7 Things you need to know as a website owner
If you’re a website owner, there are a few things you should take responsibility for whether you’re computer savvy or not. If you’re a total noob when it comes to all things computer and internet, then it’s even more important for you to bite the bullet and learn them.
I hear everyday of a website owner who hired a designer who screwed them over by trashing their site, stealing the domain name, corrupting the database, the list goes on. Most webmasters and web designers are honest folk just trying to make a living and would never dream of ripping off a customer. But there are others who could care less.
For this reason, you need to educate yourself.
Know who is hosting your site. Ideally, since you are the owner of the website, you should be paying for the web host separate from your designer. Contact information should be in your name only. If there is a problem, you should be contacting them. If you don’t know what or how to describe a problem, ask your webmaster to write it up so you can send an email to support. I do this quite often with my clients. It keeps you in the loop as the website owner and you have a record.
Know who your domain registrar is, and how to login there. This information is sent to you in an email, so hold on to it. Again, this is something you should separately pay for – you are the website owner, correct? All names, addresses, and email addresses should be in your name, regardless of whether you know anything about it – if you want to keep the domain name, you’ll keep all of this information in your name only. Find domain name information
Know your control panel. Know how to login here as well. You’ll get an email telling you where to go. Hold on to it for dear life. First thing you should do is log in and check out the control panel. You’ll be overwhelmed. Do it anyway. Log in on a daily basis and check it out and get used to it.
The main things here you should be familiar with as the website owner are:
Where to change your password – You should be able to change your password at will.
Where your email addresses are – As a website owner, and especially if you’re a small business owner with few employees, you should be the one that sets up the email addresses for your site.
Where to add ftp users – If you hire a designer you can give them full ftp access by adding them as an ftp user, and delete them if need be.
How to make a backup of your site (if this is offered) – Get in the habit of making a backup of your site once a week.
Don’t be in the dark about something you own.
