Control Your Business Identity to Avoid Being Hijacked!
Too many small businesses do not have adequate control of their public web presence!
I've noticed this before, of course, but as I've just made another geographic move and I'm researching many of the small businesses around the area, it's frighteningly clear how exposed many business owners are to having their marketing efforts wasted or having their business identity completely hijacked!
Case 1
A small but successful construction company had a third party "web designer" get their domain name from a domain provider, create a modest (but inadequate) website and set up 1 email account, probably the one free one that comes with most domains.
What they did NOT do is:
- Create an alias email account for info@businessname.com
- Verify or update their Google listing
- Share admin control of the website
- Transfer or share control of the domain name
- Create additional emails for staff
The folks that designed the site and its architecture are non-communicative now so the construction business is in a difficult position. They have no way to update, edit, or amend their website. They cannot create email accounts with their business name. Even if they decided to start all over with a new website, they'd have to get a new domain name because they can't redirect the mapping of their URL to the new site. As the Google listing shows info@businessname.com as the point of contact, the owners are unable to access that account to verify it when Google sends the verification email. Since they can't verify their Google listing, the search results are incorrect.
Best Course of Action
Naturally, the best thing for all involved would be for the "web designers" to transfer the control of the domain and website to the construction company owners. With that, the owners could entirely revitalize the site and remap control of it. Failing that and short of mounting legal challenges, the company could very well get a new domain that more closely matches their new business structure. They are no longer an "Inc" so a new name would work. The existing site is not a very complicated one and could be replicated in Squarespace with about 6-8 hours of work.
I use GoDaddy for my domain hosting. There are many others but I like the tools they have to easily allow transfer of ownership of a domain from one account to another.
Plus, Squarespace has easy integration tools for that site.
Additionally, the owners could get a business account with Gmail, link it to the new domain name and make certain that their employees have the accounts they need. With that same account, the owners could create an alias account for "Info@" that could be directed to whomever they wish. This is a great catch-all account for many reasons.
A simple suggested edit to the Google listing would help, too. After Google takes their time to review the edit and when it takes hold, THEN the owners can have another verification email sent and gain control of the site.
With the simple suggestions here, we've gained control of a new domain, created an all-new site, gained access to multiple email accounts and have worked to regain control of the Google listing info. It is very important that one way or another all this information stays in the control of the ownership team. They may allow access to others and revoke it when needed but they'll have final control. Not an absent third party.
Case 2
A family-owned fitness center with one location recently went through an ownership change from a partnership to a single owner. The previous partner started a new website but as the sale was nearing completion, he stopped the work without transferring any information to the new owner. The domain has not been mapped to the site. Instead, it shows - www.businessname.squarespace.com. Through ICANN WHOIS we can see that the domain is owned by neither the new or old owners. Instead, it appears to be held by an uninterested party in Germany.
Because of the failure to acquire the new info, the new owner has the following problems:
- The admin access to the site was never shared so the new owner has no control over content
- As no one appears to own the domain so there is no way to link it to the site
- No new email accounts can be set up with the existing domain
Best Course of Action
Again, it would be best for everyone if the data and access were properly transferred to the new owner. Failing that, it may be prudent to get a new domain name and start from scratch again. A new business.fitness address is possible and would allow for expansion if new locations are ever created. For instance, business.fitness/anywhereelse would be great for a small chain. I can't say enough good things about Gmail for Business. It's a great centralized and controllable way for a business to create and use multiple addresses within their business.
Their site is simple enough that a few hours with a Squarespace template should be enough to have a great base site started and ready for future additions. It doesn't need to be elaborate to begin. It has to be clean, have valid information and it must be controlled by the owners.
I haven't gone into detail about some of the "how" of many of these steps and I've barely touched on the "why" but I hope I've made it clear how easily a business can get lost online by not having their identity under control. Through business transfers, dissolutions, sales, and other normal business changes, it's easy to lose data. If you add in the lack of foresight or understanding when hiring contactors to work on your identity and web presence, its almost understandable that a business can lose itself in the shuffle. We can't solve all of your problems with ease but we can take a big chunk out of the list.
In future posts I'll try to cover some of the nuts and bolts on how to affect some of these easy changes but for now, just knowing a bit more about what goes into web design, marketing and socile media interaction can go a long way towards maintaining a safe and secure identity.
