You may want to move your domain name to a lower cost provider or someone local in Bath. Some national providers charge 50 or 100 pounds a year for a minimal service - we only charge 10 pounds a year or include this in your website hosting fees. You can also do this yourself for as little as 3 pounds per year plus VAT (minimum two years). Since the domain is registered in your name, it ultimately belongs to you and cannot be sold on or lost even if your hosting provider goes out of business.

Moving your domain name is similar to moving a mobile telephone number from one supplier to another. For domains ending in .uk, this is an overnight process; for domains ending in .com, this typically takes about a week (5 working days).

For a .uk address (e.g. fredbloggs.co.uk)

1. Buy the domain name from your new supplier. This will usually identify that the domain already exists and ask you if you want to transfer it. The price is usually the same.
2. You will then be sent a confirmation email from your old domain supplier. You need to authorise the transfer either by clicking on a link within the email, or logging in and authorising through the control panel.
3. Email confirmation of the process is usually sent, and the transfer takes place overnight.

For a .com address (e.g. fredbloggs.com)

This is slightly more complex than .uk.

1. Ensure the .com domain is “unlocked” so that transfer requests are permitted. This can usually be set in the domain providers control panel.
2. Obtain an “authorisation code” for your domain, which is used to prove that you own and authorise the domain transfer.
3. Buy the domain name from your new supplier, as above for .uk – you will be asked for the authorisation code at this time.
4. Proceed as for .uk transfer, which will typically take a week to complete.