Most businesses assume they own their website because they paid for it. Ownership is actually spread across five separate things, each held by whoever holds the account — and it is common to control none of them.
This is worth checking on a quiet afternoon rather than during a dispute.
The five things
1. The domain name
The most important, because your email depends on it too. Losing control of a domain does not just take the website down — it takes every address at that domain with it.
Check: Look the domain up on a WHOIS service to see which registrar holds it. Then attempt to log in to that registrar with your own credentials. Cannot log in? You do not control your domain.
Should be: Registered to your company, in an account you hold, with a business email address that is not at that domain — because if the domain fails, so does the recovery address.
2. The hosting
Where the site actually lives. Often bundled into a monthly fee with no account details ever provided.
Check: Do you have login details for a hosting control panel? Do you know the provider's name?
Should be: Ideally an account in your name that you grant your supplier access to. A supplier's reseller hosting is acceptable if the agreement is clear about migration, but it is a dependency to be aware of.
3. The code and the content
Here the position is less intuitive than people expect. Under UK copyright law, commissioning and paying for creative work does not automatically transfer copyright. Without a written assignment, it can remain with the creator.
In practice most suppliers behave reasonably. The problem arises when a relationship sours, or when the supplier is acquired, retires or becomes unreachable.
Check: Does your contract say the code is assigned to you on final payment? Do you hold a copy of the files and database?
Should be: Written assignment on payment, and a copy of the site export held by you.
4. The accounts around the site
Analytics, Search Console, the email platform, the payment provider, the domain's DNS, any advertising accounts.
These accumulate quietly. A supplier sets each one up under their own login because it is faster, and years of data ends up somewhere you cannot reach.
Should be: Owned by you, with your supplier added as a user. That is a two-minute difference at setup and a very large one later.
5. The email
Frequently overlooked because it is invisible while it works. If your email is hosted by your web supplier, then a dispute about a website invoice becomes a dispute about your ability to trade.
Should be: Separate from the website supplier where possible, in an account you control.
The question is not whether you trust your supplier. It is what happens if they are unavailable — ill, retired, acquired, or simply no longer answering.
How to check, in twenty minutes
- WHOIS lookup on your domain. Note the registrar.
- Try to log in to that registrar. Success or failure is your answer.
- Find out who your host is and whether you can log in.
- Open Google Analytics and Search Console. Are you an owner, or not listed at all?
- Search your files for a contract, and look for the word "assign" or "ownership".
- Ask yourself where a current copy of the site files and database is held.
If you scored badly, you are in ordinary company. It is not usually anybody's bad faith — it is the accumulated result of small conveniences.
How to fix it without a confrontation
Frame it as governance rather than distrust, because that is genuinely what it is. Insurers, auditors and buyers all ask about this.
A straightforward message works: "We are tidying up our records of business-critical accounts. Could you transfer the domain into an account in our name and add us as an administrator on hosting, analytics and Search Console? Happy for you to keep full access."
Almost every reputable supplier will do this the same week. If yours resists, you have learnt something important while you still have options.
Getting it right on a new project
Agree at the start, in writing, before design begins:
- The domain is registered to you, in your account.
- Hosting is in your name, or the migration terms are explicit.
- Copyright in the code and design assigns to you on final payment.
- Analytics and Search Console are your accounts with the supplier added.
- On termination, you receive a full export within a stated number of days.
None of this is unusual to ask, and the conversation itself tells you something. Our guide to choosing a web designer covers the rest of the questions worth asking early.
Our web development team registers domains in the client's name and assigns code on payment as standard. Ask us to audit what you actually control — it takes an afternoon and it is the cheapest risk reduction available to you.
