Are You Being Scammed By Your Web Design Company?

This is a growing concern amongst many business owners. Does your web design company own you? This may be possible if you've allowed them to host your web site for you and also register your domain name for your company.

Web design companies have a lot of control over their clients. I refer to this as "False Power". The sad reality is that most of their clients don't even know they are stuck in this potentially painful predicament. This power is usually exercised when a client of a web design company finds a better deal on hosting for their web site and they simply want to switch their hosting provider, or when the "client" wants to upgrade their web site for a better rate than their current web development provider is offering.

Here's what usually happens to so called "traitor clients":

- Current web design company sends their client a hefty bill for switching

- The web design company cancels their client's account

- They may point the domain name to another place

- They sometimes take down the entire website until further notice

You get the point! Too much power is given to the web design company. I truly believe that it is your right to shop for better prices and it is your right to own your domain name even if you didn't have a hand in registering your domain name.

As the owner of the website, you put your trust into your web design company to represent your business appropriately and honestly, only to find out down the road that honesty isn't in their vocabulary.

I truly believe there should be a law against web design companies that can be summarized as such: For any domain name registered by the web design company on behalf of their client, the domain name may not be disputed or need to be disputed, the domain name is automatically owned by the client and is automatically 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 for a web design company, please ENSURE that you have a contract drafted, outlining everything you are entitled to and that you have sole rights to your domain name.

See what most business owners fail to realize is that their domain name is as important as registering their business name itself. I will repeat that... Your domain name is "hot real estate", would you want someone else owning your property?

The same applies for your domain name. Don't get caught with your pants down while asking, why don't I own my domain name. It is as important as owning your own company name. There are people 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 solution is to go out and register your domain name BEFORE you hire a web design company. This ultimately gives you the power over your domain name. At any given time, you can go back and log into your "domain name registrant" in order to switch your web site to any hosting company you choose.

When searching for an "all around" package for your web design project, make sure that your hosting is suitable for your needs. 95% of all web design projects don't need a large hosting package that costs between $150-$500 a year. The most you should pay for your hosting in this case is around $100.00 a year, no more.

You only need a large hosting package if:

- Your web site is 1000+ pages in size

- You're going to buy traffic in the 1000's every month

- You need over 25 email accounts setup

Ask questions when shopping for a web design company! Here are a few questions you should be asking right away before you sign any contract...

- Do you provide a contract for all your projects?

- If you register my domain name, will it state in my contract that I own the domain name under all circumstances?

- If I am late making payments, is it your company policy to cancel the account?

- Why are your hosting services so high in price? Why wouldn't I go somewhere else for $100 a year?

- Does it state within your contract that I cannot switch to a different hosting company later on?

- Going forward, am I going to be able to hire any web developer for my website updates, if I am able to negotiate better prices?

This is another important note: Make sure your web design company gives you the "FTP (File Transfer Protocol)" access to your website. The FTP allows you to hire another web design company to go in and update your website at any time. Without the FTP information, no one can update your website besides the original web development company or hosting company that you hired.

In Conclusion: Be weary of web design companies that don't provide contracts for all of their projects. Be careful with your domain name; make sure that in the end, you own all rights to 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

About The Author:

Martin Lemieux
President of Smartads

International: http://www.smartads.info
Internet Marketing Tips: http://web-marketing.smartads.info
Business Related Tips: http://mindpower.smartads.info

Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article within your newsletter or website as long as the entire article remains in tact including the resource box.

---

Thinking Of Taking Money Online? Whats Best For Merchants? PayPal, WorldPay or Something Else?

It's now easier than ever to take payments on the... Read More

Web Accessibility: The Basics

What is web accessibility & why is it important?Web accessibility... Read More

7 Profit Producing Reasons Why Every Successful Service Professional Needs A Web Presence

Your business website is a critical aspect of being able... Read More

How to Get a Knock Out Website!

The first step in setting up an online business...Starting an... Read More

5 Essential Traits Of A Home Business Website

So you've decided to start an online work at home... Read More

From Search to Sale

The Internet car buyer is an elusive animal. Trying to... Read More

Establishing Your Web Presence

Part of the success of most home-based businesses is their... Read More

My Yahoo Search - Beyond Bookmarks

Yahoo has long offered email, an online calendar, notes, bookmarks,... Read More

PIM Team Case Study: Creating Text Effects With PHP and GD

See how you can create graphic effects on text with... Read More

CPanel Fantastico - Features and Benefits

Fantastico is a 3rd-party cPanel add-on and can be purchased... Read More

Planning Your Website for Success

Most people know they need a website in order to... Read More

Trust Us! Sending Credible Messages

A company must earn and keep trust or sales don't... Read More

The 2 Most Common Web Site Mistakes

When we review the sites of potential clients, there are... Read More

The Top Ten Benefits of Having a Web Site

Do you need a web site? Are you considering getting... Read More

Learn to Build a Better Online Business Website Using Keywords and Content

Are you aware that 90% of the websites on the... Read More

Be Creative Before You Purchase Or Create A Website

Before you jump into spending coutnless hours on designing and... Read More

Remember This When Building A New Site - Beginners Guide

I recently helped my mom to launch a website (www.mom2me.com)... Read More

Build a Strong Foundation for Creating Your First Online Identity ? Notes for Beginners

If you are looking for creating your online presence you... Read More

If Its Done Its Done for: Make Your Website Part of Your Business before You Build

Web sites are an Ongoing Part of Business.All too many... Read More

Improving Usability for Screen Reader Users

Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users... Read More

Why Every Small Business Owner Needs Two Websites

Every small business owner knows that they need a website,... Read More

Easy Steps To Website Development and Promotion

One of the most important parts of establishing a new... Read More

Ten Major Tips to Develop a Multilingual Web Site to Work

If you are living in a country that its native... Read More

Setting Up A CGI Script On Your Web Site

Before you set up any scripts you will need some... Read More

1 Simple Solution to All Internet Marketers about Their Website Design Needs

It is an undeniable fact that not everybody is keen... Read More

How To Evaluate Your Web Sites Performance

Setting up a website is the very first step of... Read More

6 Steps To Your Own Website

A lot of people these days are interested in getting... Read More

Functions and Subroutines in ASP

Functions and Subroutines in ASP If you read... Read More

Conceptualize, Build and Publish a Web site

Conceptualize, Build and Publish a Web site - What's required... Read More

The Importance of Website Stats to You

One of the best tools you have as a webmaster... Read More

The Number 1 Reason Most Websites Fail

Failure, just like success, is measured differently by each and... Read More

Earning From Your Website

Before you start building your site, ask yourself "WHY?". Why... Read More

User Interface Design: Key to Achieve Best Web Development

From early days of www, the Internet sites that are... Read More