Plenty of small business websites were built as a favour. A friend who was handy with computers, a nephew studying IT, a freelancer who gave you a good price when you were starting out. That works well, right up until the site needs some website maintenance and that person is no longer around.
They did you a real kindness, and the site has probably served you well. But people move on. They change careers, move interstate, get busy or simply stop answering emails. And one day you need to change something on the website and realise you have no idea how.
It happens to a lot of businesses
If this sounds familiar, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s one of the most common situations we hear about from business owners across the Northern Rivers and the Gold Coast.
It’s also nobody’s fault. When a friend or freelancer builds a site, the focus is on getting it live. Writing down logins, registering things in the right name and planning for the future often gets skipped, on both sides.
The good news is that most of it can be sorted out. It’s just much easier to do now, calmly, than in a rush when something has gone wrong.
Common problems when the builder moves on
Lost logins
A website usually has several separate logins, and it’s common for the business owner to have none of them. These might include:
- the website’s admin login (for WordPress sites, this is where pages are edited)
- the hosting account, where the website files live
- the domain name account, where your web address is registered
- the email hosting account, if your business email is separate
- Google accounts, like Google Business Profile, Analytics and Search Console
If those logins are all in the builder’s personal accounts, you’re relying on them to make any change. That’s a lot to depend on someone who has moved on.
The domain registered in someone else’s name
This is the one that can cause the most trouble. Your domain name (yourbusiness.com.au) is your address online. Your website and often your email depend on it.
Sometimes the person who set up the site registered the domain in their own name or on their own account, often just to keep things simple at the time. If that domain isn’t renewed, or you can’t get access to manage it, your website and email can stop working.
It’s worth checking who the domain is registered to and making sure your business has control of it. If it’s in someone else’s name, a friendly request to transfer it is usually all it takes, especially while you’re still on good terms. For .au domains, auDA, which administers .au domain names, has plain-English information for domain holders.
Outdated plugins: the cost of skipped website maintenance
A WordPress website isn’t something you build once and leave. The software, theme and plugins all receive updates, many of which fix security problems.
When nobody is doing the website maintenance, those updates stop. Over time, the site can fall behind, and older software is a common way for websites to get hacked. You might not notice anything until the site is showing spam, redirecting visitors somewhere strange or has gone offline.
Other signs a site has been left alone include a contact form that stopped sending, an expired SSL certificate warning, or pages that look broken on a phone.
Our managed Australian WordPress hosting, at $49.95 + GST per month, includes backups and security updates, so the routine website maintenance is covered and there’s always someone keeping an eye on things. You can read more on our hosting, email and IT page.
A checklist: what to get hold of now
If someone else built your website, work through this list while you can still reach them. Store everything somewhere safe, like a password manager.
- Website admin login. Ask for an administrator account in your own name and email address.
- Hosting account details. Which company hosts the site, and whose account is it on?
- Domain name details. Who is it registered to, which company is it registered with, and when does it renew?
- Email setup. Where is your business email hosted, and who manages it?
- Google accounts. Make sure you’re an owner on Google Business Profile, Google Analytics and Search Console, not just a guest.
- Social media admin access. Check you’re an admin on your Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
- Backups. Ask whether backups are being made and where they’re kept.
- Logo and brand files. Get the original logo files, not just a copy saved from the website.
- Any paid licences. Ask about premium themes or plugins, and whose account they’re on.
How to have the conversation
This doesn’t need to be awkward. Most people who built a site as a favour will be glad to hand it over properly. Something like this works well:
“Thanks again for building our website, it’s been great. We’re getting our business accounts organised, so could you help us get the logins and move the domain into our name?”
Keep it friendly and appreciative. They gave you their time when you needed it, and a simple thank-you goes a long way.
If you can’t reach them at all, don’t panic. Getting access back can take a bit more work, but it’s often still possible.
Handing it over to someone local
Once you have the details, you can decide who looks after the site from here. Inversit is a small team based in Lismore. Carrie designs websites and Luke is our IT consultant, and between us we look after hosting, business email, domains and DNS. No offshore teams and no handballing.
If you move your hosting to us, migration from your current host is free, with no downtime. And if the site is due for a refresh, our web design service builds custom WordPress sites that you own, with no lock-in contracts. We work with businesses right across the region, from Lismore to the Gold Coast.
Not sure where your website stands?
Our free website health check is a good first step. In about 30 minutes, we’ll review your site’s performance, design and SEO, and explain what we find in plain English, with no obligation. Call us on 02 6610 9202, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm.
