Passwords and Logins: Who Holds the Key to Your Website?

When you purchase a new home, you expect to receive the keys. It’s not enough to have the code to the garage and not hold the primary key to the front door; you need possession of all keys.

The same is true when you build a website. If you don’t have the ability to login to your website, make edits, understand how it all works, or have ownership of the domain name, you don’t own your website. It can be a top-of-the-line website, but you don’t own it until you hold all the logins and passwords.

To best protect yourself and your digital assets, you should have login information for the following:

• Your website
  • WordPress, Joomla, Wix, etc. (the platform your website is built upon)
  • Hosting
  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
  • Domain registrar
• Social media accounts
•  Google
  • My Business
  • Analytics
  • Webmaster tools
  • Adwords (If your marketing company added you to their account, be sure to ask for a download version of your account so you can “stay in the know.”)
  • GSuite (a package of cloud-based services to improve business efficiency)
• E-mail marketing platforms (Constant Contact, Active Campaign, etc.)
• SEO software (SEMrush, Web CEO, etc.)
• Website plugins, especially if your website is based on WordPress
• Video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platforms
• Anything else that represents your brand or relates to your business

It’s important you own this information to ensure decisions you make moving forward are seamless. For example, if you own your passwords, a disgruntled marketing company that you’ve chosen to leave can’t stall the transfer process or keep you out of your website. Unfortunately, these scenarios occur and have the potential to hurt your brand. If you’re forced to change domains, you can lose customers and SEO ranking, which ultimately costs you time and money.

In addition to owning your passwords, it’s vital to store them somewhere safe. This can either be in a file that is, itself, password protected, or you can utilize a free online tool, such as LastPass.

Email, on the other hand, is not secure. If you routinely email your password information, you should change them. Make sure, too, that your passwords are not overly simplistic (e.g., your business name). Websites are hacked daily, so having passwords that are difficult to guess is vital for your website’s security and your business’ digital assets.

As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns! We can help you unravel messy password issues or fix problems caused by not knowing your passwords.