Do you actually own your website? A checklist before you sign
The domain, code, hosting and content can each sit in the agency's name without you knowing. Here are the five things to check — and how to check them today.
This article was translated from Danish. Read the original.
Most people think they own their website. Many don’t, and they only find out the day they want to change supplier.
A website is made up of four things that can be owned separately: the domain, the code, the hosting and the content. You need to have all four in order.
1. The domain
The most important one. Without the domain you have nothing — not even your email address.
Check it right now: go to DK Hostmaster’s self-service and look up your domain. Is your company listed as the registrant, or is an agency name there?
If you are not the registrant, ask to have it transferred. It is free and takes a few days if everyone is willing. If they are not willing, you have just learned something important.
Note the difference between registrant (owner) and administrator (technical contact). The agency may well be the administrator. They should not be the owner.
2. The code
This is where the most common problem sits.
Some agencies build on their own closed platform. The site lives with them, and there are no files to take away. You are renting, without the word rent ever being used.
Others build in WordPress, but without giving you access to the server or a backup.
Ask specifically: “Can I get a zip file or access to a Git repository with all the files, and can the site be hosted somewhere else?”
If the answer is evasive, translate the offer: today’s low price is a subscription you cannot cancel without rebuilding everything from scratch.
3. The hosting
The least critical, because hosting can always be moved — provided you have the code and the domain.
Watch two things: that you can be handed a full backup, and that there is no lock-in beyond a year. If you are paying well above the market rate for hosting, that is often where the agency’s recurring income is hiding.
4. The content
Text and images you supplied yourself are yours. But:
Photos taken by the agency’s photographer are not automatically yours. Copyright sits with the photographer unless something else is agreed in writing. Ask to have it written in that you may use the images freely, including after the collaboration ends.
Stock photos are bought with a licence that usually covers the specific use. If the site moves, the licence often has to move with it — and that requires someone to know which images were bought where.
Text written by the agency should be listed as yours in the agreement.
5. Your data
This one is almost always forgotten.
- Google Search Console and analytics: are they in your Google account or the agency’s? If you change supplier, you lose the entire history if it sits with them.
- Google Business Profile: must be in your name. It is your business.
- Form enquiries: where do they land? If they go through a service the agency owns, you can lose both the access and the old enquiries.
- Customer data from a webshop or booking system: can it be exported? Can you get it in a format another system can read?
The short checklist
Run through it before you sign:
- My company is listed as registrant on the domain
- I receive all code and all files
- The site can be hosted with another provider
- I can get a full backup whenever I ask for one
- Rights to images and text are written into the agreement
- Search Console and analytics are in my own account
- Google Business Profile is in my name
- There is no lock-in beyond 12 months
- The price for changes after launch is in writing
What to do if you are already locked in
It happens, and it isn’t hopeless.
Ask nicely first. Many agencies are happy to hand things over. It isn’t always ill will — sometimes nobody has given it any thought.
Get the domain first. It is the one that matters most, and the easiest to get.
If the code can’t be handed over, work out what it costs to build new. Often it is less than it feels, especially if the content can be reused. And a site built from scratch in 2026 is likely to be both faster and better.
Keep your URLs. If you build new, keep the same addresses or set up 301 redirects. Otherwise you lose the Google rankings you have spent years earning.
How we do it
Since we get asked: you receive all code and all files. The site can be hosted anywhere. The domain is in your name. Search Console is set up in your own Google account.
If you want to take over running it yourself at some point, we will get you started and step aside. There is no lock-in.
This isn’t generosity — it is the only model where we have to keep being worth the money to keep you. We think it is the right way to run an agency. See our prices and who we are.
Frequently asked questions
What do I do if the agency has closed down? If the domain is in your name, you can move it and build new. If it isn’t, contact DK Hostmaster — they have a procedure for domains belonging to companies that have ceased trading, but it takes time.
Can I take my WordPress site with me? Yes, if you have access to the server or a full backup. Both the database and the files have to come along.
Do I have to handle hosting myself? Not necessarily. What matters is that you can move — not that you do.
What does it cost to have the domain transferred? Nothing at DK Hostmaster. Some agencies charge a fee for the work. Ask about it up front.
Why us
Cheaper than most, and not worse for it
We are three developers. No project managers, no salespeople, no open-plan office downtown. That overhead is what you would otherwise be paying on top of the work itself, and it is why we can keep the price down on websites, webshops, web apps and mobile apps alike. Every price is published and fixed in writing before we start — from DKK 375 a month or DKK 3,995 one-time. See prices.
Cheaper does not mean less. We build and run our own products: NBS Booking, NBS Food and the KalorieTracker app, which is live in the App Store and Google Play. So we have already paid for the mistakes we advise you about. You talk to the person writing the code, and you own the code afterwards. If you want to move on without us, you can.