Who actually owns your website?
You own your website only if three things are in your name: the domain, the files, and the hosting account. Most owners have one of the three, usually without knowing which.
You paid for it, so it is yours. Except that is not how it works, and most owners find out the hard way, when the person who built the site stops answering and the site is suddenly a hostage.
Ownership comes down to three separate things. You can own all of them, some of them, or none.
Who owns the domain?
The domain is your address, and it is registered to a named person. If that person is your web designer, an old employee, or someone nobody remembers, then legally and practically the address is theirs. If they vanish, fall out with you or just let it lapse, you lose the address every card and van and listing points at.
Check it now: run your domain through a whois lookup, any free one will do, and read the registrant. If it is not you or your company, ask for that to be transferred while everyone is still friendly. It is a routine change, not a favour.
Who owns the website files?
The site itself is a set of files, and the question is simple. If you asked for a copy today, would you get one?
A site built with normal code can be handed over and moved anywhere. A site built inside a proprietary platform often cannot leave it at all. You are not buying a website there, you are renting one, and cancelling the subscription deletes it.
Check it now: ask whoever built your site, "if I asked, could I have a full copy of the files?" A good builder says yes without flinching. Hesitation is your answer.
Who owns the hosting?
Hosting is the building the site lives in, and whoever holds the account can switch the site off. That is not automatically sinister. It is normal for the builder to host and mind the site, and it usually works well. The difference between fine and dangerous is whether it is written down.
Check it now: find your answer to "what happens if I stop paying, and what happens if they disappear?" If the answer is a shrug, get it in writing before you need it.
Where we stand, for comparison
The setup we consider fair, whoever you are buying from: the domain registered in your name from day one, a copy of the files any time you ask, hosting held and minded by the builder with the handover terms in writing. That is how we run it, our full list of answers is on the record, and it is a reasonable thing to demand of anyone.
None of that costs the builder anything, which is worth remembering when someone resists it.
If you cannot answer these
Ask. One short message to whoever built your site, covering the three checks above, tells you exactly where you stand. Awkward for thirty seconds, and much cheaper than finding out during a dispute.
And if the answers come back wrong, or do not come back at all, talk to us. Untangling this is a job we have done before.
Read next
What happens when your domain quietly dies
We found dozens of businesses whose website address no longer loads. Most of them have no idea. How to check yours in two minutes.
Your web designer has gone quiet. What to do, in order
The order matters more than the effort. Secure the address first, save a copy second, and start the awkward conversation third.
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