Do you actually own your website? 6 things to check

Most small business owners assume that if they paid for a website, they own it. Often that's only partly true. The domain might be registered in the designer's name, the hosting billed to their account, and the admin login known only to them. Everything works fine until the relationship ends, and then you find out what you actually control.

Here are six things worth checking today, whether you're happy with your current setup or not.

1. Who is the registrant on your domain?

Your domain name (yourbusiness.com) is the single most important thing to own. If someone else holds it, they control where your website and often your email point.

Log in to the registrar where the domain is held, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace Domains or Cloudflare, and check that the account is yours and that the registrant contact is you or your business. If you don't know where it's registered, a WHOIS lookup will usually show the registrar, even when the owner's details are hidden for privacy.

2. Whose account is the hosting on?

Hosting is where your site's files live. If it sits inside your designer's account, you can't move, back up or renew it without them. Ask which company hosts the site and whether the account is in your name with your payment details on file. If they host many clients under one account, ask how you would get your site out if you needed to.

3. Do you have an admin login?

If your site runs on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify or a similar platform, you should have your own administrator-level login. That's a separate login of your own, not a shared password and not "just ask us and we'll change it." Test it. If you can't log in and edit a page yourself, you don't fully control the site.

4. Can you get a copy of everything?

Ask whether you could take a complete copy of your site today: the files, the content, the images and the database if there is one. On some platforms that's simple; on others, such as many website builders, the design can't be exported at all and only the content can. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker, but you should know before you're locked in.

5. Who controls your Google accounts?

Your Google Business Profile, Google Analytics and Google Search Console hold years of history about your customers and your rankings. These should be owned by an account your business controls, with your designer or marketer added as a user, not the other way round. Check the user and owner settings in each one.

6. Is it in writing?

A simple clause in your agreement saying that the domain, content, design and accounts belong to you on payment avoids most of these problems. If your current contract doesn't say who owns what, it's worth asking for that in writing now, while everyone is on good terms.

What to ask before you hire anyone

Before you sign with a web designer, ask these questions directly:

• Will the domain and hosting be registered in my name, on my payment method?
• Will I get my own administrator login on day one?
• If we stop working together, what exactly do I walk away with?
• Who will own the Google Business Profile, Analytics and Search Console accounts?

A good designer will answer all of these without hesitation. If the answers are vague, treat that as your answer.

How we handle it

At AngloYank Technology Solutions, the domain, code, content and accounts are set up in your name from the start, and every project ends with a documented handover. If you'd like a second opinion on your current setup, get in touch and we'll tell you honestly what you own and what you don't.