By Martin Lemieux
Are You Being Scammed By Your Web Design Company? By: MartinLemieux
This is a growing concern amongst many business owners. Doesyour web design company own you? This may be possible if you'veallowed them to host your web site for you and also registeryour domain name for your company.
Web design companies have a lot of control over their clients. Irefer to this as "False Power". The sad reality is that most oftheir clients don't even know they are stuck in this potentiallypainful predicament. This power is usually exercised when aclient of a web design company finds a better deal on hostingfor their web site and they simply want to switch their hostingprovider, or when the "client" wants to upgrade their web sitefor a better rate than their current web development provider isoffering.
Here's what usually happens to so called "traitor clients":
- Current web design company sends their client a hefty billfor switching - The web design company cancels their client’saccount - They may point the domain name to another place - Theysometimes take down the entire website until further notice
You get the point! Too much power is given to the web designcompany. I truly believe that it is your right to shop forbetter prices and it is your right to own your domain name evenif you didn't have a hand in registering your domain name.
As the owner of the website, you put your trust into your webdesign company to represent your business appropriately andhonestly, only to find out down the road that honesty isn't intheir vocabulary.
I truly believe there should be a law against web designcompanies that can be summarized as such: For any domain nameregistered by the web design company on behalf of their client,the domain name may not be disputed or need to be disputed, thedomain name is automatically owned by the client and isautomatically bound by their web development contract.
With every new venture, there is always going to be loopholes.From the aforementioned example, what if there is no contract?If you are reading this and are in the process of searching fora web design company, please ENSURE that you have a contractdrafted, outlining everything you are entitled to and that youhave sole rights to your domain name.
See what most business owners fail to realize is that theirdomain name is as important as registering their business nameitself. I will repeat that... Your domain name is "hot realestate", would you want someone else owning your property?
The same applies for your domain name. Don't get caught withyour pants down while asking, why don't I own my domain name. Itis as important as owning your own company name. There arepeople out there searching for suckers to take their domain name- don't be the one who gets caught!
How to avoid this "Power Stricken" disaster: The best solutionis to go out and register your domain name BEFORE you hire a webdesign company. This ultimately gives you the power over yourdomain name. At any given time, you can go back and log intoyour "domain name registrant" in order to switch your web siteto any hosting company you choose.
When searching for an "all around" package for your web designproject, make sure that your hosting is suitable for your needs.95% of all web design projects don't need a large hostingpackage that costs between $150-$500 a year. The most you shouldpay for your hosting in this case is around $100.00 a year, nomore.
You only need a large hosting package if:
- Your web site is 1000+ pages in size - You’re going to buytraffic in the 1000's every month - You need over 25 emailaccounts setup
Ask questions when shopping for a web design company! Here are afew questions you should be asking right away before you signany contract...
- Do you provide a contract for all your projects? - If youregister my domain name, will it state in my contract that I ownthe domain name under all circumstances? - If I am late makingpayments, is it your company policy to cancel the account? - Whyare your hosting services so high in price? Why wouldn't I gosomewhere else for $100 a year? - Does it state within yourcontract that I cannot switch to a different hosting companylater on? - Going forward, am I going to be able to hire any webdeveloper for my website updates, if I am able to negotiatebetter prices?
This is another important note: Make sure your web designcompany gives you the "FTP (File Transfer Protocol)" access toyour website. The FTP allows you to hire another web designcompany to go in and update your website at any time. Withoutthe FTP information, no one can update your website besides theoriginal web development company or hosting company that youhired.
In Conclusion: Be weary of web design companies that don'tprovide contracts for all of their projects. Be careful withyour domain name; make sure that in the end, you own all rightsto your domain name, not someone else.
I hope this article helps you out!
For more of Martins articles, go here:http://www.smartads.info/newsletter
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