Owning the Keys to Your Digital Kingdom: Why You Need to Know Your Website’s Details
Your website is an invaluable asset for your business. Whether you’re a small business owner, an executive director, or a website manager, knowing the ins and outs of your website is essential. Think of these details as the “Keys to Your Digital Kingdom.” They are the core elements that keep your online presence secure, functional and adaptable to change. Your Digital Kingdom includes but is not limited to possessing the login credentials for your website’s dashboard, domain registrar, hosting partner (where it lives on the internet), social media accounts, Google My Business, email host and credit card processor (Stripe, Square and PayPal.).
The Importance of Knowing Your Website Management Details
Imagine pulling up your website and finding it’s been hacked or is down, or maybe it needs to be moved to a new host. Without the right website management details, resolving these issues becomes extremely difficult. Owning and keeping track of your website’s login credentials ensures that action can be made swiftly and effectively when needed.
Here’s why keeping these keys handy is crucial:
Maintaining Control
Regardless if you build a site yourself, hire website professionals or use an online service, it’s important that you, the business owner or website manager, have access to the most current login credentials and know where to find critical website information. Imagine hiring a company to rebuild your website and then waiting weeks after its completion to show the world because you had to locate where the domain was registered to switch the old site to the new one.
When you have access to all the critical components of your digital presence, you maintain control. This protects you and your organization from losing access due to unforeseen circumstances, like a change in personnel or a vendor going out of business.
Facilitating Smooth Transitions
Whether you’re switching hosting providers, redesigning your site, or making other changes, having the proper login details ready to share ensures a smooth transition. You won’t have to waste time searching for credentials, waiting for a third party to provide access or even reaching out to a past employee or volunteer who previously managed access. Everything you need will be at your fingertips.
Achieving Quick Problem Resolution
In the event of downtime or technical issues, quick access to your site’s dashboard means faster resolution. This minimizes any negative impact on your business’s operations and customer experience, protecting your reputation and bottom line.
Essential Components to Master
Now that we’ve established why having the keys to your digital kingdom is important, here’s a list of the information you want to properly manage your website’s digital world. Use our free digital download to help you keep track of critical website management information.
- Domain Registrar Details
Your domain registrar is where you purchased your website’s domain name (GoDaddy and NameCheap are popular domain registrars). Knowing your website’s login information ensures you can renew your domain, update contact information, provide delegate access or transfer the domain if necessary. If you’re hiring a third party to design a website, we encourage you to purchase the domain yourself and then give the designer access to the domain. It is not uncommon for some website developers to purchase a company’s domain and then never give them control. If the developer decides to cancel, sell, or not renew the domain, you might find yourself with a non-functional website. This could then lead to spending hours on the phone with the registrar to prove your right to access the domain.
- Hosting Provider Information
Whether your site is hosted on a platform like Bluehost, SiteGround, or another provider, knowing where and how your site is hosted allows for seamless maintenance and troubleshooting. Knowing where your site is hosted is like knowing your address. It’s difficult for a developer to manage or transfer your site if it doesn’t know where to start. If you can’t find where the website is hosted consider speaking with your accounting department and following the money trail.
- Email Hosting Credentials
Over the past few years, email providers have cracked down on how emails can be sent from websites. For your site to send emails properly, like from a Contact Us form, it’s important to know where your email is hosted. It could be as simple as Gmail (Google Workspace) or possibly Outlook. Understanding where your email is hosted is vital. This ensures you can manage accounts, reset passwords, and configure settings as needed.
- Website Login Details
Know how to log into your website and how to add or remove users. For a developer to gain access to your site and make changes, transfer it, or solve a problem, they first need a login. It’s okay to not know how to add or remove a user, but at a minimum, you should have admin access to your website. If a third party manages your website, ensure they give you admin access to the dashboard. This is about you, the business owner or website manager, having control over your digital profile.
Social Media Account Access
For security purposes, it’s important to have multiple admins on an organization’s social media accounts. This prevents one person from having complete control, and if the accounts are connected to the website it allows the manager to maintain those connections. Additionally, if someone gets put into “Facebook jail,” then someone else can access the account as needed. Knowing these logins is also crucial for managing brand reputation and social engagement strategies.
- Credit Card Processor Access
If your business processes online financial transactions, know where and how your payments are managed. Access to this can prevent disruptions in sales and allow for troubleshooting of payment issues. Popular online credit card processors are Stripe, Square and PayPal.
- Google My Business Access
If your organization does not have a Google My Business (GMB) profile, now is the time to set it up. This is how people can leave Google reviews, get directions, find your phone number and much more. A GMB profile is free, but it does require setting up an account. Ensure you have login details for your GMB account as this affects your local SEO and how your business appears in search results.
Collect The Keys To Your Digital Kingdom
Safeguarding the keys to your digital kingdom puts you in the driver’s seat of your online presence. This knowledge is necessary for any business owner or website manager. By keeping these details organized and accessible, you ensure the resilience, security and adaptability of your business’s digital footprint. Use our free digital download to help you start collecting the keys to your kingdom so they’re kept in one location. A good practice is to set a reminder every quarter or six months to check the login details to ensure they’re current.
