Direct answerThe business should normally own or control the domain registration and primary service accounts. The contract should explain what website files and licensed assets transfer after payment, what remains subject to third-party terms and how the site can move later.
Domain registration
The registrant account controls the web address. Use a business-controlled email, keep billing current, enable multi-factor authentication and record recovery details. A developer can receive limited technical access without becoming the only person who controls the domain.
Hosting
Hosting is the service that runs the site. Ask whose account it uses, what renews, what backups exist, how access is transferred and what moving away would require. Separate hosting is not automatically bad; hidden lock-in is.
Business email
Email may use the same domain but is a separate critical system. Treat it as an owner-controlled account with independent recovery and billing. Do not move DNS or cancel a service without understanding how mail records are configured.
Website files and licensed assets
A handoff should name what transfers after payment: source files, compiled site, approved images, written content and configuration. Fonts, stock images, plugins and external tools may have licences that cannot transfer or may require an ongoing subscription.
Account checklist
Keep one owner-held record that can survive a vendor change.
- Domain registrar and renewal date
- Hosting provider and billing owner
- DNS access and current records
- Business email administrator
- Analytics and Search Console owners
- Form, booking and payment providers
- Backups, source repository and recovery process
- Licence and consent records for media
Questions to put in the agreement
Ask who owns each account, when access transfers, what support ends, which licences remain limited, what recurring costs continue and what is required to move the site. The answer should be specific enough to follow during a handoff.