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I encountered a scenario yesterday that has just made my blood boil, and It’s been simmering in the background ever since, so I just had to get it off my chest, why? because it comes down to who really owns your web site, you or your webmaster. let me give you the background to this little rant of mine. I’ve been hired to look at the SEO on a small business web site for a client and yesterday I asked for access to their hosting Cpanel, that’s so we could start working on the sites optimisation. I received an email back from the client yesterday, that they had received from their web master, and I quote the email here for you.
“Unfortunately we do not provide any login details for any sites that are hosted by (&*&*&) as a policy. Giving you the login details would mean that you would be allowed access to all sites hosted by us.
Essentially your SEO specialist will need to supply us with all the code he would like to add to the site. Our Web Design will then need to review the code and if everything is order we will implement this onto the site ourselves. Please note that there is likely to be a charge involved with this”
Isn’t this the biggest load of Cr^% you’ve ever heard, lets have a look at several issues in this email.
Firstly who owns the site? If I’ve paid for it then It’s mine, or am I wrong in this assumption, it’s not hard to set up Cpanel access, most companies provide this when your site is hosted with them, well I know I do when I set up a hosting account for my clients.
Secondly, they are making themselves out to be the policemen, what right have they to approve any code or in fact any content on the site before they will agree to add it to the site, it is not up to them to approve anything, it is the owner of the site who should make that decision.
Thirdly, they did such a bad job of optimising and setting up the site in the first place, they haven’t got a clue what their doing.
Finally, they have the cheek to suggest they would charge a fee for adding the code, so really, this is what this is all about, milking you for more money to do a simple job.
So, to get back to my original question who really own this web site? you should. You’ve paid the webmaster for it and you should have the say over the future of your own site. My suggestion to all of you small business owners that have web sites is to go out now and make sure you own your web site and all components of it and take control.
You need to be the master of your own destiny not held to ransom by these arrogant companies who think you and I are fools.
By the way, if you’d like to know which company it is, just email me or leave a comment and I’ll send you their details.
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About the author
Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years.
Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns.
His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.
Comments
Are you using the term “webmaster” loosely?
Given the email response, to me it implies that your client may have contracted to have the site hosted and built within a proprietary CMS, rather than having purchased rental for webhosting space. In the latter case most ISP provide optional open source CMS and it is up to the “webmaster”, whether that role is performed by the client or an intermediary website developer, to set up and maintain the site’s integrity.
Many clients blindly buy in to a service without understanding the nuances and therefore not checking where they stand. For instance, one of my clients contacted a designer to provide a website while I was away, trusting a verbal agreement to handover “all” to me at a later stage. The client provided the “interface design”. Not only had she been billed an arm and a leg, but the designer refused to hand over the PSD and FLA files so that we could update the site. The “designer” claimed that “it was not their policy to provide the source files” as they were only contracted to provide a website. Long and short of it – we rebuilt the site.
My policy is that if a client pays for a design, they own the source files of the design unless specified otherwise in writing.