Guide
Own your business's website, don't rent it
Most small business websites are rented. You pay every month for a page you cannot touch, and the day you stop paying, it is gone. Here is what owning one actually means.
Owning a website means you control the domain (registered in your name), the content and the photographs, and you can take them with you. Renting means the page, the hosting and the words live with the vendor, and they stop the day you stop paying.
What renting a website actually means
You pay a monthly fee. In return you get a page that lives on someone else's platform, under their terms. You usually cannot change the words without a ticket, you often cannot move it to another host, and the content you wrote is stored in a system you do not control. Stop paying and the page goes dark, sometimes within the month.
None of this is a scam. Renting is a real trade: less work for a monthly fee. It is just worth knowing which one you bought.
What owning looks like
You own the domain, so the address is yours. You own the content, so the words can move with you. You own the photographs, so your images are not trapped in a gallery you cannot export. And you can change a price, an hour, a product or a dish yourself, in seconds, without asking anyone.
The website is still software someone runs for you, and you still pay for hosting and care. The difference is who holds the keys.
The three things you should own
- The domain, registered in your name, not the vendor's. This is the single most important one. A domain in someone else's name is not yours to keep.
- The content, in a form you can take with you. If you cannot export it, you do not own it.
- The photographs. Your food, your products, your room, your people. They should not be locked inside a platform.
How to tell which one you have
- Can you change a price without emailing anyone, and see it live in a minute?
- Is the domain registered in your name, at a registrar you can log into?
- If you left tomorrow, would you get your content and your images back?
Two or three noes means you are renting.
Why it matters
A website is the one place online that is yours. Social platforms change the rules, marketplaces take a cut, and search engines move the goalposts. The website is the ground you stand on. It should be in your name.
Want a website you own? Tell us about your business and we will set it up with you.