I usually don’t like to be negative but this is really starting to piss me off. In the last few months I had 5 clients who became victims of the nasty game played by many web developers to keep clients in their claws.
So, let me ask you this:
- Do you have full access to the backend of your website?
- Do you have logins to your domain name registrar account and hosting account?
- Can you make changes to your website yourself, if you choose to do it?
No? Well you’re in for a ride…
Let’s assume that one day you want to redesign your website and you want to use a different web developer, or simply move website to another hosting provider that has better service. Two things will happen:
- Your web developer is a normal professional that will happily give you all necessary logins and wish you well. (If you’re dealing with such person you would highly likely not be looking for a new developer); or
- Your web developer will be a very unhappy person and punish you for leaving, so he/she will play all sorts of tricks, such as not giving you the right logins, not answering your calls, suspending your account, dragging situation to extract another cycle of payments from you, corrupt files of your website etc. The list of childish behavior is endless…and I’ve seen it all in the last few months.
You see, times have changed and we no longer need to be locked-in with unreasonable hosting contracts, skyrocketing website development costs, other hidden fees. You don’t need to put up with poor communication and service delays from your web developer every time you want to change something on your website. (By the way, have you ever waited for weeks just to change prices on your website?!?)
Today, a small business owner, can actually be also an owner of their website, and have full control of this business asset. What I mean by this is, that when you own your domain name and hosting account, when you have full access to the backend of your website, you have control to work with who every you want. So if someone is not performing to your standards, you have control to fire them, and move to someone else.
I’m not saying all web developers are like that but do you really want to wait and see? So here is what you need to do now to prevent disaster later:
- If you already have a website, ask your web developer to give you all logins to your website. If they ask why, tell them it’s your business asset and your right to have them. If they resist, well…you know where you stand…run fast. (You are probably being overcharged as well)
- If you don’t have a website yet, tell you web developer that you will buy domain name and hosting yourself, or ask them to assist you but insist that you want your own direct account with the provider with full access to your website files.
Sorry for my rant, but I really don’t want to see you in a trapped situation where instead of enjoying your business and doing what you love, you are spend energy and time chasing what rightly belong to you.
Now, I’d like to hear from you:
Have you every been in this situation and how did you go about reclaiming your website?
Please share in comments below. Your experience can be just what someone else needs to hear…