Website Ownership

Who owns your website? Alright, let’s break it down real quick – your website is like a puzzle with different pieces, right? So when you’re signing your ownership contract, you have to make sure you legally claim all the parts that are rightfully yours. Here’s the lowdown on what’s typically included in those contracts and what you should be holding onto:

• When it comes to your domain name, you might think you own it outright, but the truth is, you don’t. You’re merely renting it from your hosting provider by paying an annual or monthly fee. But here’s the kicker – you absolutely must secure the rights to your domain name independently from your web design company. Don’t let them hold the keys to your online kingdom. Take control and ensure that your domain name is truly yours, separate from any third-party involvement. This simple step will give you the peace of mind and authority you deserve over your digital real estate. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later for taking this proactive measure.
• The design and visuals of your website – You should own these, within reason. For example, you cannot own the color blue, but you can own the design aspects on your website that use the color blue. Your website designer should provide a clause in your contract that transfers ownership upon payment and project completion.
• When it comes to your website’s content, you have to make sure you’re the one calling the shots. Don’t let your designer hold all the cards. Even if they’re the ones writing your web content, you need to make sure that once the project’s done, all that content belongs to you, fair and square.
• Let’s talk about the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on your site. This one’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Sure, a lot of websites use similar scripts and open-source code, so you don’t really own those. But here’s the deal – you should definitely keep control over your website’s specific CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. Those belong to you.
• When it comes to the source code, you should have a decent amount of ownership – but there are limits. A lot of the building blocks that make up a website’s code are basically open-source and used by pretty much everyone, so expecting 100% exclusive ownership is just not realistic. But at the very least, you should get full rights to any custom programming or files that were specifically made for your site.
• You don’t actually own that CMS system? Something like WordPress is owned by WordPress itself. Your focus is having the freedom to choose your CMS and ensuring your website can be easily moved from one CMS to another without any major hassles.

When selecting a website designer you will want to make sure that you will have accessibility to the backend to your website and/or control panel. Your designer should provide you with all sign-on credentials and access to the designing platform and register your domain in your name, not the company.

At DK Small Business Solutions we are here for our clients. We create your vision and transfer ownership to our client once the project is complete and paid in full. Domains purchased from DK Small Business Solutions are always registered in the clients name and/or company.

Need a professional website?

If you’re ready to take the steps to branding your business we can definitely get you started, visit Web Design Services. Need an affordable web hosting plan, we got you there as well. Get an instant web design estimate to help with budgeting. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.