Sustaining rural landscapes and livelihoods...
I've Lost my Website
The owner of a popular local restaurant came up to me this week, put his arm around me and said,""I've lost my website!" At first I thought he was making a joke, but that wasn't the case. His restaurant is a multi-generation, family restaurant that supports the community with more than just good food. They donate and participate in many causes that keep our downtown vibrant. I also happen to like going there for an afternoon snack between teaching web development classes. The fact that I can tap into a wireless connection at a certain table, also means that I can check email and put out fires while having that snack!
How do you lose a web site, anyway? Actually, I hear this type of story quite frequently in my classes. In the first class of the first course of the series, I find out how many of the group has no idea where their web site is. The difference between these students and the restaurant owner, though, is that they can usually go to their browser and see their web site.
HOW TO LOSE A WEB SITE IN 5 EASY STEPS
1. Don't pay the bill for your domain name.
Your domain name is how the web site system finds your web site. It's also a branding tool for your business.
Your domain name is registered through a registrar for a certain number of years. 30 days before your registration is up, you should receive a bill by email. If you have changed emails, of course, you won't receive that bill! If you don't pay that bill by the due date, your web site disappears from the public view. If you wait 30 days longer, it's no longer your domain name.
I have a client who has almost lost her domain name twice. Each time, she has sent me work to do on her site, and I found out that the site was no longer available. I called her and let her know that she had no site and would lose her domain name if she didn't pay her registrar. Each time, she took care of it, but those are close calls! I had another short-term client who lost 6 domain names because he didn't pay the bill. In his case, it had been so long that someone else got them. Somehow he just figured I could strong-arm those folks into giving them back. In his case, the pattern of not paying his bills wasn't a one-time slip - I should have seen that and and run! He didn't pay mine either!
If you have someone else, like a hosting company or your web person, take care of your registration, whether you continue to have a domain name depends on their staying on top of the bills! However, even if you lose your domain name, you should still have the files of your web site on a local computer, which means that you can register a different domain name and still have your site.
Do you know who your registrar is? Do you have the information to get into your account? My friend above couldn't even tell me what the domain name of his restaurant was. That makes it pretty difficult for me to track down!
2. Don't pay your hosting bill.
Your web site lives on a web server. The web server makes your web site available to the public. If you don't pay them, they shut your site down. Fair enough!
You probably receive a monthly bill from your web hosting company. Or, you may pay yearly. You may have the bill paid automatically every month and not really see it. But, your web host is under no obligation to continue services you don't pay for. They probably have a policy that says if you don't pay within X days, your site gets shut down. That's bad for your business, but you should still have your domain name and the files of your web site on a local computer, which means that you can start a new account with your web host - or another web host.
Do you know who your web host is? Do you have the information to get into your account? My friend above couldn't tell me where his site was hosted. That makes it pretty difficult for me to track down!
3. Use an online template system
There are many high quality template systems where you choose a look and type your information in a form. You can have a web site in an afternoon. That's a great system when you need something right away. However, not all of them are high quality. See the blog on the Storefront Rip-Off. Also, if you use those fantastic images from the template site, those aren't your images. You don't get to take them with you somewhere else!
Either way, if you want to move your web site somewhere else, or if you don't pay your bill, or if your company goes out of business, you don't have a web site. You don't have the files on your computer because you just filled out an online form. The only thing you have is your domain name - if you paid for it personally - not the template company.
Whether my restaurant friend used a template system, I couldn't say. He didn't know, and he couldn't give me any information about the above items to track it down. Do you know whether you have a site built in an online template?
4. Don't get a copy of your web site from your web designer.
Your web site is a set of files. If you don't use an online template, you should be able to get a copy of all the files that make your web site from your web developer. I have had a number of students and clients whose web developer had moved or otherwise disappeared from their world. They didn't have a copy of their web sites. However, if they have information about their web host, it is possible to get a complete copy from the server.
I had a short term client who had a local web hosting company build her site. The person who built the site left the company, and the company wasn't good enough at business to back up all the original files. Before you begin work with a web developer, tell him/her how often you want a copy of all the original files of the web site. If they don't want to give them to you, maybe you want to work with someone else.
Do you know who built your web site? Do you know where that person is? My restaurant friend has no idea who built his site.
5. Don't keep any records about your web site.
From the first four items, you can see that there are a lot of different functions and companies involved in having a web site. It's important that you know who they are, what they do, and what your account information is for each one.
I took a marketing class about 9 years ago. The instructor owned a bed-and-breakfast and had a web site. She came to class with a fist-full of papers and said, "I pay all these bills for my web site. My web site doesn't work, and they all say it's the fault of the other companies." For someone who expounded on the benefits of marketing research, she needed to do some web research. If she wasn't getting good answers, she was working with the wrong companies!!!
At least she had some paperwork. My restaurant friend lost all his paperwork down to the records of the bills he paid. Not much for me to go on! The only thing he can do is start over.
Do you have all your web site records somewhere you can easily retrieve them?
One more story. I had a student who had a photography web site with his name in the domain name and the business name. His wife did all the work and put her name on every account: domain, hosting, etc.. Well, actually, she was his ex-wife and had kept custody of his web site when he came to my classes. OUCH!
Don't lose your web site!
How do you lose a web site, anyway? Actually, I hear this type of story quite frequently in my classes. In the first class of the first course of the series, I find out how many of the group has no idea where their web site is. The difference between these students and the restaurant owner, though, is that they can usually go to their browser and see their web site.
HOW TO LOSE A WEB SITE IN 5 EASY STEPS
1. Don't pay the bill for your domain name.
Your domain name is how the web site system finds your web site. It's also a branding tool for your business.
Your domain name is registered through a registrar for a certain number of years. 30 days before your registration is up, you should receive a bill by email. If you have changed emails, of course, you won't receive that bill! If you don't pay that bill by the due date, your web site disappears from the public view. If you wait 30 days longer, it's no longer your domain name.
I have a client who has almost lost her domain name twice. Each time, she has sent me work to do on her site, and I found out that the site was no longer available. I called her and let her know that she had no site and would lose her domain name if she didn't pay her registrar. Each time, she took care of it, but those are close calls! I had another short-term client who lost 6 domain names because he didn't pay the bill. In his case, it had been so long that someone else got them. Somehow he just figured I could strong-arm those folks into giving them back. In his case, the pattern of not paying his bills wasn't a one-time slip - I should have seen that and and run! He didn't pay mine either!
If you have someone else, like a hosting company or your web person, take care of your registration, whether you continue to have a domain name depends on their staying on top of the bills! However, even if you lose your domain name, you should still have the files of your web site on a local computer, which means that you can register a different domain name and still have your site.
Do you know who your registrar is? Do you have the information to get into your account? My friend above couldn't even tell me what the domain name of his restaurant was. That makes it pretty difficult for me to track down!
2. Don't pay your hosting bill.
Your web site lives on a web server. The web server makes your web site available to the public. If you don't pay them, they shut your site down. Fair enough!
You probably receive a monthly bill from your web hosting company. Or, you may pay yearly. You may have the bill paid automatically every month and not really see it. But, your web host is under no obligation to continue services you don't pay for. They probably have a policy that says if you don't pay within X days, your site gets shut down. That's bad for your business, but you should still have your domain name and the files of your web site on a local computer, which means that you can start a new account with your web host - or another web host.
Do you know who your web host is? Do you have the information to get into your account? My friend above couldn't tell me where his site was hosted. That makes it pretty difficult for me to track down!
3. Use an online template system
There are many high quality template systems where you choose a look and type your information in a form. You can have a web site in an afternoon. That's a great system when you need something right away. However, not all of them are high quality. See the blog on the Storefront Rip-Off. Also, if you use those fantastic images from the template site, those aren't your images. You don't get to take them with you somewhere else!
Either way, if you want to move your web site somewhere else, or if you don't pay your bill, or if your company goes out of business, you don't have a web site. You don't have the files on your computer because you just filled out an online form. The only thing you have is your domain name - if you paid for it personally - not the template company.
Whether my restaurant friend used a template system, I couldn't say. He didn't know, and he couldn't give me any information about the above items to track it down. Do you know whether you have a site built in an online template?
4. Don't get a copy of your web site from your web designer.
Your web site is a set of files. If you don't use an online template, you should be able to get a copy of all the files that make your web site from your web developer. I have had a number of students and clients whose web developer had moved or otherwise disappeared from their world. They didn't have a copy of their web sites. However, if they have information about their web host, it is possible to get a complete copy from the server.
I had a short term client who had a local web hosting company build her site. The person who built the site left the company, and the company wasn't good enough at business to back up all the original files. Before you begin work with a web developer, tell him/her how often you want a copy of all the original files of the web site. If they don't want to give them to you, maybe you want to work with someone else.
Do you know who built your web site? Do you know where that person is? My restaurant friend has no idea who built his site.
5. Don't keep any records about your web site.
From the first four items, you can see that there are a lot of different functions and companies involved in having a web site. It's important that you know who they are, what they do, and what your account information is for each one.
I took a marketing class about 9 years ago. The instructor owned a bed-and-breakfast and had a web site. She came to class with a fist-full of papers and said, "I pay all these bills for my web site. My web site doesn't work, and they all say it's the fault of the other companies." For someone who expounded on the benefits of marketing research, she needed to do some web research. If she wasn't getting good answers, she was working with the wrong companies!!!
At least she had some paperwork. My restaurant friend lost all his paperwork down to the records of the bills he paid. Not much for me to go on! The only thing he can do is start over.
Do you have all your web site records somewhere you can easily retrieve them?
One more story. I had a student who had a photography web site with his name in the domain name and the business name. His wife did all the work and put her name on every account: domain, hosting, etc.. Well, actually, she was his ex-wife and had kept custody of his web site when he came to my classes. OUCH!
Don't lose your web site!
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Comment by NNFP on February 17, 2009 at 11:54pm -
Great article Nora!
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