Own your website: the 7-point anti-lock-in checklist

Here's a question that surprises a lot of business owners: if you stopped paying your web company tomorrow, what would you still have?

For too many, the honest answer is nothing. The domain is registered under the agency's account. The site lives on the agency's platform. The photos, the copy, even the Google Business profile, all controlled by someone else. That's not a website, that's a lease with your logo on it.

Run this checklist. Each item is a two-minute check that tells you whether you own your digital presence or rent it.

The checklist

1. 1The domain. Log in to the registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, wherever) yourself. If you can't, ask who the registrant is. The domain is the single most important asset on this list; losing it means losing your address, your email and your search history in one move.
2. 2The hosting account. You should have your own hosting or platform account, with the agency added as a collaborator, not the other way around. If the site lives inside their master account, you can't leave with it.
3. 3The code. For custom sites, ask where the repository lives and whether you have access. The honest answer sounds like "it's in a GitHub repo owned by you." The bad answer sounds like "don't worry about that."
4. 4The content. Your copy, photos and videos should exist somewhere you control, not only inside the site builder. Ask for a content export once a year. It's a ten-minute job.
5. 5The analytics. Google Analytics and Search Console should be properties on YOUR Google account with the agency granted access. Years of traffic data is expensive to lose and impossible to recreate.
6. 6The email list. If your newsletter tool was set up by an agency, check whose billing and whose login it sits under. Your customer list is one of the few assets you can't buy back.
7. 7The exit terms. Read the agreement. Look for what happens on cancellation: transfer fees, "content licensing," or language saying the design remains agency property. Surprises here are never in your favor.

What to do with a bad score

Don't panic and don't torch the relationship. Most lock-in is lazy setup rather than malice. Send a short, friendly note: "For bookkeeping I need domain, hosting and analytics under our accounts, with you as a collaborator. Can we schedule that this month?"

A good partner does it without drama. A partner who resists, stalls or quotes a surprising fee has just told you what the relationship really is, and you should plan your exit while things are calm rather than during a dispute.

How it should work

When we build a site, everything on that list is yours from day one. Domain, hosting, code, content, analytics, all in accounts you control. If you want us to keep maintaining and improving things, our care plans are month-to-month, and cancelling costs nothing but a goodbye. We think that's the only honest way to sell websites.

Not sure where your current setup stands? Send it through the free website audit and we'll flag any ownership red flags we can see from the outside, along with the usual speed and SEO findings.