Digital asset control
The website ownership checklist every business needs
A business should control its domain registration, DNS, hosting relationship, website and source code, CMS, analytics, tag manager, search accounts, email sending, payment accounts, content, media, licences, backups, repositories, billing, and administrative recovery. Providers can manage these assets without owning them.
Registered to the business with recovery access
Exportable source and deployment instructions
Customer-controlled billing and administrators
Inventory the control points
Record registrar, registrant, renewal, DNS provider, hosting, CDN, CMS, repository, deployment, database, storage, forms, analytics, tag manager, search tools, email delivery, payments, maps, fonts, themes, plugins, media, and integrations.
For each asset, document owner, administrators, billing, recovery, MFA, export, renewal, and vendor dependency.
Test recovery and portability
Confirm that the business can recover the registrar, DNS, hosting, CMS, repository, analytics, payment, and email accounts without relying on one contractor's personal address or phone.
Export representative content, code, configuration, data, and analytics. Document what cannot be exported and how it would be rebuilt.
Write ownership into the agreement
Define pre-existing materials, new deliverables, third-party licences, access, repositories, handover, documentation, backups, security, maintenance, transition support, data deletion, and final payment conditions.
Do not confuse a licence to use a platform or asset with ownership of that platform or asset.
Primary sources
This page separates sourced facts from North Star's operational guidance. Check the current source before relying on a changing price, rule, list, or technical standard.
Questions businesses ask
Should the web agency register the domain?
The business should control the registration and recovery while granting the provider appropriate delegated access.
Does paying for a website always transfer copyright?
Not automatically. Ownership and licences depend on the agreement and applicable law, so the contract should identify deliverables and rights clearly.
What should be tested before changing providers?
Test account recovery, exports, backups, deployment, DNS access, payment access, analytics access, and the transition documentation.
Turn the research into an operating plan
North Star can help assess the environment, define scope, document ownership, implement controls, and verify the result.
Build a customer-owned website