Website Design
Who Actually Owns Your Website? 3 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Developer
Before you hire anyone to build your website, ask this one question first. If I stop paying you, what happens to my site? The answer tells you almost everything you need to know about the relationship you are about to enter.
Question one, who owns the domain
Your domain name is the address people type to find you. Some agencies register it under their own account, not yours. That means if you ever part ways, you do not just lose a website. You lose your address on the internet. Ask directly whose name the domain is registered under, and get it in writing.
Question two, do I own the site itself, or am I renting it
Plenty of agencies keep the site on their own hosting, under their own login, forever. You pay monthly, but you never get the keys. If you cancel, the site goes dark, along with every page Google has indexed and every review you have collected. Ask whether there is a point where the site becomes fully yours, and what that requires.
Your Google reviews, your photos, the blog posts written about your business, all of that has value. Make sure you know where it lives and whether you can take it with you if you ever switch developers.
Why this matters more than the price tag
A cheap website that you do not own is not cheap. It is a monthly bill for something you can lose the moment you stop paying. A fair developer will answer these three questions without hesitation, because they are not trying to trap you into staying.
If you are interviewing developers right now and want a second opinion on what you are being offered, I am happy to look it over. No cost and no pressure. You can also grab the free 90 Day Growth Plan at /contact to see what an ownership based setup looks like from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should own my website domain?+
You should. Register it in your business name and get it in writing. If an agency holds it under their account, you can lose your address on the internet when you leave.
How do I know if I own my website?+
Ask whether the site becomes fully yours at some point and what that requires. If the answer is that you keep paying forever to keep it live, you are renting.
Can I take my content and reviews to a new developer?+
Your Google reviews live on your profile, so keep that under your own account. Site content and photos should be handed over on request.
What is the first question to ask a web developer?+
If I stop paying you, what happens to my site. The answer tells you almost everything about how the relationship will go.
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