Who owns your website? Five questions to ask before you hire anyone

You paid for the website. You would assume it is yours. Often it is not, at least not in the way that matters when something changes: you want to switch providers, the developer disappears, or the relationship simply ends.

Ownership is boring until the day it is the only thing that matters. Here is what to check.

The four things that make up “your website”

1. The domain name (for example, yourbusiness.com). It should be registered in your name, with your email and two-factor authentication.
2. The hosting account. Where the site lives. Ideally under your account, with the developer added as a collaborator.
3. The code and content. The actual files, images and text that make up the site.
4. The accounts that connect to it. Analytics, email, forms, booking, payment tools.

If any one of the four belongs to someone else, you do not fully own your site.

Five questions to ask

1. Whose name is the domain registered under? It should be yours. If a provider “manages” it for you, make sure you can see the registrar account and transfer the domain out without their permission.

2. Can I get a full copy of the code and content, any time? Not “after a fee” or “if we part on good terms”. You should be able to receive the source files, the content and the instructions to run it, on request, without conditions.

3. Am I locked into a contract or a platform? Some builders keep your site on their proprietary platform. If you leave, you leave with nothing. Prefer standard, portable technology that another competent developer can pick up.

4. What happens if you stop working with me, or disappear? A good answer is boring: “You have the accounts and the code, and here is the handover document.”

5. What am I paying for each month, and can I stop? Hosting, maintenance and support are real work and worth paying for. They should be clearly itemized, and you should be free to stop or switch.

Why this matters more than the design

A beautiful site you cannot move is a liability. Ownership affects your leverage: when you can leave, your provider has to keep earning your business. That is healthy for both sides.

How we handle it

We build sites so that you own them. You own the domain, the accounts and the source code. We provide a copy of the code base, there is no lock-in, and you can leave whenever you want. Monthly care plans are optional and priced on our pricing page.

If you are not sure who owns your current site, ask us. We can help you find out, and fix it if needed.