Here's a question most small business owners never ask until it's too late: if you stopped paying your web company tomorrow, what would you walk away with?
For a surprising number of businesses, the answer is nothing. The domain is registered to the agency. The site lives on a proprietary platform that can't be exported. The Google Ads account, the analytics, even the Google Business Profile were set up under the vendor's login. Leaving means starting over — and the vendor knows it.
What you should own, in writing
Your domain name. Registered in your name or your company's, with you holding the registrar login. This is the single most important asset on the list. Whoever controls the domain controls your email and your address on the internet.
Your website files. The actual code, images, and content — in a form you could hand to another developer. If your site can only run on one company's system, you're renting it.
Your Google Business Profile. You should be the primary owner. An agency can be a manager on the profile; it should never be the owner.
Your analytics and Search Console. Years of data about your customers belong to you, not to whoever set up the tracking.
Your ad accounts. The Google Ads account, its history, and its conversion data should sit under your ownership, with your agency granted access.
Your content and photos. Text and images created for your business should be yours to keep. If the agency used licensed stock, know which images go with them.
Red flags before you sign
- The agency registers the domain “to make it easier.”
- The site is built on a platform only they can edit.
- Cancellation means the site comes down, with no export option.
- They won't say plainly who owns the code.
- Logins to your own accounts are something you have to request.
Ownership isn't the same as no commitment
To be fair to agencies, including us: a minimum term on a new build is reasonable. A custom site takes real work up front, and a few months of hosting and management is how that work gets paid for. The question isn't whether there's a commitment. It's what happens when it ends. A fair agreement says that at the end of the term, you can leave and take everything with you.
How we do it
At Meridian6, the client owns the code, the domain, and every account we touch. Our sites are hand-built, standard HTML and code that any competent developer could pick up and run with. We stay because we're useful, not because leaving is painful. If an agency can't say the same, that tells you how they plan to keep your business.
A five-minute check
Log in to your domain registrar, your Google Business Profile, Google Analytics, and your ad account — yourself, without asking anyone. If you can't get into any one of them, fix that this week, before you need it.