Do you actually own your website?

“Do you own your website?” sounds like one question. It is four, which is why the answers people get are always vague — a designer saying “of course it’s yours” may be entirely sincere and still be describing only one of the four.

Here are the four, how to check each, and which one actually matters most.

The four things “your website” is made of

1. The domain

Your web address. It is registered to a person or company — the registrant — and that is who controls it. This is the one people most often get wrong and the only one that can be lost permanently.

2. The hosting account

The server the site runs on, and the account that pays for it. If you have never seen a hosting bill, the account probably is not yours. Losing hosting takes the site offline; it does not take the address or the content, provided you have a copy.

3. The files and content

The site itself: the pages, the images, the database, and the text somebody wrote. Ownership here is partly a copy question — do you have one — and partly a contract question, since what was transferred to you when the project ended depends on what you signed.

4. The platform

What the site is built on, and whether you bought it or rent it. A WordPress site on your own hosting is yours to move. A site built inside a proprietary platform, or on a monthly plan that includes the software, is being rented — which is a legitimate arrangement and a completely different one.

Watch for the smaller version of this: premium themes and plugins are licensed to whoever bought them, so parts of a site you own outright can still be running on somebody else’s license.

How to check each, in two minutes

• Domain: look it up in ICANN Lookup and read the Registrant field. The full check, and what each answer means.
• Hosting: can you log into a hosting company’s control panel? Is there a charge on your card? If not, it is not your account.
• Files: do you have a copy, somewhere that is not the live site? If not, ask for one — the answer to that request tells you a great deal.
• Platform: read what you signed. One-time build plus optional maintenance is a purchase; a monthly fee covering the build and the software is a rental.

The one most people get wrong

The domain, and it is the only one that becomes permanent.

Hosting can be replaced in an afternoon. Files can be rebuilt, expensively but completely. Content can be rewritten. A domain that lapses and finishes its redemption period is gone — released to whoever registers it next, with your customers still searching for it.

If you check only one thing after reading this, check the registrant field.

What “you own it” should mean

• The domain is registered in your business’s name.
• The hosting account is in your name, on your billing.
• You can have a full copy of the site whenever you ask.
• Nothing requires anyone’s permission if you decide to leave.

If all four are true, you own your website in every sense that matters. If they are not, it is worth knowing what actually happens before the question becomes urgent.

What to ask before you hire anyone

One question per item, and the answers should come without hesitation:

• Whose name will the domain be registered in?
• Whose name will the hosting account be in, and whose card pays?
• Can I have a copy of the site whenever I ask?
• Am I buying this or subscribing to it — and what do I keep if I stop?

Vagueness on any of the four is the answer.

How we do it

The domain and hosting are registered in your name on your billing, and a full export is yours on request at any time. The terms are published, which is the only way a claim like that is worth anything.

Common questions

Who owns a website, me or the developer?

It depends which part. The domain belongs to whoever is listed as registrant, the hosting to whoever holds the account, and the files and design to whatever your agreement says. The four can have four different answers.

Do I own my domain name?

Only if you are the registrant. Look the domain up in ICANN Lookup and read that field — paying for a domain is not the same as being registered as its owner.

What happens if I leave my web designer?

If the domain and hosting are in your name and you hold a copy of the site, nothing much: you take it elsewhere. If any of those sits with them, you need their cooperation for that part.

Do I own the design I paid for?

That depends on your agreement, and it is worth reading rather than assuming. Contracts variously transfer ownership, license the work to you, or say nothing at all.

What should I get when a website is finished?

Domain and hosting in your name with logins you have tested, a full copy of the files and database, administrator access to the site, and a plain statement of what you own.