It's the question almost nobody asks before signing, and the one that hurts most later: when an agency builds your website, who actually owns it? The answer should be simple, you do, but plenty of arrangements quietly say otherwise.
What "ownership" really means
Owning your website means controlling every asset it depends on: the code, the content, the CMS, the domain name, the hosting account and the analytics. If any of those sit in someone else's account, you don't fully own your site, you rent it.
Common lock-in traps
- Proprietary platforms you can only edit by paying the agency.
- The domain registered in the agency's name instead of yours.
- Hosting and analytics on accounts you can't access.
- Mandatory retainers just to make basic changes.
Why it matters
Lock-in turns a bad relationship into an expensive hostage situation. If you can't leave without rebuilding from scratch, you have no leverage, and the work tends to get worse, not better, once the agency knows that.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Will the domain, hosting and analytics be in my accounts?
- Can I edit the site without paying you?
- Do I get the full codebase and content at handover?
- Is there any retainer required to keep the site running?
Our position
We hand over everything, code, content, CMS, domain, hosting and analytics, in full, with no lock-in. It's one of the promises we put in writing. If you're comparing quotes, read our cost guide with these questions in hand.