BEING IN CONTROL OF YOUR SITE'S MATERIAL
BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS
A very common situation comes up 9 times out of 10 when i'm working with a company that already has a website and is looking to revamp the design. They just don't know what they have on their site.
Most clients don't even know the difference between a website, web master, designer, hosting, or domain names. This is crucial that you make yourself familiar with this terminology. I make sure that I inform my clients about their information. If you don't, here's what happens...
Joe Schmoe designs and hosts your website.... a couple years down the road you find your site to be stale and in need of a few touch ups. So, you hear from a friend that there is a wonderful web designer that you should get in contact with to revamp your site. The new designer asks you a few questions...
1) Do you have a domain name?
2) Who hosts your website?
3) What is the FTP information?
4) Is your domain name and host server with the same company or did you get each from a different company?
5) I notice that you have flash on your site...do you have the original FLA (editable) file so that I can make adjustments for you? Or did your last designer only upload the SWF file?
If you can only answer one or two of these... you're not in control of your site. You should know the answers to these questions. Why? Why, if the designer has all that info? BECAUSE.... there have been incidents, first of all, where domain names have been taken or hijacked by other people... you could lose your domain name without even knowing it. YOU NEED TO BE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME... you need to know when it's due for renewal (how many years you bought it for). What is a domain name? It's your web address, basically. For example, www.ERTwebsitesolutions.com
You also need to know who hosts your site. Keep your records handy just in case you ever decide to switch designers. When you get a hosting company they will send you your login information...in addition to your FTP login information. FTP information is the host name, username and password that allows the designer to access the hosting server to upload the files for your website. It's very important information. Also, make sure that you are listed as the administrator on your hosting account. You need to be able to make decisions in case anything happens. What if you want to switch hosting providers and your designer is no longer in the business or you just can't get ahold of them? That's when being in control comes in handy.
It's better to keep both your domain name and hosting company as one...This is advice if you're starting up a new website. If you currently are in this situation of not having these with the same company... you may not want to switch unless the domain company is not trustworthy or charging you way too much money. Domain transfers are sometimes a pain in the ass because some of the larger companies don't want to give you up as a client and they'll hold onto it for quite some time before allowing it to transfer over... they want you to feel like it's a hassle so that you'll change your mind.
Lastly, if you know that you have flash on your site, make sure you get the FLA AND SWF files from your designer in case you ever leave them. Don't be afraid to ask for them as you've paid for all of this stuff...so it's rightfully yours!!!
Don't ever let a designer tell you that they will keep copyrights to their designs... if you pay for it, it's yours... if it appeases them, offer to allow them to add their byline to the bottom of your site that says they designed it.
