Who owns your website after it’s built?
Most people never think to ask this question until something goes wrong. You part ways with a web developer, decide to move to a new agency, or simply want to make a change, and discover you don’t have the access you assumed you had. Website ownership is one of the most important things to get clear on before any work begins, and one of the most overlooked.
Ownership is not one single thing
A website is made up of several parts, and each one can be owned or controlled separately.
When people talk about owning their site, these are the pieces that actually matter:
- The domain name. Your web address, such as yourbusiness.com.au. This should always be registered in your name or your business name, never the agency’s.
- Hosting. The server space where your site lives. You should know where it is hosted and have access to the account.
- The website files and code. The actual build. You want the right to take these with you if you leave.
- CMS access. Administrator login to the content management system so you can update your own site.
- Content and design assets. Your copy, photos, and logo files.
Where businesses get caught out
The problems usually come down to a few recurring traps. Some agencies register the domain in their own name, which means you don’t truly control your own address. Others build on a closed, proprietary platform you can only stay on by continuing to pay them, with no way to export or move the site. And in some cases, business owners are never given administrator access at all, so every small text change has to go through the agency.
None of this is necessarily done with bad intentions, but the effect is the same: you are locked in, and leaving becomes expensive or impossible.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Will the domain be registered in my business name, with me holding the account?
- Do I get full administrator access to the website and the CMS?
- If I ever move on, can I take the website files and content with me?
- Is the site built on a platform I can host and maintain elsewhere if I choose to?
What good ownership looks like
A fair arrangement is simple: you own your domain, you hold the administrator access, and your site is built on a platform you can take with you, such as WordPress. Your content and brand assets are yours. The agency’s job is to build and support your site, not to hold it hostage. At Go Web Scape, we build sites that belong to you, so you are never locked in.
Not sure who controls your current site? Talk to Go Web Scape and we will help you get clarity on what you own.