Do You Actually Own Your Website? Five Questions to Ask Before You Pay
There is a version of buying a website where you pay every month for years and, on the day you leave, walk away with nothing. Not the domain. Not the files. Not even the words you wrote. It is more common than it should be, and it is almost always legal — because nobody asked the right questions at the start.
Here are the five. Ask them before money changes hands, not after.
1. "Whose name is on the domain registration?"
Your domain should be registered to you or your company — not to the designer, not to the agency, not to "the agency's client account". If someone else is the registrant, they can technically hold your web address hostage, and a surprising number of relationships end exactly that way.
The correct answer is: your name, your email on the account, and login details handed to you.
2. "What happens to the site if I stop paying you?"
If the honest answer is "it disappears", you are renting. That can be a reasonable deal if you know that going in. It is a terrible deal if you thought you were buying. Ask it plainly and listen for hedging.
3. "Can I get a copy of the files?"
You should be able to receive an export or a copy of the site at any time, without a fight. If the platform is proprietary and there is no way to take the site elsewhere, you are locked in — and lock-in is what makes price rises possible later.
The tell: a good answer is boring and immediate. "Yes, here's how." Any answer that involves reluctance, a fee, or a lecture about why you would never want that is the answer.
4. "Who owns the content and images?"
Copy, photography and logos should be licensed to you outright. Stock images in particular have licences attached — you want to know that the licence covers your use, permanently, and that nothing on your site is going to generate a demand letter in two years.
5. "What do I get on day one after launch?"
A real handover is a short list: domain login, hosting login, admin access to the site, and a copy of the files. If a builder cannot produce that list without checking, they have not thought about your exit — which tells you something about how the relationship is designed.
The short version
Ownership is not a technical detail; it is the difference between an asset and a subscription. Ask the five questions. The answers take two minutes and can save you years.
For the record: our builds are once-off, from R2,500, and the domain, files and content are yours from day one. We will hand over logins without being asked twice.
Recent work
Every one of these was designed in full before the business paid anything.
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Frequently asked questions
Who should own my business domain name?
You or your company should be listed as the registrant, with your own email on the account. If a designer or agency is the registrant, they control the address your customers type in.
What happens to a rented website if I stop paying?
In most rental arrangements the site goes offline and you keep nothing — not the design, not the files, and sometimes not the domain. Confirm this before signing, because it is rarely stated prominently.
Can I move my website to a different provider later?
You can if you own the domain and can obtain a copy of the site files. Proprietary platforms often make export difficult on purpose, so ask about it before you build rather than after.