Many lawyers are surprised to learn that the website they have paid for over several years is not theirs. The domain is registered to the vendor, the content lives on the vendor's platform, and cancelling the contract means starting from zero.
Three things to check today
- The domain registrant. Look up your domain in a WHOIS service. If the registrant is your vendor, the firm does not control its own address on the internet.
- The platform. Can the site be exported as files and moved to another host? Proprietary builders usually cannot.
- The contract. Look for ownership, termination and transfer clauses.
Why it matters
- Search history. Years of links and rankings are attached to your domain. Lose the domain and you lose them.
- Leverage. A vendor that holds your site can raise prices knowing you cannot easily leave.
- Continuity. Email addresses, printed materials and bar listings all point to the domain.
What ownership looks like
Your firm is the registrant of the domain. You can export your content and data at any time. If you cancel, the site stays online read-only during a grace period rather than vanishing, and you keep everything. That is how LegalWebDesigns works, and it is a fair standard to hold any vendor to.