Gain Control of Your Business Website

I was talking with someone the other day about making changes on their website and I asked them who their hosting provider was.

They answered, “I don’t know.” This is not an uncommon answer.

Their site had been set up years ago and after a lot of digging, we finally found what we needed.

Many times I have found the site was on “the old server” and the client hadn’t even been billed for years. Oops!

If you never make any changes to your site, it just doesn’t seem important to know where it’s hosted.

But one day, you may want to make changes. One day, you may say I have a domain name and I just want my site to be more current, to be mobile friendly, etc.

What do you do? Or better yet, what should you have done? Do you even know what questions to ask? Your web developer took care of all that for you, right? But is your web developer still in business? Or still with the same company?

If you hire a new web developer, they will need specific information in order to gain access to your website.

Domain Name

Your domain name is like your home address. It’s how the mailman knows where to deliver your mail. You buy your domain name from a domain name registrar.

Once your website is set up, you tell the domain name where it is, specifically what server it is living on. The domain registrar and the hosting company do not need to be the same. In fact, it’s best if they are not the same. That way, if you change hosts, you won’t need to worry about moving the domain name.

Hosting

The hosting company is where your website actually lives. You rent space from the hosting company on a server. If you have a WordPress site, you will want to find a host that specializes in WordPress. Otherwise, you’re not likely to get much help when you need it.

Keep Your Information in a Safe Place

Whether you are tech savvy or not, you will need to keep track of certain information, including:

WordPress login username and password (if you use WordPress)
cpanel login username and password
ftp login username and password

You don’t need to know what all of this means, but I guarantee you will be glad you have all this information… and that you kept it where it’s easy to find.

Remember, you shouldn’t use the same usernames and passwords for each either, for the sake of security. Always use strong passwords. I know why you don’t do this, but it will help to keep the hackers out.

My Gift to You

This is so important that I am giving you a form to complete. Once you gather all the information, put it in a safe place so you can call upon it when you need it.