, such as Google Analytics. Only an Administrator can assign roles to other users. If the tool sets trackers, consent comes into play as well: see what Swiss data protection law asks of your website.

How do you check who owns each part?

Since 1 January 2021, the SWITCH domain name lookup for a .ch domain no longer shows the holder; it shows the registrar and its contact details. The holder appears in your customer account with that registrar. SWITCH also grants access to the holder’s data on request, to anyone who proves their identity and an overriding legitimate interest, for example a holder who wants to review the current entry.

The table gives, for all nine parts, whose name I recommend, who has access and where to check it. The procedures cited were checked on 6 October 2026.

The “In whose name” column is a recommendation; your contract should state what you receive at the end of the project.

How do you transfer a .ch domain?

The word covers two operations. A change of registrar moves the domain to another provider without changing its holder. A change of holder passes the domain to another person or business; the SWITCH General Terms and Conditions call this a “transfer”.

Where do you get the transfer code?

To move to another registrar, you need a transfer code (Auth-Code). According to the SWITCH FAQ, your current registrar provides it and you forward it to the new one. Hostpoint describes it as a key that ensures only the person or company in possession of it can transfer or take over the domain. Keep it as you would a password.

The receiving registrar may add its own conditions. For a transfer to Infomaniak, its guide asks you to check that the domain was created or transferred more than 60 days ago, to have access to the administrative contact’s email address and to disable transfer protection with your current provider. It also advises noting your DNS records if the website or email stays with a third party for a while. At Hostpoint, transferring a .ch domain takes a few minutes, and the period already paid is taken over, up to 12 months.

How do you change the holder of a .ch domain?

To move a .ch domain to a new holder, section 3.2.2 of the SWITCH General Terms and Conditions provides two routes. The current holder can apply to the registrar administering the domain for a transfer to a new holder. A transfer can also follow when the registrar receives a court or arbitration decision enforceable in Switzerland, or a settlement concluded by both parties.

If your domain was registered in your developer’s name, your developer is the holder. Moving it into your name then requires their application to the registrar, or one of those documents.

What if your previous provider no longer replies?

If the domain is in your name, contact the registrar shown by the domain name lookup. SWITCH states that registrars are obliged to allow domain name holders to transfer their domain names to another registrar at any time. The same FAQ explains that a deleted .ch domain stays in a 40-day transition period, during which its holder can ask the registrar to restore it.

If the domain is in your previous provider’s name, moving it into your name follows the two routes of section 3.2.2 described above. For a dispute with a registrar, SWITCH notes that the contract is private, that disputes go to the civil courts, and points you to a lawyer or your local consumer protection association. For a disagreement with your previous provider, ask a lawyer as well: this article does not replace legal advice, and no step guarantees that you will get a domain back.

Without the website files, you may need to rebuild the site. If its addresses change, the article on redirects during a redesign explains how to keep your pages in Google.

How much do a domain and hosting cost each year?

The cost of a .ch domain depends on the registrar it is registered with. At prices checked on 23 September 2026:

• .ch domain name: CHF 9.89 per year excluding VAT at Infomaniak, CHF 15 including VAT at Hostpoint, with a lower first-year price at both;
• website hosting in Switzerland: from CHF 10.91 per month excluding VAT at Infomaniak and CHF 15.90 per month including VAT at Hostpoint;
• email: Infomaniak includes one address with each domain; a single mailbox, Cloud Office Basic at Hostpoint, costs CHF 3 per month including VAT, CHF 2 in the first year.

These costs recur every year, on top of the price of building the website. The page on website costs in Switzerland lists all the costs after launch.

What does Eljadi WORKS hand over after payment?

The following terms appear in the FAQ on my process page, as of 6 October 2026.

The domain is registered in your name or your business’s name. You keep the same address if you change hosting. At delivery, after full payment, I hand over the website files, access details and instructions for future work. These files let you continue the project with me or another developer, on compatible hosting.

Hosting is included during the 3 months of support that come with the website, then covered by the optional support. Without support, hosting must move elsewhere: the table above then serves as your list of accounts to take over.

What should be checked before a website goes live?

As of 6 October 2026, this is the list I go through before every launch:

• the website works, with no bugs or inconsistencies;
• local penetration tests, proportionate to how sensitive the website is;
• FADP/GDPR leak tests: no data or requests sent to an unauthorised server, and consent respected;
• a Lighthouse audit, always;
• a search for known vulnerabilities in the website’s dependencies and in their own dependencies;
• launch only when everything is green.

Dependencies are the code libraries the website relies on. A known vulnerability in one of them, or in a library it uses in turn, affects your website too, so the search also covers the dependencies of dependencies. The leak tests relate to the rules set out in the article on data protection for Swiss websites.

Before you accept delivery, go through each row of the table: every account should be in your name, and you should be able to log in on your own.

This list describes my own checks. It is neither a certified security audit nor a guarantee of legal compliance.

My hosting experience

I spent six months as a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) intern at Infomaniak in 2026. In particular, I worked with several of their service APIs to connect them into an automated process. My background is on the About page.

Infomaniak is also one of the two registrars cited in this article, alongside Hostpoint, for their public prices and documentation. The choice of registrar and host remains yours.

Sources

• SWITCH, .ch registry, “Domain Names: support”, FAQ, accessed 6 October 2026.
• SWITCH, “Transfer Info”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• SWITCH, “Information Service”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• SWITCH, “General Terms and Conditions for the registration and administration of .ch and .li domain names”, version 11 in force since 1 January 2021, section 3.2.2, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Hostpoint, “Domain transfer”, FAQ, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Infomaniak, “Transfer a domain name to Infomaniak”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Search Console Help, “Managing owners, users, and permissions”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Analytics Help, “Access and data-restriction management”, accessed 6 October 2026.
• Infomaniak prices: .ch domain and web hosting, checked on 23 September 2026.
• Hostpoint prices: domains, web hosting and Cloud Office Basic, checked on 23 September 2026.
• Eljadi WORKS, FAQ on the process page, accessed 6 October 2026.