Answer:
You might not necessarily own the copyright or intellectual property in your website if you hired a developer. It’s standard practice for designers to assign all intellectual property to the client, but you should check the website designer’s terms and conditions before working with them, to see whether they will assign (give), or merely license the intellectual property to you upon full payment. If the terms do not assign the intellectual property, ask that they amend their terms in your case if you would like the intellectual property to be assigned to you. A contract lawyer can help you negotiate terms of an agreement if you are having difficulties.