Part of Mode’s research series. This one exists because we keep meeting businesses discovering, at the worst moment, that they don’t own their own shop.
The quiet trap in web work
Nobody checks who owns the domain while the relationship is good. The question surfaces when it sours, or when the provider vanishes, and by then the answer is expensive. Assets held in a supplier’s name are the web industry’s oldest form of lock-in: not a contract clause, just custody.
The five-asset checklist
1. The domain. Registered to your business, at a registrar account you control. Check the registrant on a WHOIS lookup today; if it names your old web guy, fix it while everyone is friendly.
2. The hosting. Your account (or formally transferable on request), even if the provider manages it. If the hosting bill goes to them, the server is theirs.
3. The site itself. Full CMS admin and file access from launch, and delivered work owned by you on final payment, stated in writing.
4. The ad accounts. Google and Meta accounts created under your business, with the provider added as a manager. Agency-owned ad accounts hold your payment history, audiences and performance data hostage when you leave.
5. The analytics. Same principle: your property, their access. Years of data should not walk out the door with a supplier.
The one-question test
Before signing with anyone, ask: “If we part ways in a year, what exactly do I take with me, and what do I have to ask you for?” A good provider answers instantly, in writing, and the answer is “everything, nothing”. Hesitation is data.
Where Mode fits, stated plainly
Mode’s standing terms are the checklist: domain, hosting, site, ad accounts and analytics all set up in your name from day one, full access from the start, everything yours on final payment, leave whenever you like and take the lot. It is on our pricing page and in every engagement, because ownership should never be the fine print.
