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How to Avoid Web Site Disasters

Two years ago, a Rockland, NY arborist, had a broken Web site. It had links that went nowhere and missing images because their Web consultant abandoned them in the middle of an upgrade.

A few months later, a New York gallery owner was in a similar situation. Her Web designer sold the business to someone else. She wanted to update her site, but the new owner wouldn't return her phone calls. To make things worse, he was also hosting her site, and she didn't have a copy of the site code (so she couldn't access her own content). She was stuck.

Just this month, a real estate investment company switched computer consultants and lost control of their site because it was registered under his name.

Like these companies, small businesses owners are often experts on their business, but new to the Web. Unscrupulous Web designers often take advantage of the owners' inexperience and hold their Web sites hostage.

Control Your Domain

1. Own your own domain name.

Don't let your web designer register the domain in his/her name. If it's in your name, then the ownership is clear, and it will be considerably easier to transfer it if you want a new host).

2. Register the domain name with a domain name registrar.

Popular registrars include networksolutions.com, register.com and godaddy.com.

3. Do not register the domain with the same company that is hosting your site.

If you have a disagreement, they can make it difficult for you to transfer your site.

4. Don't pre-pay for Web hosting. If you find that the service is sub-par, you have little recourse.

Plan Ahead/Pay for Performance

1. Use someone local.

Yes, there are designers in India who promise to develop a 50 page e-commerce Web site with a blog, bells, whistles, and Flash for $200. It may look tempting - but don't do it! Use someone you can meet face to face.

2. Be clear about what you want

How many pages, what features the site should have, the overall appearance, etc. Look at other sites and show your designer examples of the ones you like.

3. Make payments to your designer based on milestones.

These include initial design ideas (comps), initial first page, and final approval of the completed site. Be clear about the costs of any major design changes, whether before or after the site goes live. The designer should also offer you the ability to review the site online (hosted on their own server, or hidden behind a password), before it goes "live".

Get your Site on a Disk

Make sure your designer gives you a copy of the code, the graphics, and all the components of your site. It's your property and you own it and everything on it.

Fortunately the arborist, the gallery owner, and the real estate company, owned their own domain names. They learned a lesson the hard way, but each found a new Web designer who was able to copy the code from their existing sites, recreate and update the pages, and move their sites to a new host.

About the Author

Jodi Kaplan, founder of KaplanCopy, fixes "broken" marketing. If your marketing is costing more money than it's making and people leave your Web site without buying, your marketing is broken. For more tips, and a free 25-page marketing guide, go to KaplanCopy Free Marketing Guide.

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