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So you thought you owned your website?
As part of being an SEO consultant, I’m
frequently asked to conduct SEO Audits on potential client’s websites.
Amongst sundry other tasks, I always check to see who the legal owner of
the site is. With surprising regularity, it turns out NOT to be the guy
who commissioned the report, and who mistakenly thinks HE (or she) is
the rightful owner! There is more than one aspect to this…
Domain Registrant
Each country has rules governing ownership and transfer of domain names.
These rules are clear, unequivocal and rigorously enforced. In all
instances, the “registrant” is defined as the legal owner.
Frequently, domains are registered by the website designer on the
client’s behalf. Sometimes they may have been initially registered by
the office junior, the wife, girlfriend, business partner, the
accountant… Time passes. Things change. Maybe now, the registrant is the
ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, ex-business partner…
If your name is not listed as the registrant, you do not own the
website! Best you get this sorted BEFORE the excrement hits the fan, and
some one is holding knife to the throat of your valuable corporate
website, demanding a 6-figure ransom!
Website Software
If you are using a licensed copy of a proprietary website software
application, you certainly don’t own the software. However, if it is on
your own domain, under your control, then you’ve got some security of
tenure at least, should any differences of opinion arise with your
website designers.
If you are using non-proprietary, Open Source software, on your own
domain, hosted on an independent server, you’re in far better shape in
the sense of having control over your assets.
If you’re using proprietary software owned by your website design
company, hosted on their servers… you have a massive risk exposure in
the event of a difference of opinion over when (or if) you should pay
your accounts. If they are also listed as the registrant of the domain,
you have placed yourself in an unenviable, vulnerable and potentially
devastating position. Silly you… Oh dear, how sad, never mind!
Hosting
Hosting is a vexed question, and its damned hard to establish if the
hosting company is a real hosting company, or an affiliate reseller of
another company’s hosting services. Sometimes, there
are multiple tiers… That said, do you know who to call if something bad
happens to your website? The worst aspect of website designer’s hosting
service is, its usually in a reseller sub-account, and you cannot have
access to the nitty-gritty parts of the site. Things like FTP access,
root-level file editing, messing with email accounts, installing other
software, or direct access to stats data are usually off-limits. At
best, that’s a pain in the bottom… at worst, it prevents you from having
a full site backup in the event services are terminated for any reason!
And unrelated bad stuff happens! Last month, my hosting company’s
US-based Data Centre operators got locked out of their premises,
presumably over a rent or maintenance dispute with the building’s owner.
Is your website designer smart enough, and well enough connected in the
data centre world, to seamlessly relocate ALL client sites to safe
environment within a couple of hours?
Website Designers
Al l website designers are not created equal. Most are honest,
reliable and decent business people. However, some website designers are
control freaks who like to keep cash-cow clients screwed down and
locked into systems they cannot easily escape from, and ruthlessly milk
them of every possible dollar. All the while, they deliver a minimum of
service, and maximum of awkwardness, and make it as difficult as
possible for a client to escape their clutches.
Impartial Advice
A decade of dealing with the aftermath of the cowboys, control
freaks, the bloody-minded and the plain ignorant has taught me (and some
of my clients) some valuable lessons.
1 – Ensure you are the domain registrant, and have access to
your domain registration account. – Ensure your hosting account is independent of your
website designer, and you have the account access details
3 – Ensure you keep a written copy of your domain
and hosting account details with your lawyer or bank
4 – Ensure you have a full site software back up, including
all configurations, modules and plugins
5 – Ensure you have a full database backup every month.
6 – Don’t rely totally on the hosting company’s server backup
processes…
7 – An oldie but a still-relevant goody – don’t put all your
eggs in one basket!
This is rudimentary business risk management. Taking responsibility for
your businesses activities is in integral part of management. When
things go wrong, as they sometimes do, make sure you have a contingency
plan.
About The Author The SEO Guy, aka Ben Kemp, is a veteran search
engine optimization consultant with more than a decade of SEO
experience and website design accumulated in 23 years of work in the IT
industry. His articles provide advice on SEO, website design &
makeover issues.
http://www.website-designers.net.nz
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