Lots of good suggestions below. These are some tips I have learned after many years in business for myself. 1) Get your login/ownership info and put it in a safe place. Do not let anyone else have control over your website domain and hosting. 2) Never use the same passwords as any financial or email accounts - especially in wordpress. 3) The next person you hire to help you - make sure they communicate openly and are willing to work as part of your TEAM. No good designer, web or otherwise, does great work in a bubble. 4) Listen to your own internal red flags when finding people to work with on your team, and if you have a gut feeling something is not right, it probably isn't.
I skimmed the other comments and answers but haven't seen what I am looking to help you yet. Sorry if I missed it. I have 2 questions, do you own the domain name with Godaddy or anything? Second question, do you know the website service? Is it a WordPress site or other platform? If it is a wordpress site, it is possible that you can access and clone the site if you have your own login.
What do you want to do that you say they keep the website hostage? Did you want to host it someplace else? Or have something done to the website by someone else? I see that the domain name is not in your name but "Search Owl" The people that registered your domain name and probably did your website.
I've dealt with these situations before and they are not fun. Even dealt with contracts and intellectual property. In the end no one wins. Most times they don't want to lose you as a customer but with their actions they lost you already as a client. What i did notice is when i get involved their tech talk etc slows down, because they cant bs me. Most times they will realize they lose eitherway and give it up.
I think you need to look at the current situation of your website. With this i mean do you have a lot of visitors to your website, your ranking in the search engines etc. If this is minimal, then you could decide to setup another website with a similar domain name.
Other way is to let someone else be the middle person between you and the other company. This in most cases will work, but never have any guarantees. If it works then the domain name would be transferred to an account that you own and have all access to and the website could be transferred to.
Either way something simple gets complicated fast. If you need any help with it or have any questions let me know.
This is actually a very big deal. Usually there are ways to head this off at the beginnng of a relationship by setting up fail safe systems in case of such an emergency. By no means should all of your eggs be in one basket. It's kind of a shifty thing for your web guy to try to build in a sense of being irreplaceable by holding on n to the golden key.
Register and keep your web hosting and domain name by your self! You are the owner, it's your business and only you hold access info for your accounts. If the current developer can't support you, find another one. Find your registrar and contact directly https://10dollar.ca/en/whois.php, provide with business name and your name. They can grant you with an access.
I agree that no company should be holding up your website.
A. First Question do your own the domain name? If so, get all the information that is currently on your website and save it to your desktop, basically copy and paste all text in a txt file on your computer. Images save as well. Then hire another company to change your DNS to their servers, they can then recreate your website. You can go here to learn more about YOUR domain on where it is registered and hosted at. https://who.is/
B. If you don't own the domain name, it's much harder to get your site up back. I would contact your current website designer and tell that your want to Transfer the domain to your account. If they care about their customers they should start getting the work done or be willing to give it up. Unless it a complete re due of the website we normally get updates done with 24-48 hrs. That's what I would tell to. I hope that helps. Let us know how it goes.
Assuming you have paid your account in full, you simply choose the wrong guy to build and maintain your website. At the start did you ask for quotes from more than one web designer? Did you get and check references? Did you just go for the web guy with the cheapest price?
I ask these questions because there is always an assumption that its the web guys fault if the client is unhappy. I have seen clients who try to beat web guys down on price and then when they do, they expect the best of service. Yo only get what you pay for and if you pay on the cheap, you get cheap service.
I mention this because I have lost a few quotes because I wouldn't allow myself to be beaten down on my pricing and in a couple of cases I have had those same clients who chose cheaper come back to me to help fix or rebuild their website.
You don't need to be under the thumb of anyone - this is very unprofessional and it sets another bad example of "web guys" manipulating business owners.
You are in the driver's seat and you should have the "keys," and you can.
This includes your website, your social media account, your logo, graphics, etc.
Because you own your domain name, this frees you.
Using the car metaphor again - you are taking your car back, getting new tires and leaving the manipulator at the side of the road.
An example, many times, I've freed local business owners from the claws of YP.com, where the owners are paying way too much for the quality of online presence they have.
So...what to do?
If you could be in charge of your own command center, never have any web developer hold you hostage again and you have direct input into how you want your online business to look (and seamlessly transfer your domain to that command center), would that interest you?
The nice thing about Builderall is that it is a platform, where YOU, the business owner, are in charge of the look and feel of your website or web funnel. There are 16 other tools (social media, graphics, videos, etc) for a low monthly fee. You will no longer pay high costs month-after-month and have no control. You are finally in the driver's seat.
As a certified partner of Builderall, I can be hired to create online aspects of your business for you - but, I don't have to either.
Look into small claims court. If you are fully paid up, then there is no reason for any work to be held hostage. If they are being impossible, then find someone else to do your site, and make sure you have ownership of your URL, as well as knowledge of the FTP, username, and password needed to get into the site. I always make sure my clients have this info. Meanwhile, copy all of your text, images, and code as a back up. You paid for it. You can access this info freely and directly from any browser... See Tools, Page Source, Web Developer (as an example with Firefox).
Answers (1-10)
Lots of good suggestions below. These are some tips I have learned after many years in business for myself. 1) Get your login/ownership info and put it in a safe place. Do not let anyone else have control over your website domain and hosting. 2) Never use the same passwords as any financial or email accounts - especially in wordpress. 3) The next person you hire to help you - make sure they communicate openly and are willing to work as part of your TEAM. No good designer, web or otherwise, does great work in a bubble. 4) Listen to your own internal red flags when finding people to work with on your team, and if you have a gut feeling something is not right, it probably isn't.
I skimmed the other comments and answers but haven't seen what I am looking to help you yet. Sorry if I missed it. I have 2 questions, do you own the domain name with Godaddy or anything? Second question, do you know the website service? Is it a WordPress site or other platform? If it is a wordpress site, it is possible that you can access and clone the site if you have your own login.
Hi Andrea,
What do you want to do that you say they keep the website hostage? Did you want to host it someplace else? Or have something done to the website by someone else? I see that the domain name is not in your name but "Search Owl" The people that registered your domain name and probably did your website.
I've dealt with these situations before and they are not fun. Even dealt with contracts and intellectual property. In the end no one wins. Most times they don't want to lose you as a customer but with their actions they lost you already as a client. What i did notice is when i get involved their tech talk etc slows down, because they cant bs me. Most times they will realize they lose eitherway and give it up.
I think you need to look at the current situation of your website. With this i mean do you have a lot of visitors to your website, your ranking in the search engines etc. If this is minimal, then you could decide to setup another website with a similar domain name.
Other way is to let someone else be the middle person between you and the other company. This in most cases will work, but never have any guarantees. If it works then the domain name would be transferred to an account that you own and have all access to and the website could be transferred to.
Either way something simple gets complicated fast. If you need any help with it or have any questions let me know.
Was there a contract for the project?
This is actually a very big deal. Usually there are ways to head this off at the beginnng of a relationship by setting up fail safe systems in case of such an emergency. By no means should all of your eggs be in one basket. It's kind of a shifty thing for your web guy to try to build in a sense of being irreplaceable by holding on n to the golden key.
Best,
Rob Shult
Register and keep your web hosting and domain name by your self! You are the owner, it's your business and only you hold access info for your accounts. If the current developer can't support you, find another one. Find your registrar and contact directly https://10dollar.ca/en/whois.php, provide with business name and your name. They can grant you with an access.
I agree that no company should be holding up your website.
A. First Question do your own the domain name? If so, get all the information that is currently on your website and save it to your desktop, basically copy and paste all text in a txt file on your computer. Images save as well. Then hire another company to change your DNS to their servers, they can then recreate your website. You can go here to learn more about YOUR domain on where it is registered and hosted at. https://who.is/
B. If you don't own the domain name, it's much harder to get your site up back. I would contact your current website designer and tell that your want to Transfer the domain to your account. If they care about their customers they should start getting the work done or be willing to give it up. Unless it a complete re due of the website we normally get updates done with 24-48 hrs. That's what I would tell to. I hope that helps. Let us know how it goes.
Assuming you have paid your account in full, you simply choose the wrong guy to build and maintain your website. At the start did you ask for quotes from more than one web designer? Did you get and check references? Did you just go for the web guy with the cheapest price?
I ask these questions because there is always an assumption that its the web guys fault if the client is unhappy. I have seen clients who try to beat web guys down on price and then when they do, they expect the best of service. Yo only get what you pay for and if you pay on the cheap, you get cheap service.
I mention this because I have lost a few quotes because I wouldn't allow myself to be beaten down on my pricing and in a couple of cases I have had those same clients who chose cheaper come back to me to help fix or rebuild their website.
Hi Andrea -
I'd say, walk away.
You don't need to be under the thumb of anyone - this is very unprofessional and it sets another bad example of "web guys" manipulating business owners.
You are in the driver's seat and you should have the "keys," and you can.
This includes your website, your social media account, your logo, graphics, etc.
Because you own your domain name, this frees you.
Using the car metaphor again - you are taking your car back, getting new tires and leaving the manipulator at the side of the road.
An example, many times, I've freed local business owners from the claws of YP.com, where the owners are paying way too much for the quality of online presence they have.
So...what to do?
If you could be in charge of your own command center, never have any web developer hold you hostage again and you have direct input into how you want your online business to look (and seamlessly transfer your domain to that command center), would that interest you?
Check out - http://builderallwebsites.com/
The nice thing about Builderall is that it is a platform, where YOU, the business owner, are in charge of the look and feel of your website or web funnel. There are 16 other tools (social media, graphics, videos, etc) for a low monthly fee. You will no longer pay high costs month-after-month and have no control. You are finally in the driver's seat.
As a certified partner of Builderall, I can be hired to create online aspects of your business for you - but, I don't have to either.
Send me a PM if you'd like to talk more.
Best wishes and good luck!
Jim
Look into small claims court. If you are fully paid up, then there is no reason for any work to be held hostage. If they are being impossible, then find someone else to do your site, and make sure you have ownership of your URL, as well as knowledge of the FTP, username, and password needed to get into the site. I always make sure my clients have this info. Meanwhile, copy all of your text, images, and code as a back up. You paid for it. You can access this info freely and directly from any browser... See Tools, Page Source, Web Developer (as an example with Firefox).