How To Find Out Who Designed A Website (Top 10 Options)

Whether you’re revamping an existing site or setting up a new online presence, finding out who created a website is crucial for delivering results.

There are many excellent tools you can use to do this, from the Wayback Machine to the WHOIS Lookup services and source code.

In this guide, we’ve covered ten easy steps you can take to gain access to a website’s creator information in just a few minutes.

Why Find Out Who Created A Website?

Creating a visually striking and intuitively functional website is fundamental to achieving success by finding the best possible clients for your company.

A credible website with an eye-catching design improves conversion rates by giving visitors the impression of credibility and authority.

Learning who created a website can also help with your website design timeline, breaking down the core assets needed to get up and running.

The information can also be used to reach out to freelancers or dedicated website design companies to help realize your personal projects.

Domain Owner Vs. Website Owner

Before we dive into the details of how to discover a website’s creator, it’s important to distinguish between domain owners and website owners.

The domain owner is the party that controls the website’s URL and is the legal owner as per the listing on the domain’s registrar.

They are also responsible for updating any domain changes, such as changes to the servers and domain transfers to another registrar.

Website owners, on the other hand, are responsible for the content of a given site and typically use an accredited domain registrar when setting up.

Most website builders roll domain registration into their overall package of services when clients use them to set up a company website.

How To Find Out Who Created A Website

Finding the creator of a website is a great way to learn more about the web development process and improve your own site’s design.

To help with the task, we’ve covered all the main methods used to find out who made a website, along with the free tools to help achieve your aims.

So, with our process outlined, here’s everything you need to know to find out who made a website in 2024:

Option 1: Search The Website

The easiest and most common method used to discover the website’s creator is to search the site and look for the design credits.

Many sites include information on the website builder used for development, typically located at the bottom of the home page.

To check for this information, head to the bottom of the page and check out the section which covers general site and company information.

If it isn’t listed here, try viewing the company’s About page, as some sites prefer to include this information on a dedicated page.

Option 2: Check The Domain Registration History

One of the first things a new small business owner needs to do when setting up their online presence is checking the website’s domain name is available.

It’s a great way to check out the business name ideas that have already been taken, as well as discover an existing website’s domain registration information.

This information can be easily extracted from the source code of a website, listed as part of its metadata, and referenced by the registrar.

Once you’ve searched for the website address on a domain provider, additional domain registration information can also be researched.

While the depth of such information can vary, sometimes it will include details about the web designer involved in the site’s creation.

Option 3: Use WHOIS Lookup Services

There are several popular online tools that can help with the process of discovering a website’s creator in a few simple steps.

One example is WHOIS Lookup, which doesn’t require any membership or fees to get started with the basic search function.

To use the services offered by WHOIS Lookup, simply enter the website’s domain name or IP address into the primary search box on the home page.

Once you’ve hit Search, the tool will present you with lots of information, including the date of registration, the registrar, and lots of additional data.

Technical and administrative contact information is also covered, opening up options for reaching out to the website’s developer and designer.

Option 4: Check The Source Code

If you have a knack for diving into HTML code and getting to the core of a website’s creation, you can cut straight to the site’s code.

Viewing the source code can reveal a great deal of information about the website owners and who worked on the design process.

Website designers often like to leave their mark on the source code, sharing their business name along with the builder used for the project.

To bring up the source code, simply right-click on the website’s screen and choose the View Source option to bring up this information.

It’s a great way to see how everyone, from high-end architecture websites to commercial retailers, uses designers to promote their companies.

Option 5: Find Credits On The Website

While many websites feature the designer credits at the bottom of the page among the company information, some use other methods.

Occasionally, a website will include this information on a dedicated Site Credits web page, where they list the web design agency used for their content.

While this is less common on smaller sites for individuals, larger corporate sites are more likely to feature this information in their credits.

It can also be included on the website’s Press page, with the information occasionally supplemented with in-depth breakdowns of the design process.

Option 6: Reference Social Media Platforms

Whether it’s a new company starting a makeup line or an established, well-known brand, a presence on social media platforms is a must.

This is sometimes where companies will include relevant information about their site’s designer, particularly if they work in-house.

Check out the business page on LinkedIn, and look for links to employees within the company listed as their graphic designers.

If you don’t find graphic designers listed here, you can still use their social media pages to contact the company directly about their choice of web designer.

Option 7: Use The Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive has long been used as a giant repository of information about all types of websites and is packed with handy data.

Its Wayback Machine can help with discovering the designer of a website, and functions similarly to the WHOIS Lookup services.

Maintaining a historical record of any site submitted to the platform, it can easily be searched using a domain name to find out more information.

While not all sites will include details on the web developer and designer used to create it, many websites are covered on the platform.

Option 8: Check humans.txt

Another effective and popular method to get to know the creators behind a website is Human.txt, which reveals information not available through source code.

Often, such information is hidden in a text file outside the site’s code, allowing the authors to include this file in the <head> tag of their index.html.

If you can’t see this in the source code <head> tag, you can access it by adding “/humans.txt” to the end of the website’s main URL.

While it won’t work for all websites, it’s well worth checking if you’re struggling to find the creator after tying the above options.

Option 9: Look For Online Articles

If you’re having problems using a creator finder website to discover who designed a website, you can consider looking for online articles.

Many websites have been featured by designers in their portfolios and tutorials showcasing their work and offering insights into the creative process.

You can find such content by using search engines to discover interviews or news stories in a particular industry relating to the website’s design.

This could range from a simple breakdown exploring how to design a logo to an in-depth overview of the complete website design process.

Option 10: Contact The Website Owners

If all else fails and none of the above options deliver the information you require, contacting the website’s owner is a great last resort.

While some may be reluctant to share such information with you, many websites are happy to help others and put them in touch with the design team.

Most companies, whether they’re running a consulting website or an online store, include contact information you can use to reach out.

Some use privacy protection services to hide ownership information, so you may need to use the contact form featured on their website.

Summary

Finding out who created a website is easy, and the options above can help you get the necessary information to improve your online presence.

Once you have the details, you can contact designers and ask them for help with your content and other design requirements.

It’s a great way to spruce up your online presence or hit the ground running with a visually striking website showcasing your new business venture.