These days it has become more prevalent that company owners are reaching out for help because they have lost command over their website. In some instances, the owners have objected to paying the $150 fees connected to making minor textual changes to their website. Other instances have revealed that the website owner has been asked to be charged $3,800 to release their website from the person who had designed the site and hosted it on their hosting account. Whilst I think that charging for time to update a website is fair, careful selection of your website designer and hosting service will help you avoid paying some fees for minor textual changes and definitely will allow you to retain domination over your website.

Use this website requirements guide prior to select your website development company.

Be sure you gain access to your hosting account

Whilst there are several hosting solutions, I do think website owners should have full access to their hosting account. This means that owners can move any time and still retain control of their website and content. I prefer it that way. A client needs to have control of their asset. Too many times we have seen clients change suppliers because they haven't had control of their site and are annoyed that they are locked in. With the massive development of social media, negative word of mouth can spread like wildfire, along with the only word of mouth an agency should want is positive.

Ensure you can change text and images on your site

Many clients have lost control of their website and are being charged exorbitant fees just to make minor changes to their site. This might be fine if you have a static site that you think will not require changing but sometimes laws change or you have new products or services that you want to add. I believe you should be able to make text and image based changes to your site.