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Website Ownership

Website ownership is the organization's practical control over the accounts, code, data, infrastructure, and services required to operate and maintain its website.

Website ownership describes the organization's practical control over the systems, accounts, data, code, and services required to operate its website.

Ownership is broader than having permission to edit a page.

What an Organization Should Control

Depending on the website, important assets can include:

The organization does not need to operate every system itself.

It should know what exists and retain appropriate control over it.

Ownership vs. Administration

Ownership and administration are different.

A consultant may need Administrative Access to:

  • Configure DNS
  • Update a CMS
  • Deploy code
  • Manage an integration

That does not mean the consultant should permanently own the underlying business account.

A healthier structure is usually:

Organization owns account → consultant receives appropriate access → consultant performs work → access can be changed later

Why It Matters

Ownership becomes particularly important when:

  • A contractor relationship ends
  • Staff change
  • The site moves platforms
  • Billing fails
  • An account needs recovery
  • A vendor shuts down
  • A CMS Migration begins
  • The website needs emergency repair

A system nobody can access is effectively not under the organization's control.

Ownership and Portability

Ownership also includes the ability to leave.

Useful questions include:

  • Can we export the content?
  • Can we download the code?
  • Can we move the domain?
  • Can we recover the database?
  • Can we access the analytics history?
  • Can another developer take over?
  • Can we replace this service?

These questions overlap with Vendor Lock-In.

Common Problems

Common ownership problems include:

  • Domain held in a developer's personal account
  • Git repository owned by an unrelated organization
  • Payment account created under contractor credentials
  • Hosting billing tied to a former employee
  • Shared administrator accounts
  • No list of third-party services
  • Organization unable to export its own data

How to Improve

Create an ownership inventory.

For each critical system, record:

  • Service
  • Purpose
  • Organization/account owner
  • Billing owner
  • Technical administrator
  • Recovery method
  • Data/export options
  • Replacement considerations

Review the inventory during Website Handoff and when staff or vendors change.