Do you own your website?

People ask "do I own my website" and mean one question — but there are three: the domain, the content, and the build.

The domain is your address on the internet. The content is your words, photos and logo. The build is the design, code and platform the site runs on. You can own one without owning the others. Any provider should be clear about which is which before you pay.

Your domain should always be registered in your name, with you as the legal owner.

You own your domain (you pay the domain cost). If a provider registers it in their name, they control your address — and that is a lock-in lever. Check the WHOIS record or your registrar login. A .co.uk or .com is usually £10–15 a year, paid direct to the registrar.

Words you supplied, photos of your work and your logo are yours regardless of who hosts the site.

No honest provider claims copyright over your business photos or the facts about your services. If you leave a provider, you should keep everything you uploaded. What you may not be able to take is the layout, template or code — that depends on the deal.

When you pay an agency upfront

Most agency contracts hand you the site once the build fee is paid. You still need hosting somewhere, and you may need a developer for anything beyond text changes — but the build is yours.

When you use a DIY builder

You own your content, but the site only works on their platform. Export options exist on some plans but are limited. Leaving usually means rebuilding elsewhere.

When you pay monthly with Wonderful Web

Tell me and it stops - no notice period, no exit fee. Your domain was always registered in your name, so your address on the internet stays yours. The website itself is part of the plan rather than something you buy outright, so it comes down when the plan ends - that's exactly what makes £50 a month possible instead of a few thousand up front. If you want to own the build outright instead of renting it, ask and I will quote a buy-out price — that is a different product to the monthly plan.

A custom site that someone hands over outright is worth a few thousand pounds as a one-off build.

£50 per month only works as a long-term relationship: I build it, host it, keep it running and make agreed changes, and you pay monthly for as long as it is useful. No minimum term, no notice period and no exit fee. That is the honest trade.

Who owns the domain — me or you? What happens to the site if I stop paying? Can I take a copy of the site files? Is there a minimum term or exit fee? Who pays for hosting, and what does it cost separately? Plain answers before you sign beat surprises after.