Who owns your website after it is built?
People ask "who owns my website" as if it were one thing, but it is several things held in several places, and each can be in a different name. Here is how to see what you actually hold. For the legal side of ownership, have the wording confirmed by a qualified professional in your country.
What does owning a website mean in practice?
It means you can keep the site running, change it and move it without asking permission from anyone. That depends on five things: the domain name, the hosting or platform account, admin access to the site itself, the content and design, and the licences for any paid parts. A site where you hold all five is yours in every way that matters day to day.
Whose name is the domain in?
The domain is the address, and it is registered with a company in the name of an account holder. If that account belongs to your designer or a former employee, they control the address even though the business is yours. Check that the registration account is yours, uses an email you control, and that you can sign in today. This is the piece I would check first.
Who holds the hosting or platform account?
A self-hosted site, such as one on WordPress, lives on a hosting account. A store on a hosted platform such as Salla or Shopify lives in an account with that platform. In both cases the question is the same: who is the account owner, and whose card and email are on it? Being added as a user is not the same as owning the account.
Do I own the design and the content?
Your text, photos and logo are normally yours because you supplied them. The design made for you is a matter for your agreement, so it should say so in writing. Ask whether you receive the design file as well as the finished site. If the agreement is silent on this, raise it before the project ends, not after.
What about themes, plugins and fonts?
These are usually licensed, not owned. A paid theme or plugin comes with a licence that may need renewing to keep receiving updates, and it may be registered to whoever bought it. Ask for a list of every paid component in your site, who holds each licence, and what happens to updates if that person is no longer involved.
How do I check where I stand today?
Try to sign in. To the domain registrar, to the hosting or platform account, and to the site as an administrator. Wherever you cannot, find out who can and ask for it to be moved to you. It is a simple request while relations are good, and a much harder one in the middle of a disagreement.
How I handle it
When I hand over a site, you get the dashboard, and you edit the text, images, products, prices and posts yourself. The design is made in Figma and approved by you before the build. Support runs for 180 days from the day the site goes live, and it covers questions about editing the site as well as faults. Before we start, ask me about each item on this list. Tell me about your project and which accounts you already have.
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