Don't know hosting or domain information

If you’re about to hire a company to build a website, there are two things you need to know before contacting anyone.

I’ve seen it more often than I like…jilted customers who want to switch companies, but have no idea what their logins are to their domain name and hosting platform. It’s difficult not knowing what to ask for when approaching a web design business, so I wanted to let you in on the two most important things I believe you should be in possession of.

Your Domain Name

This will be the URL to your new website (such as www.warmreptile.com is mine). You should have decided what domain name you’ll have, or maybe you’ll get a company to help. Either way, be sure that you are the one who pays for this, in your name.

I’d highly recommend creating the entire account yourself. These are usually very straightforward instructions. Search for a domain name and if it’s available, you’ll be walked through the steps of purchasing it. A reputable firm would help you through this and suggest a domain registrar they trust. Your design company will need access to this account so hopefully, you’ll be able to assign another user to it.

I won’t get into the nitty gritty of who to use or what extension is best (i.e., .com, .co.nz, .nz, etc.). Just know this should be in your name, with your email address and at the very least, the Domain Registrant should have your email address associated with it. There are 3-4 entries that are made: Registrant, Technical Contact, Admin Contact and sometimes Billing Contact. They can all have different names, addresses and email address. It’s ok for your designer to have the Technical Contact email be their own, but the rest should be yours.

Why should you do this?

In the unfortunate event that your design company goes out of business or you want to transfer your account elsewhere, you’ll have ownership of one of the most important parts of your website: the domain name. It’s almost impossible to gain control of this if it’s in someone else’s name. If you have a receipt from your company for the domain name showing the date purchased and the amount (and of course the domain name), you might be able to get the credentials. Registrars don’t take cases like that lightly, but they are very familiar with them.

Your Hosting Account

A hosting account is where your website “lives.” It could be a large company such as GoDaddy or it could be a computer in your web designer’s office. You absolutely need to know how access to this, as it’s the heart of your website. It usually hosts your email associated with your website, as well.

It’s not uncommon for a design firm to not give out this information until you have paid off the project. However, some won’t ever tell you where your site is being hosted until you need it for some reason. Even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll comply with your request.

The best thing to do is to provide the hosting for them or get a written contract stating once the project is finished and paid, you’ll get access to the account if they insist on doing it themselves. It would also be smart to get everything changed over to your name and email address, including the billing.

I’ve often seen companies charge far more for hosting than they’re actually paying for it. Personally, I don’t think this is ethical, but many companies like to get the extra money each month for doing basically nothing. Warm Reptile Designs always passes through the hosting charge to their clients and prefers that the client pay for this themselves before the project begins.

Why should you do this?

You’ve invested money and time into your website and it’s the face of your business on the Internet. You wouldn’t leave the keys inside your car in a parking lot, so why leave your website in the hands of someone you may not know all that well? If your design company were to disappear off the face of the earth, you won’t know how to access your website which leaves you open to security risks, customer orders that don’t get filled or worse, a broken site altogether.

Your hosting and domain name might be held with the same company, by the way. You should also read your contract carefully and be sure they address these two important details in it. Any company that outright refuses to give you access to these two important aspects of your site should be a red flag. You’d be better off looking elsewhere for your design needs. You may find yourself in this situation one day and it will make the transition easier when you want to switch companies.