Who owns a website
The domain, the content and the credentials are yours when they are registered in your company's name and the contract says so. Ownership does not transfer automatically just because you paid the invoice. Three things decide it: whose name the domain is in, who holds the credentials and what the contract says about rights to the content.
Three things to check before you cancel anything
1. Whose name is the domain in
The domain is the key to the whole site. If it is registered in the builder's or agency's name, your site and your company email are in someone else's hands the day the relationship sours. The holder of a company's .fi domain is publicly visible in the domain search run by Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, so the check takes a minute.
If the holder is anyone other than your own company, request a transfer in writing. The transfer is done with a transfer key that is valid for 30 days. The registrar must transfer the domain to the new holder within five working days of receiving the key and the new holder's details.
2. Who holds the credentials
- The admin login for the site's control panel
- The server or web host where the site lives
- Email administration, if mail runs through the same service
- Google Search Console and analytics
- Payment processing, booking and other connected services
If you cannot log in to a single one of these, you do not control your site, whatever the paperwork says.
3. What the contract says about the content
In Finland, copyright arises with the author, not the buyer. Copy you wrote and photos you bought are yours, but the design and the code transfer only to the extent the contract says. One sentence is enough: the client has the right to use, modify and transfer the delivered material without restriction. If there is no written contract, dig out the proposal, the invoices and the emails. They too show what was ordered and what was promised.
Monthly fee or one-off price
| Model | What you pay | What you keep when you stop |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder's monthly plan | Platform, tools and hosting in one price | You get part of the content out, the site shuts down |
| Agency's monthly contract | The site and maintenance spread over months | Depends on the contract. The site may stay with the agency |
| One-off price with separate maintenance | The site once, hosting and updates separately | The site and the content stay with you |
The table scrolls sideways.
A monthly fee is not a scam, and for a new business it is often a sensible way to get moving. The trouble starts when the model is a rental but the buyer believes they bought. Before signing, ask one question: what do I hold in my hand if I stop next year?
Checklist for changing providers
- Take a copy of all content before you announce the change
- Check the domain holder and request the transfer key in writing
- Find out where your email lives. Mail breaks more easily than the site, because it moves with the same settings
- Write down the current page addresses so the new builder can point them permanently to the right places
- Move Search Console and analytics into your own Google account, not the builder's
- Agree the switchover date and keep the old site up until then
- Cancel the old contract only once the new site is live and email works
Redirects are where the switch most often fails. Every old address must point to a new one with a permanent redirect. Otherwise search results and old links lead to an error page, and the search engine takes months to learn the new structure.
If the builder can no longer be reached
You may change domain registrars without giving any reason, and the request can be made to either the current or the new registrar. The change needs the registrar transfer key, which is valid for 30 days. The deadline that matters most is the domain's expiry: recovering a lapsed domain is far more work than transferring a live one, so sort it out well before the renewal date.
Take a copy of the content even if you never get the credentials. Copy and images can be saved from the browser, and old pages can often be found in web archives as well.
How we do it
The domain and hosting credentials are in the client's name from day one, even when we register them. The price is a fixed one-off sum, and the only running costs are the things that actually run: the domain, the server and, if you want them, content updates. Our pricing page shows what each package includes. If you ever change providers, the site goes with you.
If you suspect your current site is registered in someone else's name, send us a message through the contact form and tell us the domain. We will look at the situation free of charge and say straight out whether the switch is worth doing now or better left to the next redesign.