Who owns your website? The short answer is: Whomever is paying for it.

However, we advise you to read carefully the agreement between you and your web designer.

In our case, we feel that you hired us to design a website, and once we’ve been paid, that’s the end of it. The site belongs to you. We upload your files to your web host, and it’s yours.

There are a couple of other things to think about. First, who is your website registered to? A domain name registrar will consider the person who registered the domain name as the person who owns or controls that website. If you need to change your registration information down the road, you will be jumping through hoops. In most cases, it can be done, but it can be a huge hassle.

Second, who arranged your web hosting and who is maintaining the password to your site? If it isn’t you, you’d better find out.