Do you actually own your website?
The short version: a lot of small businesses don't fully own theirs. The domain, the hosting, the site files or even the Google Business Profile can quietly sit in a designer's or agency's account — which means if you ever fall out, you can lose the lot. Here's what ‘owning it’ really means, how to check, and why it's worth five minutes of your time.
What ‘owning it’ actually means
Your website is really four separate things, and you want your name on all of them:
- The domain name — your web address (yourbusiness.co.uk), registered in your name at a registrar you can log into.
- The hosting and the site files — where the site lives, and the actual code and content, which you should be able to take elsewhere.
- The website itself — the design and words, ideally not locked inside a proprietary builder you can never export from.
- Your Google Business Profile — the listing that holds your reviews and your place on the map, under your own Google account.
Why it matters
It comes down to leverage. If someone else holds your domain or your Google profile, they can hold your business hostage — charge you to hand it back, or simply switch it off if a relationship sours. And if the person who built it disappears, you can be locked out of your own site with no way back in.
None of this is hypothetical. The most common horror stories in small-business web design aren't about bad design — they're about owners who couldn't move, update or even access a site they thought was theirs.
The traps to watch for
- The domain is registered in the agency's name, not yours.
- The site is built on a proprietary platform you can't export from — leaving means rebuilding from scratch.
- ‘We'll host it for you’ with no login and no access if you leave.
- Your Google Business Profile was set up on their account, taking your reviews with it.
- Monthly fees where the day you stop paying is the day the site vanishes.
How to check who owns yours
Three quick checks tell you almost everything:
- Look up your domain. A WHOIS lookup (try who.is) shows who a domain is registered to. It may be hidden behind privacy protection — in which case ask your provider for the registrar login and confirm it's yours.
- Ask for your logins. You should be able to get into your domain registrar and your hosting. If no one can give you those, that's your answer.
- Ask the leaving question: ‘If I moved to someone else tomorrow, exactly what would I walk away with?’ A straight answer should be ‘everything’.
How it should work
Ownership shouldn't be something you have to fight for. At Mensia, your website, your domain and your Google Business Profile are registered in your name from the very first invoice, in plain-English writing. We host it, run it and keep it current — but if you ever left, you'd take the whole lot with you, and we'd help you move it. That's the way round it should always be.
Quick answers
How do I find out who owns my domain?
A WHOIS lookup (for example who.is) shows the registered owner of a domain, though it may be masked by privacy protection. The surest test is to ask your provider for the login to the domain registrar and confirm the account is in your name.
Can I move my website to another provider?
You should be able to. If your site is custom-built it is portable and can be moved. If it is locked into a proprietary website builder you cannot export from, moving usually means rebuilding — which is why it pays to check before you commit.
Who should own my Google Business Profile?
You should, under your own Google account. It holds your reviews and your ranking on the map, so it should never live only on a supplier's account. Make sure you have owner access under an email you control.
Not sure what you actually own?
Send me your domain and I'll tell you straight — free, no obligation.