What parts of a website can you own?
A website is several things, and each can have a different owner:
- The domain name, held by whoever is its registrant
- The content: your text, photos, logo and posts
- The design and code the pages are built from
- The hosting that serves the pages
Monthly plans differ mostly on the third item. Some hand over the code, many keep it, and almost all keep the hosting.
Who owns what on a reddysite plan?
The reddysite terms of service split it plainly. Your content stays yours, and photos you supply must be yours to use in the first place. Your domain stays in your name at your registrar, and reddysite never takes ownership of it. The design system, templates and platform belong to reddysite, and you use them while you subscribe.
Why does the domain matter most?
The domain is the address your customers, search engines and email all depend on. A provider that registers your domain in its own name controls that address, and leaving can mean losing it. Check the registrant name in your registrar account, or with a WHOIS lookup, before you sign anything.
What should the contract say?
A monthly website contract should answer three ownership questions in writing:
- Whose name the domain is registered in
- Whether your content is handed back when you leave
- What stays with the provider if you cancel
If a contract is silent on any of them, ask before you pay.
What happens to my content if I leave?
Content you own should leave with you. reddysite keeps a copy of your site after you cancel and helps point your domain wherever you go next, as what happens to a website when you cancel explains. While you subscribe, what a reddysite does after launch is part of the monthly, and the reddysite pricing page has the figures.