Do You Really Own Your Website? How to Check Before You Hire

Venbit is a web design and SEO studio based in Mill Creek, Washington, serving businesses throughout the Puget Sound region and clients across the United States and Canada since 2011. One thing we hear consistently, from a Seattle restaurant owner and a Toronto retailer alike, is the same story: they wanted to switch web companies and discovered, right at that moment, that they don't own what they thought they did.

The domain is registered under someone else's email. The site lives on a platform where there's no export button. The content was written by the agency and they claim copyright on it. It's a bad situation to be in, and it's almost always avoidable if you know what to look for before you hire.

What website ownership actually means

People say 'I own my website' as if it's one thing. It isn't. There are four distinct assets, and you can own some while a vendor controls others. Knowing which is which tells you exactly how trapped or free you are.

1. 1Your domain name. The .com (or .net, .co, etc.) that your business lives at. It's registered through a registrar like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains. Whoever controls the registrar account controls the domain.
2. 2Your hosting account. The server where your website files actually live. Could be a shared host, a VPS, or a managed WordPress host. Whoever holds the account can shut the site down or lock you out.
3. 3Your website files and CMS. The actual code, database, and content management system. A site built on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or a proprietary agency platform behaves very differently when you try to leave.
4. 4Your content. The copy, images, blog posts, and anything else on the pages. Some contracts assign content copyright to the agency. Check before you assume it's yours.

How to check your ownership status right now

You do not need to ask your web company. You can verify this yourself in a few minutes using free tools.

1. 1Check your domain registrar. Go to who.is or lookup.icann.org and enter your domain. Look at the registrant name and email in the WHOIS record. If it says your web company's name and email, not yours, they control your domain. To fix it, you need them to transfer the registrar account or the domain to an account you own.
2. 2Log into your registrar account yourself. If your web company 'set it up for you,' ask them: what registrar is it on, and can you log in with your own credentials? If they can't give you a login that's yours, that's a problem.
3. 3Check your hosting account. Ask: is the hosting account in my name and email, with billing on my credit card? Or is it under your account and you're reselling it to me? If it's resold, you don't control it.
4. 4Identify your CMS. Go to whatcms.org and enter your URL. If it comes back as WordPress, you're on a portable platform with an export option. If it comes back as Wix, Squarespace, or a proprietary system, you cannot move the site. You'd need to rebuild.
5. 5Export a test copy of your content. On WordPress: go to Tools, Export, and download the full content export. On Squarespace or Wix: look for Settings, Export. If there's no export option, that's your answer.
6. 6Review your contract for content ownership. Search for the words 'copyright,' 'intellectual property,' and 'content.' Any clause assigning ownership of site copy or design to the vendor means you don't own what's written there.

Questions to ask before you hire

If you're evaluating a web company and haven't signed yet, these questions will tell you everything. Anyone doing honest work will answer all of them without hesitation. That holds whether the agency is down the street in Bellevue or on the other side of the country.

• Will the domain be registered in my name, at my email address, under my billing info?
• Will the hosting account be in my name, or will you be reselling a slot on your account?
• What platform or CMS will you build on? Can I export the full site if I leave?
• If I stop working with you, do I walk away with full access to everything?
• Will I own all the copy and images you create, and does the contract say so?

Red flags in proposals and contracts

Vague language about ownership is almost always intentional. Watch for these patterns.

• 'We handle all the technical stuff for you.' (Means: it's in our account, not yours.)
• 'We use our proprietary platform for better performance.' (Means: you can't leave without losing the site.)
• 'The design and content remain the intellectual property of [Agency Name] until paid in full.' (Means: a payment dispute leaves you with nothing.)
• 'Hosting is included in your monthly fee.' (Often means: your site lives in their reseller account, not yours.)
• No mention of domain, hosting, or CMS in the proposal at all. (Means: ask, or assume they didn't think you'd ask.)

What to do if you're already trapped

Finding out after the fact that you don't control your own site is frustrating, but it's not the end. Here's how to think through it.

1. 1Domain first. If your web company holds the domain, ask them to transfer it to a registrar account you own. Most will do it without a fight once you ask formally. If they won't, file a UDRP complaint or contact your registrar for a dispute process. You paid for it. It's yours.
2. 2Get whatever you can export. Even a partial content export is better than nothing. Screenshot every page, download every image you can find. That's baseline recovery material.
3. 3Don't just rebuild the same way. When you move to a new site, insist in writing that the domain, hosting account, and CMS all live under your credentials. If you're paying for it, it belongs to you.
4. 4Talk to an attorney if the contract has bad IP language. If you commissioned original copy or design and the contract assigned ownership to the agency, you may have grounds to dispute it. A short consultation is usually enough to know where you stand.
5. 5Negotiate, not just fight. In most cases the vendor will hand things over if you ask clearly and in writing. Most small shops don't want the reputation hit. Start there before escalating.

A note on where Venbit stands

We build on WordPress hosted in accounts registered to you, with billing in your name. Your domain stays in a registrar account you control. When we write copy for your site, you own it; the contract says so. If you stop working with us tomorrow, you walk away with everything. We think that's the only honest way to do this work, whether your business is in the Seattle area or in Phoenix or Halifax.

We're not the right fit for every project, and we'll tell you that if it's true. But we'll never build something you can't take with you.