{"id":4954,"date":"2026-10-28T00:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/?p=4954"},"modified":"2026-10-28T00:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:38:22","slug":"who-owns-your-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A typical story: a company stops working with its developer and finds out that the domain is registered to the developer, the hosting invoice goes to their account and nobody knows the admin password. Getting the site back can take weeks. Check these things today, while everything is still fine.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Domain<\/h2>\n<p>The domain should be registered to your company, not to a developer or employee. For .ee domains you can check the details in the Estonian Internet Foundation&#8217;s lookup. Watch renewals too: an expired domain can end up with someone else.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Hosting<\/h2>\n<p>Ideally the hosting contract is in your company&#8217;s name and the invoice comes to you. The developer gets separate access for their work. If hosting is on the developer&#8217;s account, agree in writing how it will be handed over if needed.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Access<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A website admin account in your name, with your email.<\/li>\n<li>Access to the hosting and domain control panels.<\/li>\n<li>Google Analytics, Search Console and your Google Business Profile, with you as owner and the developer as a user.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep passwords in a password manager, not in emails or an Excel sheet.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Backups<\/h2>\n<p>Ask where backups are stored, how often they&#8217;re made and whether anyone has ever tried restoring from them. An untested backup is just a hope.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Ownership in the contract<\/h2>\n<p>The contract should state that rights to the design, content and custom code pass to you once paid. Licences for paid plugins and themes should be in your name, or at least transferable.<\/p>\n<h2>A quick test<\/h2>\n<p>If you can log in to the domain, hosting and website admin yourself, without the developer, you&#8217;re fine. If not, ask for access now. It&#8217;s a normal, fair request.<\/p>\n<p>Our clients&#8217; domains, hosting and access are always in the client&#8217;s name. If you&#8217;d like to check your site&#8217;s situation, <a href=\"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/services\/\">see our maintenance services<\/a> or get in touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many business owners only discover during a dispute with their developer that the domain, hosting or admin password is not in their name. Check these five things today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[185,173],"class_list":["post-4954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-blog-guide-en","tag-blog-security-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company&#039;s name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company&#039;s name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IT Solutions Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itsolutions.ee\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pavel Zahharov\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pavel Zahharov\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pavel Zahharov\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bfc0a2c78e4c5c77ea61142161f15b72\"},\"headline\":\"Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Access\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png\",\"keywords\":[\"For business owners\",\"Security\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/\",\"name\":\"Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company's name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"Web and software development\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/who-owns-your-website\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Access\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"IT Solutions Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IT Solutions Group\",\"alternateName\":\"IT Solutions\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/itsolutions-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/itsolutions-logo.png\",\"width\":201,\"height\":45,\"caption\":\"IT Solutions Group\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/itsolutions.ee\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/itsolutionsee\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/53392980\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsolutions.ee\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bfc0a2c78e4c5c77ea61142161f15b72\",\"name\":\"Pavel Zahharov\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pavel Zahharov\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions","description":"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company's name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions","og_description":"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company's name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/","og_site_name":"IT Solutions Group","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itsolutions.ee","article_published_time":"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Pavel Zahharov","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pavel Zahharov","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/"},"author":{"name":"Pavel Zahharov","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc0a2c78e4c5c77ea61142161f15b72"},"headline":"Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Access","datePublished":"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/"},"wordCount":324,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png","keywords":["For business owners","Security"],"articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/","url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/","name":"Who Owns Your Website: Domain, Hosting and Access | IT Solutions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png","datePublished":"2026-10-28T00:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-28T00:38:22+00:00","description":"Are your domain, hosting and website admin access in your company's name? Five things every business owner should check to avoid losing their website.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u041a\u0440\u0435\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432-\u0431\u0435\u0437-\u043d\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f.png","width":1280,"height":853,"caption":"Web and software development"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/blog\/who-owns-your-website\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who Owns Your Website? Domain, Hosting and Access"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/","name":"IT Solutions Group","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#organization","name":"IT Solutions Group","alternateName":"IT Solutions","url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/itsolutions-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/itsolutions-logo.png","width":201,"height":45,"caption":"IT Solutions Group"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itsolutions.ee","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itsolutionsee\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/53392980\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc0a2c78e4c5c77ea61142161f15b72","name":"Pavel Zahharov","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f0d634ec16c23fb8078076f8aeb132aee194220503703353e3d3fb16631687d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pavel Zahharov"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4984,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4954\/revisions\/4984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsolutions.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}