The questions to ask before paying for a website
By Ashton Foran, director. Published . Updated .
Ask an AI whether a web company can be trusted and it hands back the same checklist every time. When do I pay, who owns what, what happens if I stop paying, what happens if they disappear.
They are fair questions. Anyone building sites for a living should answer every one of them in plain words before money moves, and the answers belong in writing, not in a phone call you half remember. So here is the checklist, with our answers on the record.
When do I pay?
Plenty of decent builders take a deposit up front. What matters is that the timing is written down before anything starts, so nobody is surprised later.
Our answer: the price is fixed in writing before we start, and payment is due before the site goes live, not before we build. You see the finished site working before you pay for it. That also means a build that runs late is our problem, not yours.
Who owns the domain?
The domain is your address, and whoever it is registered to controls it. It should be registered in your name, not your builder's.
Our answer: your domain is registered in your name from day one. That is part of every build, not an extra.
Who owns the site itself?
The site is a set of files. The question is whether you could have a copy today if you asked, and whether those files would work anywhere else. A site locked inside a proprietary platform cannot leave it, which means you are renting, not buying.
Our answer: the site is yours. It is plain standard code, we hand over a full copy of the files whenever you ask, and any competent developer could pick it up and work on it. We wrote a separate guide on checking this for a site you already have.
What happens if I stop paying the yearly fee?
The yearly fee should cover looking after the site, not holding it hostage. Find out in advance what cancelling actually does.
Our answer: cancel whenever you like. The site and the domain are yours either way, we hand over the files, and the site can be hosted anywhere by anyone. Nothing about it is locked to us.
What happens if the company disappears?
Worth asking anyone, including us. Businesses close, people move on, and your website should survive that.
Our answer: because the domain is in your name and the site is standard code you hold or can request, nothing depends on us existing. The site keeps running where it is hosted, and any developer can take it over without our help or permission.
How long will it take?
A build should have a stated timeframe, not an open end.
Our answer: most builds take one to two weeks. And since payment is due at go-live, a slow build costs us, not you.
What about changes along the way?
You should see the site before the world does, and asking for changes at that stage should be normal, not billable.
Our answer: we share a working preview during the build, you react to it, and we adjust until you are happy. We go live when you say so, and changes during the build are part of the build.
Will I get all this in writing?
Every answer above is only worth what it is written on. A proper agreement carries the builder's full registered company name, the price, what is included, and when payment is due.
Our answer: yes. Price and terms in writing before we start, under our full registered company name, Cozy Mind Media Limited. And every site ships the same way: 95+ Google speed score, A-rated security, GDPR-clean cookies and consent. Checked before handover, every time.
Bring this list to anyone
None of these questions is cheeky, and none of the right answers costs a builder anything. If someone resists putting them in writing, that is your answer.
If you would like ours in person, ask away.
Read next
How much does a website cost in Ireland?
The ranges quoted across the market, what pushes a quote up or down, and what a yearly fee buys once the site is live.
How long a website actually takes
Building the pages is the quick part. The delay is somewhere else, and it is the same place nearly every time.
Have a website already?
Send us the address and we will tell you what is wrong with it. We check how fast it loads, what a search turns up for your business, and what happens when somebody tries to get in touch. Free, in plain English, and if everything is in order we will say so.
Request sent!
We'll go through your site ourselves and be in touch within 24 hours.
Let's get your website working.
Tell us about your business and we'll come back with a fixed price and what we would build.
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Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
Who we are
Cozy Mind Media Limited is a company registered in Ireland, number 791740. We build websites and automation tools for businesses worldwide. Every site is built for speed, security and performance. Our contact email is info@cozymindmedia.com.
What data we collect
When you submit the contact form on this site, we collect your name, email address, business name, and any message you write. We collect only what you voluntarily provide.
Our chat widget, Aria, is an automated AI assistant, not a person. Your messages are sent to a Cloudflare Worker and processed by an AI model to generate replies, and a real person reads enquiries and follows up. If you share your name or contact details in a chat, they are stored in our lead system (on Cloudflare) and deleted after 90 days.
Why we collect it
Solely to respond to your enquiry and discuss a potential project. We do not use your details for marketing without your explicit consent. Our legal basis is your consent (which you give by submitting the form or starting a chat) and our legitimate interest in answering enquiries about our services. Analytics cookies are used only with your consent.
How long we keep it
Enquiry data is retained for up to 12 months. Enquiries held in our lead-management database (Cloudflare D1) are automatically deleted after 90 days. If we begin a working relationship, project-related correspondence may be kept for up to 3 years for business record purposes.
Who we share it with
We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share it with these processors: Hostinger, which hosts this website and keeps standard server logs (including IP addresses) for security and reliability; Formspree, which handles contact form submissions; Cloudflare and Anthropic, which power the AI chat widget, the bot-protection check (Cloudflare Turnstile), and securely store enquiries in our lead-management database (Cloudflare D1); Cal.com, which handles the booking if you choose to book a call (the details you enter in the booking form are processed by Cal.com and added to our calendar); and Google, which receives website-analytics measurement data (Google Analytics) if you accept cookies. We also use Cloudflare Web Analytics, a cookieless traffic counter that stores nothing on your device and never identifies you, so it runs without consent.
Some of these processors are based outside the European Economic Area, mainly in the United States. Where your data is transferred outside the EEA, it is covered by the safeguards those providers have in place, such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
Cookies
This site sets no analytics cookies until you choose to allow them. Essential features (security, the contact form, the chat widget) need no cookies and always work. In the cookie notice you can Accept all, Reject all, or open Cookie settings and allow Analytics (Google Analytics) on its own. Nothing is sent to Google until you opt in, and your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage.
You can change or withdraw your choice at any time: .
Your rights (GDPR)
Under GDPR you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data, to restrict or object to its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time (including by changing your ). To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@cozymindmedia.com and we will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (the supervisory authority for Ireland) at dataprotection.ie.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email info@cozymindmedia.com.
Aria
Cozy Mind Media
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