Where is My Domain Registered?

Domain registration can be tricky to figure out sometimes. If you're not sure where you registered your domain - your'e in the right place.

Want to know where to go to manage your DNS records? Need to verify you site with GSC or Bing?

If you're not a technical website owner, understanding the differences between domain registry, domain registrar, domain name system (DNS), nameservers, and website host - can be confusing.

Here are few ways to figure out where your domain is registered and managed.

Check the WHOIS Database

There are many WHOIS tools. To be honest, anyone can make one. But here are the most trusted, authoritative databases you can check:

Organization	Description
ICANN	Nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the namespaces and domain registries
Verisign	Verisign runs the registry for these domain names (TLDs): .com .net .name .cc & .tv

Open ICANN and enter your domain w/o any of the extra stuff
Look at these 2 sections
1. Namservers - the servers that identify your site (it might not be your web host)
2. Registrar Information - this is the company that registered your domain

Lookup Your Nameserver

This is a fast and reliable way to look at what's behind your website. The nameserver is easy to find. IF you know your nameserver then you know where your DNS records are hosted and likely where your domain is registered.

These are a couple good DNS Tools (there are many). I like them because they are FREE and the Ads aren't super annoying..

Steps to lookup the nameserver

Open DNS Checker in a new browser tab

Type in your domain ie (copperinsights.com) w/o any of the extra https:// or www.
Click Show NS Records button
Look at the results just below the NS (nameserver) heading.
- Most nameservers are obvious (bluehost.com or wordpress.com)
- If it's not obvious, check the nameserver list below
Let's look at an example for copperinsights.com on DNS Checker:

My nameserver is at ns2.bluehost.com - this means my domain is on a Bluehost name server
Owner Cloudflare - this means Bluehost is using Cloudflare (We can ignore this part)
Now I know Bluehost is the place to go.
In this example, I can log into Bluehost to verify my site with GSC and manage any of the DNS records

Last Resort: Check your Email

We don't like to admit it but sometimes, we already have the answer, it's just buried in our email. Search your email

Open your email & search for the domain with quotes "copperinsights.com"
See if any emails come back that talk about registered, registration, invoice, domain fee, or similar language.
If you found an email, chances are that the email sender is where your domain is registered

Major Nameservers

List of popular web hosting providers

Web Host / Registrar	Nameserver Domains	Example Nameservers
GoDaddy	domaincontrol.com	ns1.domaincontrol.com ns2.domaincontrol.com
IONOS	ui-dns.org ui-dns.com	ns1.ui-dns.org ns1.ui-dns.com
Namecheap	registrar-servers.com	dns1.registrar-servers.com dns2.registrar-servers.com
Hostinger	dns-parking.com	ns1.dns-parking.com ns2.dns-parking.com
eNom	name-services.com	dns1.name-services.com dns2.name-services.com
Google	googledomains.com	ns-cloud-d1.googledomains.com ns-cloud-d2.googledomains.com
Bluehost	bluehost.com	ns1.bluehost.com ns2.bluehost.com
HostGator	hostgator.com	ns1.hostgator.com ns2.hostgator.com
Inmotion	inmotionhosting.com	ns1.inmotionhosting.com ns1.inmotionhosting.com
Liquid Web	liquidweb.com	ns1.liquidweb.com ns2.liquidweb.com
Dynadot	dynadot.com	ns1.dynadot.com ns2.dynadot.com
DreamHost	dreamhost.com	ns1.dreamhost.com ns2.dreamhost.com
A2hosting	a2hosting.com	ns1.a2hosting.com ns2.a2hosting.com
Rackspace	rackspace.com	ns1.rackspace.com ns2.rackspace.com
iPage	ipage.com	ns1.ipage.com ns2.ipage.com
SiteGround	siteground.net	ns1.siteground.net ns2.siteground.net
GreenGeeks	greengeeks.com	abc-ns1.greengeeks.com zyz-ns2.greengeeks.com
Host Monster	hostmonster.com	ns1.hostmonster.com ns2.hostmonster.com
Wix	wixdns.net	ns1.wixdns.net ns2.wixdns.net
WordPress.com	wordpress.com	ns1.wordpress.com ns2.wordpress.com
Squarespace	squarespacedns.com	ns01.squarespacedns.com ns02.squarespacedns.com
Hetzner	hetzner.com hetzner.de	hydrogen.ns.hetzner.com helium.ns.hetzner.de
One.com	one.com	ns01.one.com ns012.one.com
Cloudflare	cloudflare.com	alpha.ns.cloudflare.com meownow.ns.cloudflare.com

Basic Website Terminology:

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS is the "tree" behind the internet. Think of it as a tree diagram with branches of how resources are named and organized.

Nameserver

The nameserver is part of the DNS that helps translate domain names to IP addresses. It's helpful to know: computers and servers use IP addresses (numbers) and humans use names that have meaning.

IP Address

IP Address stands for Internet Protocol Address - it's a set of numbers that identifies a device (server, computer, website, phone, any IoT) on a network.

Other Domain Resources:

Table of Contents

Primary Item (H2)Sub Item 1 (H3)Sub Item 2 (H4)
Sub Item 3 (H5)
Sub Item 4 (H6)