A business says yes to the site you built them, and the next question is the domain. Most owners have never bought one. Asking them to pick a registrar, pay for a name and then change settings they've never heard of is where a deal they've already agreed to can sit for a week.
Klaudius can now take that off both of you. It suggests names that fit the business and checks which are free. Press Buy it once and Klaudius buys the domain, puts the client's site on it, secures it and sets it up for Google and AI search. You never open a registrar or a DNS screen, and the client doesn't lift a finger. If the business already owns a domain, it connects that one instead, and their email keeps working.
Getting a client a new domain
Open Runs, pick Get them a domain under Client add-ons, choose the client and press Start. If the owner already has a name in mind, type it in the box; otherwise leave it empty.
Klaudius comes up with names that suit the business, its trade and its town, and checks each one live. It tells you which can be bought straight away and what each costs to buy and to renew, and which are already taken. It also lists names in endings it can't buy, so you can tell which the business would have to buy itself.
You pick one. The first time you buy a domain, Klaudius asks for your registrant details (your name, address and phone number), saves them, and doesn't ask again. Then it shows you exactly what you're about to pay before anything is charged.
Press Not now and nothing is bought. Press Buy it and Klaudius does the rest:
- It buys the domain on your Vercel account.
- It puts the client's site on it, with the www address pointing to it as well.
- It waits until the site answers on the new domain over a secure connection.
- It runs the go-live SEO setup for the new address.
When it's done, it tells you the site is live on the client's name. There are no records to copy and nothing to check by hand.
What it costs, and who owns it
You pay Vercel's own price, charged to the card on your Vercel account: $11.25 a year for a .com when this was written. Klaudius adds nothing on top. The domain renews automatically each year on that card, so nobody has to remember to renew it.
A domain bought this way belongs to your Vercel account. That suits most agencies, because you look after the site, so you look after the domain, and the renewal goes into what you charge the client. If you use a different email address for the registrant details from the one on your Vercel account, Vercel emails that address a link to confirm it, which has to be clicked within 15 days.
If a client later wants the domain in their own name, you can hand it over whenever they ask. They open a free Vercel account and you move the domain into it from your Vercel dashboard. It moves straight away, keeps its settings, and the site stays live. Hand a site to your client has the steps.
When the business already owns a domain
Some businesses already own a domain, often with their email running on it. That's the case where connecting a site usually goes wrong, because a careless DNS change can stop their email arriving.
Pick Connect their domain under Client add-ons instead, and type the domain in. Klaudius finds where its DNS is managed, who it's registered with and when it renews, and whether email is running on it. It adds the domain to the client's site and works out the exact records that need changing. It never touches the nameservers or the email records.
If you have the login, or the owner gives you access, Klaudius gives you the records to set. If the owner would rather do it themselves, it puts a page on their preview site with steps for their own provider, a copy button next to every value, and a check that marks each record done as it starts working. The page uses their new website's own fonts and colours, so it reads as part of the site they're buying rather than a form from a stranger. Klaudius drafts the message for you to send them with the link.
Ask Klaudius later whether the domain is connected. Once it's live, Klaudius checks the email records are exactly as they were, takes the page down and runs the go-live SEO setup.
Endings Vercel doesn't sell
Klaudius buys domains through Vercel, which sells .com and hundreds of other endings, .net, .org and .co among them. It doesn't sell some country-specific endings, though.
For one of those, buy the name yourself at a registrar such as Namecheap or 123 Reg, or have the business buy it, then use Connect their domain. Klaudius checks with Vercel every time it searches, so the day Vercel starts selling an ending, Klaudius can buy it too.
Both add-ons are for client sites hosted on Vercel. On other hosting, ask Klaudius to walk you through attaching a domain.
Using it in a sale
The domain is the step where a yes most often goes quiet, so settle it while the client is still keen. When they reply, ask Klaudius to get them a domain, send them the two or three names it suggests, and ask which they like best. Once they choose, press Buy it, and they'll see their site on their own name the same day.
Domains in the docs covers shortlists and how to handle renewals, and Take a client's site live covers connecting a domain the client already owns.