Whether you own your website depends on three separate things: the domain name, the hosting and the site itself. It's common to own one and not the others. Check all three before you pay for a site, and again after.
1. The domain name
Your domain is the address, like yourbusiness.com. Technically you don't own a domain forever. You hold a registration that has to be renewed, and you are listed as the registrant.
The problem to avoid: a designer or agency registers the domain in their own name "to make things easier." If the relationship ends, they control your address.
How to check: run a WHOIS lookup on your domain (ICANN offers a free one) and read the registrant name. It should be you or your business. If it isn't, ask to have it transferred.
2. The hosting
Hosting is the computer that serves your site. The question is whose account it sits in. If it's in your name, you can move it. If it's in your provider's account, you're a customer of theirs.
How to check: ask where the site is hosted and whether the account is in your name. Make sure you have login access.
3. The site itself: design, code and content
This is the one people miss. In the US, work created by an independent designer generally belongs to the designer unless there is a signed agreement that transfers it to you, or the work qualifies as "work made for hire" under the law. Paying for a site does not automatically move the ownership.
A good agreement says plainly that you own the finished design, code and content once you've paid. Your own text, photos and logo are yours regardless, but the layout and code might not be.
How to check: read the contract for a clause about ownership or "intellectual property." If there isn't one, ask for it.
The builder exception
If your site is on a builder like Wix or Squarespace, you never own the underlying platform. You can usually export your text and images, but not the design itself. That is a fair trade for the low price, as long as you know it going in. See website builder vs custom website.
What a fair ownership clause looks like
Contracts differ, and this is not legal advice, but a plain, fair clause tends to say something like this: once the final payment is made, you own the design, code and content delivered for your project, and the provider keeps the right to reuse generic tools and libraries they built before your project. That's the shape to look for. If a contract says the provider retains ownership of the site, or says nothing at all, ask for the fair version in writing.
What to do if a relationship goes bad
If you're already stuck, work through these in order:
- Find the domain registrar login. If the domain is in your name, get access to that account. Everything else gets easier once you control the address.
- Ask for your files in writing. Request the site files, a database export if there is one, and your content and images. Keep the request polite and specific.
- Copy your own content now. Your text, photos and logo are yours. Save them somewhere you control.
- Read the contract. It may say what happens on termination and who owns the work.
- Get advice if the site is valuable. A short conversation with a lawyer is cheap compared to losing a domain that customers know.
Your leverage if it does go wrong
If a developer or agency holds your domain hostage over a payment dispute, you're not without options. Domain-industry writer Bill Hartzer reports that published UDRP decisions, the formal process for domain disputes, have consistently gone against the party holding a client's business domain as leverage, and panels have ordered such domains transferred back. That isn't a guarantee for your situation, and the process takes time and money, which is one more reason to register the domain yourself from day one.
Keep a copy as you go
Even with a good agreement, keep your own records. Save your registrar login, your hosting details, and a backup of the site files. It takes an hour and turns most future problems into inconveniences. See how much should a small business website cost for how a designer's price relates to what you actually end up owning.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Whose name is the domain registered in?
- Whose account is the hosting in, and will I have the login?
- Do I own the design and code once I've paid?
- Can I take the site elsewhere if I leave, and what does that involve?
- What happens to the site if I stop paying a monthly fee?
Questions
Can a web designer keep my website?
If your agreement doesn't say otherwise, they may own the design and code, and they can hold the domain if it's in their name. Get ownership in writing.
What if I already signed something vague?
Ask for a short written confirmation that you own the finished site and that the domain is registered to you. Most honest providers will agree.
Does this matter if I never plan to leave?
Yes. The day you want to change providers, or your provider closes, is the day you find out who owns what.
What if my designer says the domain is in their name "for convenience"?
Ask them to transfer it to you, or to add you as the registrant. There is no good reason for your business address to be in someone else's account.