Many times new website owners come onto the Web overwhelmed with all the minutiae there is to deal with regarding the launching and implementation of a site, never mind a business. The thousand things that beg for attention often crowd out details that, while easy to leave to someone else, might be better done yourself. One of these is definitely the legal details surrounding your website.
While it’s always a good idea to outsource things like web design and site building, particularly if you haven’t a clue how to do those tasks, leaving the registration and other site details in the hands of others could cost you in the long run. Let’s examine some of the reasons why.
The number one concern would be the registration of your domain itself. Your domain name is your web address, and what you need to understand is that whoever registers the domain is considered the owner. This means that design firms and website builders who do this on behalf of clients aren’t doing them any favors.
What if your designer decides to move to Tahiti and meditate for a few years, without alerting their clients? What if they give up the business entirely? What will you do if you need to contact them to make changes on your site, move web hosting companies or other tasks that involve ownership of the domain in question? The answer is, you won’t be able to do it. You won’t even be able to login, even if you know where the hosting account is, and the proper usernames, passwords, etc. The web host will ask for all of this as a prelude for any help they provide you for this site, and if you can’t verify that you are indeed the owner, you are in a pickle!
The bottom line here is to register your own domain names, and secure your own web hosting. Also make sure you’re not hosting at the same place you purchased your domain name. This makes matters less complicated if you decide to change hosts. Then you can give access as you need to, but at least you’re not stuck if people move on.
Another sticky area concerns website or blog design. Oftentimes the designer has significant rights about the physical design and look of the pages they have created. Just make sure you have a clear understanding of who owns what, and for how long.
The last thing we’ll mention here is the access you grant to your sites and how you grant it. Giving someone the keys to the kingdom is always a scary proposition. Make sure that the people you allow to use the logins and passwords are trustworthy, (as far as you can find out) and that they are doing only what you need and have asked them to do. It’s not unheard of for people to sift through sensitive data on your site, and use it for purposes other than what you have intended.
It’s also a good idea to change passwords frequently if you have a number of people in your back office. You should do this periodically anyway, just as a general security precaution, as hackers are about!
Making sure that access to your site is your business only, and not left in the hands of others who may or may not be available when you need them you’ll be glad you did!
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