The single most important question to ask any web developer before you sign anything is: “At the end of this project, who owns what?” Almost every awkward situation I hear about traces back to the same root: nobody wrote down who holds what, and the answer only surfaced a year later when somebody wanted to make a change. Get it in writing at the start and none of it is ever a problem. Leave it unsaid and you find out at the worst possible moment.
The five things to pin down
Your domain name. Registered in your name, in a registrar account you control, with billing on your credit card. If a developer registered it for you, transfer it to your account before you do anything else. The domain is the single most valuable digital asset most small businesses own, and losing it is catastrophic.
Your hosting arrangement, in writing. Hosting is the one item on this list with two right answers, and the mistake is not which one you pick. Either the account is in your name and you pay the host directly, or your developer hosts it for you and the account is theirs. The second is a perfectly good arrangement, and often the better one, because holding the account is exactly what lets someone patch a server at midnight, catch a bad update before you do, and fix a problem instead of forwarding it. What matters is that you are told which one it is before you pay, and that leaving is spelled out. Ask for three things: a complete export of files and database, free and on request; no exit fee; and a stated number of days the site stays up after you cancel. Here is how I answer all three.
Your website code and files. Get a complete backup at the end of the project: not just a database export, the entire site as deployable files. If the developer wrote a custom theme or plugin, you should receive that source code with a license that lets you modify or have someone else modify it.
Your design files. If a designer created mockups in Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD, you get the source files at the end. Not just exported PNGs. The editable source.
Your analytics and tracking. Google Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager, ad platforms, all of it should be in accounts you own, with you as the primary admin and the developer as a granted user. If your developer set up a GA4 property under their own Google account, you do not own your analytics history.
The accounts to audit right now
- Domain registrar: log in, confirm you are the owner
- Hosting account: confirm who holds it, and that the arrangement is written down
- WordPress admin: confirm your account is administrator role
- Google Search Console: confirm property ownership verification
- Google Analytics: confirm primary admin
- Email provider: confirm domain DNS records and admin access
- Any third-party SaaS: same principle
What good developers do
A developer who works in good faith will set everything up in your accounts from day one. They will give you their email so you can invite them as a collaborator. They will document every login, every API key, every external service in a credentials handoff at the end of the project. They will not push back if you ask for ownership documentation.
A developer who pushes back on transparent ownership is telling you something. Listen.
The contract clauses to insist on
- Work-for-hire language: all custom code and design becomes your property on final payment
- License grant for any third-party assets included in the build
- Final deliverables list: source code, database, design files, credentials document
- No hostage clauses: the developer cannot withhold deliverables for any reason after final payment
- Reasonable transition assistance if you switch providers
If you are stuck right now
If you read this and realized you do not own your domain or your code, or nobody ever told you who holds the hosting, you are not alone. The fix is straightforward but uncomfortable: write to your developer requesting a full ownership transfer. Most will comply. The ones who refuse have shown you who they are. From there, you may need legal help, but most situations resolve when the request is in writing and the developer realizes they are dealing with an informed client.
This is the part of the business no one teaches small business owners. It costs nothing to set up correctly the first time. Cleaning it up later is expensive.
Not sure what you actually own?
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