How to Prevent Losing Access to Your Domain and Email
- Sophia Brading
- Apr 4
- 4 min read
Your domain name and email accounts are as essential to your business as your physical location.
Yet surprisingly, one of the most common technology problems we encounter isn't sophisticated cyber attacks – it's business owners simply losing access to their own digital assets.
The Invisible Crisis Affecting Businesses
Many business owners suddenly discover they can't access their website domain or company emails when they need them most. These aren't victims of hacking – they're victims of poor digital asset management.
Consider these common scenarios:
A business discovers their website is down because their domain expired. The renewal notices were sent to an email address that's no longer monitored.
A long-established company can't update their website because, after staffing changes, no one knows where it's hosted or has the login credentials.
An organisation loses access to important client communications when they can't verify ownership of their email accounts due to outdated recovery information.
These situations typically create unnecessary stress, business disruption, and emergency service costs that could have been easily avoided with proper planning.
Why Businesses Lose Access to Their Digital Assets
In our experience, businesses typically lose access for these common reasons:
Poor documentation: Many businesses have no central record of where their digital assets are registered, when they renew, or who has access to them.
Employee transitions: When the person who set up accounts leaves, their knowledge often leaves with them.
Using personal accounts: Business assets registered under an employee's personal email create ownership complications.
Missed renewals: Domain and hosting renewals are easy to miss when you're focused on running your business.
Contact information decay: Recovery emails and phone numbers become outdated over time, making account recovery challenging.
The Real Business Impact
When you lose access to your domain or email, the consequences can be severe:
Complete business disruption: Your website disappears, emails stop working, and your online presence evaporates overnight.
Brand damage: Customers who can't reach you may question your professionalism and reliability.
Recovery costs: Emergency services to recover access often cost far more than preventative measures.
Lost data: In worst-case scenarios, you might lose access to years of email communications and customer correspondence.
Opportunity cost: The time spent resolving these issues takes you away from serving customers and growing your business.
Essential Digital Asset Management Practices Every Business Should Implement
1. Create a Digital Asset Inventory
Develop a secure document that records:
Where your domain is registered (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap)
Where your website is hosted
Where your email is hosted
Administrative login usernames (not passwords)
Renewal dates and costs
Recovery email addresses and phone numbers
2. Implement Proper Ownership Structures
Register business assets using role-based emails (admin@yourcompany.com) rather than personal emails
Set up multiple administrator accounts for critical services
Establish a formal process for transferring digital asset ownership during staff changes
Consider using a business password manager for team access to critical credentials
3. Establish Reliable Renewal Systems
Enable auto-renewal for business-critical domains and services
Set calendar alerts 60, 30, and 14 days before expiration
Keep payment methods updated with service providers
Assign someone to be responsible for monitoring renewal notices
4. Document Recovery Procedures
Keep updated recovery email addresses and phone numbers with all providers
Store backup access codes in a secure location
Test account recovery procedures periodically
Consider using a professional domain management service for valuable domains
Take Action Now: A Simple Next Step
Don't wait for a crisis.
Set aside 30 minutes this week to start your digital asset inventory.
Begin by answering these basic questions:
Where is my domain registered?
Who hosts my website?
Who provides my email service?
When do these services renew?
Who has administrative access to each service?
If you don't know the answers to these questions, you're at risk of joining the growing number of businesses that lose access to their digital assets.
Our Domain and Email Management Solution
While we're not an IT company, we understand how critical domain and email access are to your business operations.
That's why we offer a simple solution with our email partner 123-reg:
Annual Costs
Domain Registration
123 Reg Fee: £11.99 approx depends on domain name.
Colloco Admin Fee: £25.00
→ Total: £36.99/year
-------
Email Hosting (Individual Plan – 10GB)
123 Reg Fee: £35.88 approx
Colloco Admin Fee: £25.00 per year
→ Total: £60.88/year
Combined Domain + Email Package
→ £97.87/year (including £50 admin)
What’s Included in Our Management Service
When Colloco manages your domains and email accounts, we ensure your digital assets are secure, accessible, and maintained with care.
This service gives you peace of mind — your digital foundation is protected, up-to-date, and worry-free.
Why We Offer This Service
While Colloco is not an IT support company, we often find that domain and email access issues delay or disrupt the marketing work we’re hired to deliver.
These seemingly small technical problems can cause major roadblocks for your business. That’s why we offer domain and email management only — helping you avoid common issues by ensuring logins, renewals, and security protocols are handled properly.
We do not set up new email accounts or provide technical troubleshooting.
For any setup, migration, or support needs beyond domain and email management, we’re happy to recommend trusted local IT partners.
Comments