What Every Website Owner Should Know
Info you should have at hand about your website
For most website owners, I think the dream is to just hand over the keys to the site to someone else to handle all the maintenance, updates, design decisions, security, registrations, licenses, hosting issues, and all the related “tech” stuff that feels so bothersome. And, of course, this is possible, but it’s not the budget option. And, to be honest, it may not be the wisest option.
For business owners who depend on their website for income or maintaining connection to their audience or community, it’s crucial to have someone you trust with the “back end” stuff of your site. But it’s just as important that your trusted person or company NOT be the only one with all the account info pertaining to your website. You don’t have to know how it all works — but you’ll save yourself time, trouble, and possibly headaches if you have access to every bit of info relating to your website access. I always ask my clients “What if I get hit by a bus? What if I win the lottery and take off to Bali without so much as a faretheewell?” Would YOU know where your website is hosted? Where your domain is registered? Your software licenses?
It’s important that your trusted person or agency NOT be the only one with all the account info pertaining to your website.
Basically, if you don’t have control over this info, you set yourself up for at best, an annoying few days trying to recover it all, and at worst, losing your website, all its content, and possibly your business domain name. Like other preventative measures we’ve learned to live with in the modern world, a few minutes now will insure that things don’t go south in case of emergency. Moreover, when it comes time to re-do or update your site, having this info at hand to pass on to your developer will save you plenty of time and money.
Here is a checklist of information that you should have at hand for access to your website. Use whatever method works best for you to store your credentials, as long as it’s secure and accessible. (Password keeper software like LastPass is great for this kind of info!) Or fill the slots on this PDF and save it in a secure place. You’ll find other guidance and hints as you fill out the fields, so look through it all!
This checklist covers All the Things: Your domain, hosting, WordPress credentials, 2FA login auth, FTP, external accounts (Constant Contact, Google Analytics, etc), premium WordPress plugins, email services. You likely won’t have all of these, but you should at least know whether you do or not!
There should be some space at the bottom to scribble notes if you’re a paper person.
Lost? Does this all sound like crazy talk? This article could help.
Need some inspiration? Check out my new Tools and Recommendations page.
I’ll be adding to it as I discover cool new web-related stuff.
