Websites. Reviewed October 29, 2026
Website ownership
Also called: Owned vs rented website, Site ownership
Website ownership means the business holds the domain, the code and the content and can take all three to any host or agency; a rented site lives on a provider's platform and goes dark when the subscription stops.
In practice
Many agency and franchise sites are rented. The monthly fee looks like hosting but the contract says the design, the pages and sometimes the domain belong to the provider. Leave, and years of rankings leave with them.
Ask three questions before signing: who owns the domain, can I export the site, and what happens the day I cancel.
Related terms
- Domain nameA domain name is the address people type to reach a website, such as skillmammoth.com, and it should be registered in the business owner's own account, never the agency's.
- HostingHosting is the server space where a website's files live and are served to visitors, paid monthly or yearly, and it is separate from the domain name.
- Custom websiteA custom website is built from code for one business, with its own design, pages and tools, rather than assembled from a theme or page builder shared with thousands of other sites.
- Website migrationA website migration moves a site to a new platform, host or domain, and the checklist that protects rankings is a page inventory, a one-to-one redirect map and a Search Console check after launch.
Want this handled, not explained?
Skill Mammoth builds the site you own, gets you found on Google and ChatGPT, and texts every lead back in under 60 seconds. Month to month, every price published.