Who Owns Your Domain, Site and Leads When You Leave.
You should own your domain, your website, its content and every lead it brings in, in writing, so you can leave any provider and take your business with you. A marketing agency, a freelancer, an SEO company or a DIY website builder may keep one or more of those. With Lyfework, the domain, site, content and leads are yours, and custom software code and data are yours outright.
At a Glance
- Your domain, site, content and leads should be in your name, in writing.
- Ownership problems show up the day you leave, so check them before you sign.
- A DIY builder site usually can't move, so leaving means rebuilding the pages.
- Lyfework clients own the domain, site, content and leads, and custom software code and data outright.
What Each Option Usually Gives You for Ownership.
What usually stays yours, and what stays behind, when you leave each of the five.
- YesLyfework
Your domain, site, content and leads are yours, and custom software code and data are yours outright. The booking and follow-up systems run on our platform while we work together, and we work month to month.
- SometimesMarketing Agency
Many marketing agencies keep everything in your name. Some register the domain in their own name, build the site on a platform only they host or run the ads from their own accounts, which makes leaving slow and can mean starting over.
- SometimesFreelancer
A good freelance web designer usually hands over the site and the logins at launch. Some register the domain in their own name or host the site on their server, so moving it depends on them.
- SometimesSEO Company
Most SEO companies work on a site you already own. Some keep the content they wrote, or build pages on sites they control, and the rankings those pages earned stay with them when you go.
- SometimesDIY Builder
With a DIY builder like Wix or Squarespace, the domain can be yours and so is your content. The site itself lives on their platform and usually can't be moved, so leaving means rebuilding it.
Seven Things You Should Own, Whoever You Hire.
How we picked these: Picked from the ownership problems owners run into most often when they leave a provider, starting with the one that can take a business offline.
- The domain
Your address on the internet, registered to you, in an account you can log in to. If it sits in someone else's account and lapses, your site and email go with it.
- The website and its files
The pages, the files behind them and a copy you can take with you. Ask whether the site can move to another host or only exists inside one company's platform.
- The words and photos
Copy written for you and photos of your work should be yours to reuse anywhere. Watch for stock photos licensed to the provider, which may have to come down when you leave.
- Every lead record
Names, numbers, messages and history for everyone who called, texted, booked or filled out a form. You should be able to open them any time and export them when you want.
- Your Google Business Profile
The profile, its reviews and its photos should be owned by you, with any provider added as a manager. Getting a profile back from a provider who owns it is slow work.
- The ad and analytics accounts
Ad accounts and analytics should be in your name, with the provider given access. The history inside them, what worked and what didn't, is part of what you paid for.
- Custom software code and data
If a provider builds you a portal, a quoting tool or a field app, the code and the data in it should be yours outright, written into the agreement.
Ask These Before You Sign Anything.
Get the answers in writing. A promise made on a call is hard to hold anyone to after you leave.
- Whose name is the domain registered in, and who holds the login?
- If we part ways, what do I take with me, and how?
- Can the site move to another host, or does it only run on your platform?
- Who owns the copy and photos, and are any photos licensed only to you?
- How do I export my leads, and in what format?
- Which accounts are in my name, and which are in yours?
- Is ownership written into the agreement, or only promised on the call?
How to Check What You Own Right Now.
- Find where the domain renews
Look for the renewal email or ask your provider which registrar holds it. If the account isn't yours, ask for a transfer into one that is.
- List every account
Website, hosting, Google Business Profile, ad accounts, analytics, the CRM and social. Next to each, write who owns it and who only has access.
- Export your leads
Pull a copy of every contact and message from wherever leads land today. If nobody can tell you how, that tells you who controls them.
- Put the gaps in writing
Send your provider the list of anything not in your name and ask for it to be moved over. A good provider says yes without a fight.
Yours When You Start, Yours If You Leave.
With Lyfework, your domain, your site, its content and your leads are yours. If we build custom software for you, like a portal or a quoting tool, the code and the data are yours outright. The booking and follow-up systems run on our platform while we work together, and we say so before you start. We work month to month, so you stay because you want to.
- Your domain, site, content and leads are yours.
- Custom software code and data are yours outright.
- Booking and follow-up run on our platform while we work together.
- Month to month, with no long-term contract.
Straight Answers.
What owners ask when they want to know what is really theirs.
Who owns my website if an agency builds it?
Whoever the agreement says, so get it in writing before the build starts. Many agencies hand everything over. Some keep the domain, build on a platform only they can host or use photos licensed to them, and then the site you paid for can't leave with you.
What happens to my website if I leave Wix or Squarespace?
Your domain and your content can come with you, but the site itself usually can't. Builder sites live on the builder's platform, so leaving means rebuilding the pages somewhere else. Save your content, photos and form submissions before you cancel the plan.
Who owns the leads my website brings in?
You should, since every call, text and form is a customer reaching out to your business. Make sure the lead records live somewhere you can open and export any time, so they stay yours if you change providers.
What do I keep if I stop working with Lyfework?
You keep your domain, your site, its content and your leads, along with the code and data of any custom software we built for you. The systems behind the site, like the booking and follow-up, run on our platform while we work together.
How do I find out who owns my domain?
Find the account it renews from: look for the renewal notice, or ask your provider for the registrar and the account owner. If it's registered to your web designer or agency, ask them to transfer it into an account in your name.
Build on Something That Stays Yours.
Book a free strategy call and get the ownership answers before anything is built.
Apply To Work With Us Today