A couple years ago I was working with a client to help them more efficiently manage their website, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Google Ads and Analytics. This client was working with a company that he met at a trade show called _ _ _ _ _ Box when I began helping him. After meeting with client he decided to hire me to take over this SEO and on-line marketing. He notified his SEO company that he would not be renewing the contract and wanted access to manage his website and all Google services. His representative informed him that they would not be able to give access to the Adwords and Analytics because they were on “shared” accounts and that they would end up giving us access to all their client accounts. So long story short, the client lost all historical web traffic and marketing data for the over two years he was with them.
I found it hard to believe and understand why they kept insisting that they could not add the client or my credentials to the existing Google services knowing that it is actually very easy to do by simply adding and email address with Admin access. I do this all the time for clients that request it and believe me, it takes less than two minutes.
Want your website? That will cost you.
As if things weren’t already bad enough already, we also learned that the client’s SEO could or would not transfer the the client’s website to his own hosting company. They did offer to send the content and graphics to him at no cost but stated that it was not possible to transfer the actual design and layout of the site because it was on their “shared” client account. This meant that we would have to re-build the website basically from scratch after the client had already paid them for the design. When confronted with this reality, the client decided to forked over another $3,000.00 to have them re-build the site on his own GoDaddy hosting account so he could finally have total direct access and editing capabilities on the site.
I was inspired to write this post after listening to SEO 101 podcast explaining how the show’s host Ross Dunn went through a similar situation mentioned above with several of his SEO clients. You can listen to Ross’ Rant about his experience starting at 12:20 into the podcast.
Learning from other’s mistakes is a lot less painful that going through it yourself. Here are a few questions you should ask anyone that you are considering hiring to manage anything on-line for you. Including building your website, setting up any Google Analytics and or Google Ads accounts and or managing your social media.
Question #1: Will I have administrative access to my accounts if your company is hired?
Question #2: Does your company use any “shared” client management applications what would prevent you from fully transferring my website or other data and marketing accounts to me if I decide to terminate my relationship with you?
Question #3: Are there any fees or billable services I would have to pay if leaving your company?
Question #4: How much advance notice do I have to provide if I decide to not renew my contract for your services?
Also worth noting is making sure you have full and or sole access to your domain’s registration login credentials. So if the SEO person or company that you hire is going to register your domain on your behalf, make sure you personally are listed as the registrant of the domain. This includes listing your name, business or home address, email and phone number in the registrant information. Whoever is listed as the registrant of the domain is the legal owner of that domain. This is especially important because having access and making sure you own the domain gives you access to the DNS (Domain Name Servers) that allow you to point or forward the domain to the hosting company that will host your site.
Carlos Garcia,