Domain and email: what to know before you sign

Rule number one: the domain is registered to you

The domain is your website's address: yourplace.it. It's the only part you can't start again from scratch without losing something: the customers who saved it, the flyers you've printed, the ranking you've earned on Google.

It often happens that the agency registers it in its own name “for convenience”. Then, when you switch providers, either they make you buy it back or you have to start over with a new address. Before you sign anything, ask: “who is the domain registered to?” The right answer: to you, or to your business under your VAT number (Partita IVA).

It takes thirty seconds to check: search for “whois” followed by your domain. The holder appears among the details (for .it domains it's the Registrant field). If another company's name is there, you have a problem to fix.

A website can be rebuilt. A domain can't.

How to choose a domain

Short and easy to say over the phone

The acid test: can you say it over the phone without spelling it out? pizzeriadanino.it passes. la-pizzeria-di-nino-napoli.it doesn't.

Go for your business name, not keywords

Domains like best-pizzeria-rome.it haven't given any advantage on Google for more than ten years, and they sound like spam. Your venue's name, on the other hand, sticks in people's minds.

.it or .com?

If you work in Italy with Italian customers, go for .it. It costs €10–20 a year, it signals clearly where you are, and in Italy it inspires more trust than an unknown .com. Only get the .com if you also work abroad. Avoid odd extensions (.biz, .info, .online): they look second-hand.

No hyphens and no numbers, if you can help it

Over the phone, a hyphen has to be explained every time. If the name is taken, before adding a hyphen try adding a real word: pizzeriadaninocesano.it.

Check it isn't someone else's trademark

Before you buy, search for the name on Google and in the trademark register. If a well-known business with that name already exists, it's better to know straight away.

What it should cost

An email address with your name on it

pizzerianino@gmail.com works, but it tells customers you don't have a website. ciao@pizzeriadanino.it costs a few euros a month and changes the impression you give, especially when you send quotes or reply to a company.

The three options

• Free forwarding. Many providers let you forward hello@yourdomain.it to your Gmail. You receive mail at your own address, but when you reply, it goes out from your Gmail. Free, and fine to start with.
• A proper mailbox on a subscription. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 cost around €6 a month per mailbox. You send and receive from your own address, using the app you already know.
• Your hosting provider's mailbox. Often included. It works, but the interface is dated and delivery is sometimes less reliable.

The technical bit that keeps your emails out of spam

If you send email from your domain, you need three records set up in the DNS: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Without them, many of your emails end up in the junk folder and you never find out. It's three lines added once: whoever builds your site should do it, and should be able to tell you it's done.

What to keep safe, like an important document

Keep these three things somewhere you'll still find them in two years' time:

1. Your registrar login (the company where the domain was bought).
2. Your hosting login.
3. The domain transfer code (for .it domains it's called authinfo).

With these three things you can move your site wherever you like, even if whoever built it disappears or stops answering. Without them, you're in someone else's hands.

How we handle it

We register the domain in your name, with your email and your card if you prefer, and send you the login details the same day. The hosting is in your name. We set up the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and tell you when they're done. If one day you want to go elsewhere, take everything and go: it's written on the pricing page too, and it's one of the four rules you'll find on About us.