You send an email asking for a small change to your website. A week passes. You chase it. Nothing. You try ringing and it goes to voicemail.
It is one of the most common frustrations small business owners describe, and it usually is not sinister. Freelancers take full-time jobs, small agencies close quietly, and life gets in the way. But that is little comfort when your opening hours are wrong online and nobody will fix them.
Here is what to do, calmly and in order. (First, it is worth knowing who actually owns your website.)
1. Find out what you can already access
Before anything else, make a list of what you have logins for. Check old emails for words like “domain”, “hosting”, “login” and “invoice”. You may find you have more access than you thought.
The key things to look for:
- Your domain registrar account
- Your hosting account
- Any website editor or content management login
- Your business email settings
2. Check who owns the domain
This is the most important step. Run a WHOIS search for your domain. For .co.uk and .uk addresses, Nominet offers this. If the domain is registered to you, you are in a strong position. If it is registered to your designer, the next step is to request a transfer in writing.
3. Make a final, polite request in writing
Send one clear email. Explain that you are moving the website to someone else, and ask for the logins or for the domain and hosting to be transferred to you by a specific date. Keep it friendly. People who have gone quiet often reply when the request is simple and there is no confrontation.
Keep a record of every attempt to get in touch, with dates.
4. Watch out for lapsed renewals
One hidden risk is that your designer may have been paying for your hosting or domain from their own account. If they have stopped paying, your website could go offline without warning. Check the renewal date on your domain as soon as you can, and if it is close, prioritise getting it into your own name.
5. Get a new pair of hands
Once you have access, any competent web designer can take over. If you cannot get access at all and the site is small or out of date, it is sometimes quicker and cheaper to start fresh on a new domain than to fight for the old one. That is a last resort, but it is worth knowing it exists.
How to avoid it next time
The answer is not to avoid freelancers or small studios. Smaller businesses often give far better personal service than large companies. The answer is to set things up properly from the start:
- Keep the domain in your own name
- Have your own login to everything
- Ask how support works after launch, and what response time you can expect
- Ask what happens if the designer is ill, on holiday or stops trading
- Keep a simple record of where everything lives
A good designer will be pleased you asked. It shows you take your website seriously, and it makes their job easier too.
If your current designer has gone quiet and you would like help working out where things stand, email me at Jamie@jbhmedia.co.uk. I am happy to take a look and tell you honestly what needs doing.
