Why it is important to have 100% control of your
Domain Name, Web Hosting Account and Website
Domain Name
No one actually owns their domain name. When you “purchase” a domain name, you are actually only renting it! If you fail to make your next annual (or monthly) payment on it, you can no longer use it and it becomes available for the next person who wants it and who is willing to pay to USE it.
It’s like a phone number. You don’t own your phone number. You are only paying to use it.
So, you can’t OWN your domain name, but you can have CONTROL of it.
Do you know if you have control of YOUR domain name? Or does someone else have control of it?
You have control of your domain name if you know the following about your domain name account:
If you don’t have this information, you do not have control of your domain name. If you are not sure who does have it, you can go to this link and find out who is the registered “owner” of your domain name:
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/products-and-services/register-domain-names/whois/index.xhtml
- unless the person who registered the domain name paid for a “Privacy Package”.
A “Privacy Package” prevents others from finding out who is the registered “owner” of the domain name. It’s like having an unlisted phone number in the Yellow Pages. It also helps to prevent spam. Unfortunately, it won’t let you see who is the registered “owner” of your domain name.
What you do about this . . . .
You can contact the registered owner and find out.
If you don’t have the account information for your domain name, you may have let your web designer sign up for the domain name. He may have registered it in your name or in his own name. Either way, he should have all the account info for it.
You may have registered your domain name so long ago that you've forgotten all about it. You may have then turned all the info over to your web designer so he could create your website with it. This is not a good idea – don’t ever do this! You should have complete control of your domain name!
No matter how much you love him, your web designer should never, never, never have that kind of control of your domain name. Always make them an “admin” on the account with limited permissions.
You must have complete control of your domain name account.
Make sure you have:
Next make sure that your web designer does not have his email address listed as someone who has to approve any changes to the account profile. If his email address is there, delete it. Put your email address in its place.
Before you click “save”, call your tech support and have them go over everything and make sure that YOU now have complete control of your account.
If you are unable to log in with your password, then you know that the web designer has changed it.
Call him and tell him you are trying to purchase another domain name and that you need the password for your account with the domain name service.
If he won’t give it to you, call Laurel!!!
Web Hosting
There is a HUGE CONFUSION about web hosting. People think that when they pay to register their domain name that this also includes the web hosting service. This is false. This is because the hosting fee is probably included in the monthly fee your web designer charges.
As with your domain name, you must have complete control of your web hosting account.
Make sure you have:
Again, go through the same steps above to ensure that you DO have complete control of your web host account.
Log in, change the user ID, password, security questions and answers, and make sure that your web designer hasn't added his email address as an approval check for any changes. Call tech support and go over everything with them before you click “save” on any changes.
If you have no account information about your web host account, then it is likely that your web designer took care of getting a web host for your website. The account may be under the designer’s name or he may even be hosting your website himself which many web designers do these days.
Your web designer may say that he has “his own servers” when in fact he is renting space on someone else’s servers and you agreed to “let him” host your website. This is dangerous since he could go out of business or the company with the rented server space could go out of business and then your website would be GONE!
Website
A website is like a house. Having a website created is like having someone build a house for you.
You hire the contractor to build the house.
You hire the web designer to build your website.
However, most people leave it at that and they have no attention on it. If they need changes, they simply ask the web designer who makes the changes. Done. Everyone is happy.
There is only one little problem with this blissful picture. You don’t have access to or control of your website.
It is as if the contractor who built your house were the only one with a set of keys to the house. You have no keys. You can’t get into your pretty new house to rearrange the furniture or paint the walls or anything. If you want anything done to your new house, you have to get the contractor to do it – and you have to pay him to do it for you. You can go into your house and look around anytime you want but the contractor has the keys and can lock you out.
Your web designer can shut down your website. You have NO control.
But it’s okay.
Almost every business owner who has hired someone to create their website has given complete control of their website to their web designer.
This is “normal”.
You probably even signed a contract giving control to your web designer along with an agreement that if you ever fail to pay him, he can “lock you out” (shut down your website).
Most business owners are too busy running their business to want to be bothered with the details of creating and/or maintaining their own website.
That is why they hired a specialist to do this for them. “Everyone knows that web design is very complicated. I can’t understand it and I don’t want to!”
Web designers tend to add to the mystique of their trade in order to keep their clients ignorant so they can control their websites.
There is a bad reason for this . . .
. . . and there is a good reason for this.
The bad reason is -
The good reason is -
Why You Need Control
When the web designer has control of a website (and usually the domain name and web hosting), this can result in:
If your web designer has complete control and you tell him that you want to go with someone else, a disgruntled designer could drag out the turnover process for weeks or months or he could even shut down your website. There is nothing in the contract to stop him from doing this.
You would then have to take legal action and meanwhile you have no website.
Even if you and your web designer are the best of friends and you are both treating each other fairly, he could still go out of business, disappear or get run over by a truck.
Then, if he really had complete control, you’d have no website – or one that you could never access. When it came time to pay the domain name registration renewal fee or hosting fee, it would all be over but the groaning. We've seen it happen.
On a less dramatic level, you might request a minor change to your website. You are billed and you can’t pay right away.
If your web designer is unwilling to wait for the payment, he can shut down your website per your contract with him. He shuts down a $2K-$10K website because of a late payment of $50? Give me a break! This is ludicrous!
This is like someone repossessing your car because you are late paying for an oil change.
No one actually owns their domain name. When you “purchase” a domain name, you are actually only renting it! If you fail to make your next annual (or monthly) payment on it, you can no longer use it and it becomes available for the next person who wants it and who is willing to pay to USE it.
It’s like a phone number. You don’t own your phone number. You are only paying to use it.
So, you can’t OWN your domain name, but you can have CONTROL of it.
Do you know if you have control of YOUR domain name? Or does someone else have control of it?
You have control of your domain name if you know the following about your domain name account:
- User ID
- Password
- Account Number
- PIN for phone verification
- Answers the 1-3 security questions
If you don’t have this information, you do not have control of your domain name. If you are not sure who does have it, you can go to this link and find out who is the registered “owner” of your domain name:
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/products-and-services/register-domain-names/whois/index.xhtml
- unless the person who registered the domain name paid for a “Privacy Package”.
A “Privacy Package” prevents others from finding out who is the registered “owner” of the domain name. It’s like having an unlisted phone number in the Yellow Pages. It also helps to prevent spam. Unfortunately, it won’t let you see who is the registered “owner” of your domain name.
What you do about this . . . .
You can contact the registered owner and find out.
If you don’t have the account information for your domain name, you may have let your web designer sign up for the domain name. He may have registered it in your name or in his own name. Either way, he should have all the account info for it.
You may have registered your domain name so long ago that you've forgotten all about it. You may have then turned all the info over to your web designer so he could create your website with it. This is not a good idea – don’t ever do this! You should have complete control of your domain name!
No matter how much you love him, your web designer should never, never, never have that kind of control of your domain name. Always make them an “admin” on the account with limited permissions.
You must have complete control of your domain name account.
Make sure you have:
- User ID
- Password
- Account Number
- PIN for phone verification
- Answers the 1-3 security questions
Next make sure that your web designer does not have his email address listed as someone who has to approve any changes to the account profile. If his email address is there, delete it. Put your email address in its place.
Before you click “save”, call your tech support and have them go over everything and make sure that YOU now have complete control of your account.
If you are unable to log in with your password, then you know that the web designer has changed it.
Call him and tell him you are trying to purchase another domain name and that you need the password for your account with the domain name service.
If he won’t give it to you, call Laurel!!!
Web Hosting
There is a HUGE CONFUSION about web hosting. People think that when they pay to register their domain name that this also includes the web hosting service. This is false. This is because the hosting fee is probably included in the monthly fee your web designer charges.
As with your domain name, you must have complete control of your web hosting account.
Make sure you have:
- User ID
- Password
- Account Number
- PIN for phone verification
- Answers the 1-3 security questions
Again, go through the same steps above to ensure that you DO have complete control of your web host account.
Log in, change the user ID, password, security questions and answers, and make sure that your web designer hasn't added his email address as an approval check for any changes. Call tech support and go over everything with them before you click “save” on any changes.
If you have no account information about your web host account, then it is likely that your web designer took care of getting a web host for your website. The account may be under the designer’s name or he may even be hosting your website himself which many web designers do these days.
Your web designer may say that he has “his own servers” when in fact he is renting space on someone else’s servers and you agreed to “let him” host your website. This is dangerous since he could go out of business or the company with the rented server space could go out of business and then your website would be GONE!
Website
A website is like a house. Having a website created is like having someone build a house for you.
You hire the contractor to build the house.
- You pay a deposit.
- The contractor builds the house.
- You pay the balance.
- It’s your house.
- You own it.
- You’re given the keys.
You hire the web designer to build your website.
- You pay a deposit.
- The web designer builds the website.
- You pay the balance.
- It’s your website.
- You own it.
- (But, you don’t get the keys.)
However, most people leave it at that and they have no attention on it. If they need changes, they simply ask the web designer who makes the changes. Done. Everyone is happy.
There is only one little problem with this blissful picture. You don’t have access to or control of your website.
It is as if the contractor who built your house were the only one with a set of keys to the house. You have no keys. You can’t get into your pretty new house to rearrange the furniture or paint the walls or anything. If you want anything done to your new house, you have to get the contractor to do it – and you have to pay him to do it for you. You can go into your house and look around anytime you want but the contractor has the keys and can lock you out.
Your web designer can shut down your website. You have NO control.
But it’s okay.
Almost every business owner who has hired someone to create their website has given complete control of their website to their web designer.
This is “normal”.
You probably even signed a contract giving control to your web designer along with an agreement that if you ever fail to pay him, he can “lock you out” (shut down your website).
Most business owners are too busy running their business to want to be bothered with the details of creating and/or maintaining their own website.
That is why they hired a specialist to do this for them. “Everyone knows that web design is very complicated. I can’t understand it and I don’t want to!”
Web designers tend to add to the mystique of their trade in order to keep their clients ignorant so they can control their websites.
There is a bad reason for this . . .
. . . and there is a good reason for this.
The bad reason is -
- The web designer is just plain greedy.
- He doesn’t want the client to be able to escape and go elsewhere for service.
- He doesn’t want to lose this future income.
- He makes it “impossible” for the client to leave.
The good reason is -
- The web designer sincerely wants to service his client well but does not want to have to continually clean up messes that the client might make to the website if the client has complete access to it.
- In many cases, the client gets upset when he is billed by the web designer for repair jobs to the website after the client has gone in and ruined something. Then the client refuses to pay and the poor frazzled web designer has to fight for his fee.
- There is a happy medium for that web designer. The web designer can give the client limited access to the website design function so that the client can go in and add blogs, change prices, insert coupons, etc. The web designer maintains control and always keeps the website backed up so he can recover it if the client totally messes it up. In an ideal world, this happy medium would be fine. The web designer has control of the website and the client can access it to makes minor changes and additions at no cost to himself. And they all lived happily ever after! NOT necessarily.
Why You Need Control
When the web designer has control of a website (and usually the domain name and web hosting), this can result in:
- Extortionate “maintenance” fees
- Delayed updates
- Expensive updates
- Static website (one that never changes when Google loves fresh content)
- No blog (blogging is vital for effective SEO)
If your web designer has complete control and you tell him that you want to go with someone else, a disgruntled designer could drag out the turnover process for weeks or months or he could even shut down your website. There is nothing in the contract to stop him from doing this.
You would then have to take legal action and meanwhile you have no website.
Even if you and your web designer are the best of friends and you are both treating each other fairly, he could still go out of business, disappear or get run over by a truck.
Then, if he really had complete control, you’d have no website – or one that you could never access. When it came time to pay the domain name registration renewal fee or hosting fee, it would all be over but the groaning. We've seen it happen.
On a less dramatic level, you might request a minor change to your website. You are billed and you can’t pay right away.
If your web designer is unwilling to wait for the payment, he can shut down your website per your contract with him. He shuts down a $2K-$10K website because of a late payment of $50? Give me a break! This is ludicrous!
This is like someone repossessing your car because you are late paying for an oil change.
