MARKETING TIPS
“Your company’s website is made up of dozens of elements. This makes ownership of your website more complex.”
Signing any contract can be confusing. Digital marketing contracts are no exception. However, website contracts should be fairly straightforward. When your company signs a contract for a new website, it will likely focus on the deliverables: web development, design, content, timelines, etc.
But some companies will use the contract to hold your website hostage after your work agreement/partnership has ended. Here are important questions to ask before signing on the dotted line and before you hire a digital marketing agency.
You should ask this question long before your website contract is even drafted. And you should never sign anything until you know the answer.
So, what is a content management system (CMS)? In a nutshell, it is the structure or code your website is built on. In most cases, your website should be built on an open-source CMS.
The most common open-source CMS is WordPress, which powers an estimated 40%-50% of websites in the U.S. Open source means the code is publicly available to modify or build upon. So, a website built on an open-source CMS can easily be transferred to another agency’s hosting platform, and almost every web development team will have a WordPress developer.
Joomla and Drupal are also open-source CMS platforms, along with Webflow and Wix (which are technically open-source since you cannot take them off their servers). Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the right choice often depends on your business goals, technical comfort level, and long-term marketing strategy.
A key advantage of an open-source CMS is that it gives you the flexibility to hand over the reins for your website hosting to another agency if you are ready to move on from your current vendor.
If the vendor is building your website on a proprietary CMS platform, you should review the terms and conditions closely. Now, this does not necessarily mean “proprietary” is a bad thing; a proprietary CMS (Duda, Shopify, HubSpot, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.) is easier to maintain, can speed up your website timeline, offers an easier editing experience, and can provide integrated support through the CMS provider.
But it will limit some of your options. Issues can arise if you no longer wish to work with the vendor who is managing/hosting your website on the proprietary CMS platform. You cannot move the website to a new hosting provider, or you will need to find a web team to work specifically on that platform. This can be time-consuming and costly.
In my many years of running a digital marketing agency, I am still surprised by how many people do not ask this question. But before I answer this question, it is important to understand what your assets actually are. Most people think about their content, images, and the overall design as their website assets. However, the term “assets” is much broader in website development. There are actually two main types of website assets: domain/DNS assets and website assets. So let’s break this down.
One of your most important assets is your website domain, which is your base URL/web address that your entire website is built around (e.g., power-marketing.com). Major domain registrars include GoDaddy, Network Solutions, and Namecheap.
Losing your domain could be disastrous for your company, whether you are a home builder, a contractor, a manufacturer, or a logistics operation. If your business has had the same domain for years, losing it will cost you a lot of SEO/AEO value. (To clarify, these terms stand for engine optimization and answer engine optimization, and these types of website optimizations help potential customers find your company online via Google and AI searches.)
Whether you have an SEO program or not, your website has accumulated value via search engines and AI platforms. Just by being in business, you build SEO and AEO value. Your website has valuable backlinks, is receiving referral traffic from other websites, and has Google/search rankings for your company.
This is why it is imperative that you have sole ownership of your domain through your registrar account. Even if an agency purchased the domain for you, the agency should only be a user, not the owner.
Additionally, your domain registrar includes your DNS (Domain Name System) settings. DNS settings hold the coordinates for directing people to your domain.
Think of your domain as your street address, and the DNS is the GPS telling visitors how to get there. As long as you control your DNS information, you can build a new website with any provider and keep your domain. (Keep in mind, your DNS settings may also be housed separately, which is a common practice with certain hosting providers, like Cloudflare.)
Pro tip: Protect your DNS information by using two-factor authentication tied to your personal cell or email. This will keep any user from redirecting your DNS without your knowledge.
Your company’s website is made up of dozens of elements. This makes ownership of your website more complex.
Most of my clients needing web dev and design services want to keep their current website structure, design, and content. On the surface, website structure consists of code, themes, and files. These are the building blocks that make the website work. Code controls how the site functions; themes are the basis for the design, and files contain all website pages, images, settings, and other content.
You want to own all of these assets and elements, along with all historical data associated with the form fills and Google Analytics (those should be transferred to you if you move your website to another hosting company). This should also include plugin configurations, if applicable in WordPress.
Here’s a simple home-building analogy to explain all this: The code is your website’s blueprint, drywall, wiring, and pipes. Your design is the fixtures, paint, and lighting. Your content is your furniture. Owning this means you can move your house to another hosting company and a new development team can work on it, without starting over.
There is a world of difference between website ownership and access. Access means you can use it. Ownership means you control it.
Here’s the distinction:
Here’s what you should ask an agency before signing a contract: Will my company have full ownership and administrator control of the website, or will we simply be given access to manage it? If the relationship ends, will we retain the ability to transfer the website, remove users, change providers, and maintain full control without needing permission from the agency?
If the relationship ends, ask the agency or vendor if your company can take a complete copy of the website — including the database, custom code, theme, content, media, files, plugins, and configurations — and have another developer host and maintain it without needing permission from your former vendor or paying an additional licensing fee.
If the answer is no, make sure you understand exactly why.
As we noted earlier, with an open-source CMS such as WordPress, transferring a website to a new hosting environment is usually straightforward, and you should have access to all of the necessary assets. A proper website transfer should include the website files and database, along with your media library, theme, custom code, plugin configurations, and other elements necessary to reproduce and operate the site.
But there can be exceptions. For example, your agency may use a “premium” theme, plugin, font, stock image, software integration, or other third-party product that is licensed through the agency rather than directly to your company. Those licenses may not automatically transfer with the website.
Make sure your company has administrative access to the accounts surrounding the website — not just the website itself. This may include your domain registrar, DNS provider, hosting account, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Tag Manager, and other tracking or marketing platforms.
Before making the final switch, have your new website developer create a full backup and verify that the website can be successfully migrated. (WordPress recommends backing up both the website files and the database when moving a site to another server.)
Finally, once the transition is complete, review all user accounts and permissions. Remove access that the former vendor no longer needs, update passwords where appropriate, and make sure two-factor authentication is connected to accounts controlled by your company.
The goal is simple: Ending a vendor relationship should not mean rebuilding your website from scratch. If you paid an agency to create a website for your business, the contract should make it very clear what you can take with you, what requires a separate license, and what steps are required to move the website to another provider.
Your website is one of your company’s most valuable marketing assets. It contains years of content, search visibility, analytics data, customer activity, design work, development, and other information your business has invested in building.
Before signing a website development or digital marketing agreement, ask who owns the domain, DNS, website files, database, code, content, analytics accounts, and other assets. Find out whether you will have administrator-level control and exactly what happens to those assets if the relationship ends.
A good website partner should be able to answer these questions clearly before you sign the contract. At Power Marketing, we can answer these questions and provide clarity on exactly who owns what when you sign a website contract, and what happens after you sign on the dotted line.
Plus, our in-house website development team works closely with our SEO, content, paid media, and digital marketing specialists so the website supports your larger marketing strategy, not just the design.
Call us at 615-257-0057 to learn more about our website development services, or contact us if you have questions about a new website, an existing website, or what you should look for before signing your next web development agreement.
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