Thank them, then collect what the business needs in one planned conversation: the domain in the business's name, hosting and admin logins, account ownership and the files. Then put the site with someone whose job it is.

A favour from a few years ago

The site went up years ago, built by someone who knew about websites: a former colleague, a customer's son, a relative studying computing, a friend of the family.

It cost nothing, or a dinner, or a few hundred dollars. It worked, and for a while any change was one text message away.

Then the friend moved on: a new job, a new city, a new baby, or simply less interest. Messages take a week to answer now, then longer.

And the business discovers that nearly everything about its website is in someone else's name.

What is usually in their name

The first can end the website overnight. If renewal notices go to an address the friend no longer checks and the card on file has expired, the domain lapses, taking the site and the email with it.

Nobody planned it this way

None of this was done to keep control. Using their own accounts was simply quicker than setting up new ones in the business's name.

That matters for how the conversation goes. Treated as a handover, it is easy. Treated as a grievance, it gets awkward fast, and the friend still holds the keys.

Most people who built a site as a favour are relieved to be asked.

Start with thanks

Say thank you plainly and mean it. The site served the business for years, and someone gave up evenings to build it.

Then give the reason in terms of the business, not the work: it is growing, it needs someone who can answer the same day, and it wants its accounts in its own name.

Offer to pay for their time. An hour or two of paid work turns a favour into a small job with a clear end, which is easier for both sides.

One meeting with a list

Ask for one meeting, in person or by phone, and send a written list beforehand. Twenty separate messages over a month wear out goodwill.

The list is the one above, plus email accounts and social media. A Facebook page set up from a friend's personal profile needs someone at the business added as an admin before they step away.

For each item the aim is ownership, not just a password. A shared login still belongs to whoever opened the account.

A worked example

A squash club with six courts and a few hundred members had its website built by a member who did web work for a living, as a favour to the club.

The site covered court bookings, the league ladder, junior programs and the lounge's hours, and for six years he updated it whenever asked.

Then he took a job in another province and stopped playing. Messages took weeks to answer.

When the club needed to add a new junior coach, nobody had a login. The domain, the hosting and the club's email all sat in his personal account, renewing on his credit card.

The club manager sent a thank-you note with the list and offered to pay for an afternoon of his time.

On a call, he moved the domain into a registrar account in the club's name, made the manager an administrator and sent the logo files.

The club then moved the hosting into its own name, with a developer looking after updates. He was thanked in the club newsletter, and the friendship survived the paperwork.

Their name, their card, their risk

A site in a friend's name is a burden on them as well. They are the registrant on record, their card pays the renewals, and every warning from the host lands in their inbox.

If the site is hacked or a payment fails, the message reaches them, sometimes years after they last thought about it.

Put that way, the handover takes something off their hands as well as yours, which makes it an easy request to agree to.

Move the domain first, since the address and usually the email depend on it, then the hosting and the site. Change every password once the move is done.

When the friend has gone quiet

Sometimes there is no answer at all, or the falling-out has already happened.

If you can still log in, take a full copy of the site now, files and database. If not, a developer can often rebuild the visible site, though nothing behind the scenes comes with it.

For the domain, registrars have processes for disputed ownership, but they are slow and start from whoever is listed as the registrant. Anything in writing showing the site was built for the business helps.

A footing the business controls

Once the accounts are in the business's name, decide who looks after the site from here. The arrangement that failed was a person rather than an agreement.

A developer or agency on a maintenance plan, with logins documented and held by the business, means the site no longer depends on one person's spare time.

And plan the yearly cost honestly. A site that was free to build was never free to run; someone was paying in time.

The counter-case

Some friends are still the right people for the job: working web professionals who want to continue and reply within a day.

Then the change is not away from them but onto a proper footing: accounts in the business's name, a written list of what they look after, and payment for their time.

And a site about to be replaced still needs its domain, email and files secured first, even if the rest is thrown away.

Either way, thank the friend, get the accounts into the business's name, and make looking after the site somebody's actual job.

Before the next renewal

  1. Look up who owns your domain today.
  2. List each account the website relies on.
  3. Thank your friend and ask for one meeting.
  4. Offer to pay for their time.
  5. Move the domain first, then email and hosting.
  6. Change every password after the move.
  7. Give the site a paid caretaker.

Step four keeps the friendship intact. Paying for a couple of hours turns an awkward request into an ordinary job, with a start, a finish and a thank-you at the end.

Planning what the site should cost from here is covered in a website budget picked as a round number.

Frequently asked questions

What does a friend usually still control?

Often the domain, the hosting account, the admin login, analytics and Search Console, licences for paid add-ons, and the original logo and photograph files.

Why is the domain the most urgent?

If renewal notices go to an address the friend no longer checks and their card has expired, the domain lapses, taking the website and the email with it.

How do I ask without causing offence?

Thank them plainly, explain it in terms of the business growing rather than the work, send one written list, and offer to pay for their time.

What order should things move in?

The domain first, since it cannot be rebuilt, then email, then the hosting and the site, then the accounts that report on it. Change every password afterwards.

What if the friend no longer replies?

Copy the site now if you can log in. Registrars have dispute processes, but they are slow and start from the listed registrant, so written evidence helps.

Can the friend keep looking after it?

Yes, if they are a working professional who wants to continue. Put the accounts in the business name, write down what they handle, and pay them properly.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Website still in a friend's name?

Give us the domain name. We will find out who holds each account and draft the list for your friend.

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