Answers / Agency Accountability

Who Owns My Website and Domain If My Agency Built It?

The domain belongs to whoever is listed as the registrant on the registrar account. If that's your agency, they control your address on the internet. Check it now, while things are friendly.

Three things to own, not one

• The domain (yourbusiness.com), held at a registrar such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Cloudflare.
• The hosting account where the site actually runs.
• The site itself: the files, the content management login, and any theme or builder licenses.

An agency can build a great site and still hold all three in its own accounts. That's normal while they work for you, and a problem when you want to leave.

How to check the domain

1. Run an ICANN Lookup on your domain. It shows the registrar and dates. Personal details are often redacted for privacy, so it may not show the registrant's name.
2. Ask the agency which registrar account the domain sits in, and whose name and email are on it as registrant.
3. Ask for the domain to be moved into an account you own, or for you to be made the registrant. ICANN's registrant pages explain your rights to manage and transfer a domain.

Questions to put in writing

• Who is the registrant of the domain, and can you send me the registrar login or move it to my account?
• Who owns the hosting account, and can I get owner access?
• If we part ways, do I get the site files and content, and in what format?
• Are there licenses (themes, plugins, builders) that end when our contract ends?

Why this matters for being found

Your website is one of the sources Google and AI assistants read about your business. If you lose the domain, you lose the address every listing, review and citation points to.

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