You’d be surprised how many businesses we speak to that aren’t sure who controls their domain name, where their website is hosted, or how to access their Google accounts. It’s more common than you think. And it’s a major risk.
If a former employee, past web developer, or ex-business partner holds the keys to your digital services, you could find yourself locked out of one of the most important assets of your business.
Not having access to your website or other online services can lead to downtime. Beyond the potential loss of revenue from downtime, that may be the least of your problems if your business incurs reputation damage and faces very costly headaches to reinstate your website.
How this happens and why it’s dangerous
When launching a website or signing up for digital tools, it’s easy to focus on the short-term goal: being visible online. But over time, access details get forgotten, staff leave, and (bad) providers stop responding. This can lead to problems in a variety of ways:
Domain name ownership
Domains may be registered using the details of non-management staff, or worse yet, the web developer’s own company and email address. If you’re not the legal registrant of your domain or your contract with a provider says they own your website, you may not have any rights at all. Always read your contract before signing and never agree to any terms of service where you don’t retain access or ownership.
Hosting/DNS management
Hosting accounts (where websites and other settings are managed) are only accessible to your old web developer or a former staff member, limiting your options for accessing critical settings relating to your website, emails, and business services.
Websites
Websites/apps (and other logins) can be lost in someone’s inbox or linked to an inactive email address. If you can’t log into your website, you can’t keep the information up to date or fix any issues that may arise.
Emails
Email accounts could be controlled by someone no longer at your business, or a previous IT provider, so when you need to make changes, you’re stuck trying to contact Google or Microsoft (good luck with that!).
The cost of losing access
Letting someone else manage your digital assets without clear agreements can have long-term consequences.
If your domain name expires and you’re not notified, someone else can register it (including competitors). That means your emails could stop working, your website could vanish, and your brand could be hijacked overnight. Reclaiming it is often expensive, if it’s even possible.
If you can’t log into your website, and/or don’t have access to your hosting account, you may not be able to ever access your website again, potentially costing you many thousands of dollars to rebuild it – not to mention any important data stored only in the website back-end which you can no longer access.
A website going offline for a day can erode the trust you’ve built over the years. Customers lose confidence. If your website is down for as little as a week, search engines may penalise you. Recovering SEO rankings isn’t quick; it can take months or even years. These aren’t just technical issues – they’re threats to your business.
How to take back control of your digital assets
Regaining control can be complicated. Here’s a step-by-step approach:
1. Audit your services/assets
Make a list of all your digital assets, such as domain names, web hosting, email services, content management system logins (e.g. WordPress), social media accounts, and analytics platforms.
2. Review who has access
Check whether your business has admin-level access or ownership of each. If any logins are linked only to former staff or agencies, that’s a red flag, and you should prioritise gaining back access immediately.
3. Recover or reset credentials
Contact any providers or former staff to regain control. Changing ownership in some cases, such as domain name registrations, may require business ID verification, support from your technical team, or assistance from the service/platform in question.
4. Centralise and secure
Store everything in one secure location (we recommend a password manager, such as Keeper), and ensure multiple authorised team members have access that aligns with their level of seniority.
5. Review contracts carefully
Make sure future agreements clearly state that you retain ownership and access to all accounts and services, including your website, domain name, and hosting. If any current agreements don’t include that, ask your provider to issue a new agreement accordingly.
Simple website security tips you shouldn’t ignore
Once you have ensured access to your digital assets, and to prevent any future ownership issues, we recommend implementing the following:
- Use a strong, unique password for all accounts. Random strings work best, but if you want something easier to remember, try this formula: a symbol, three numbers, and two capitalised words (e.g. %628SafeWebsite).
- Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for anyone logging into your website (e.g. the WordPress admin area). You can also give customers the option to use 2FA for their accounts. Tools like Keeper (which handles passwords and 2FA), and Daito (2FA only) are great for sharing codes with trusted team members without relying on phones.
- Never share login details. Every user should have their own account for all systems, wherever possible; this improves accountability and makes managing access much easier.
- Redirect former staff emails. When someone leaves your organisation, ask your IT provider to forward the staff member’s email address to another active inbox (e.g. admin@…). This ensures you can still access accounts tied to their email by requesting a password reset and updating the account details.
We can help
Sorting out your issues
If you’re already in a bind and can’t recover access, we can help. We can work directly with providers on your behalf to recover, transfer, or recreate what’s needed, ensuring everything is owned by your organisation and you have full access.
Once we’ve sorted out everything for you, we provide:
- full access to your domains, hosting, and website
- transparent billing and contact info
- the option to add your IT team or marketing agency to relevant systems.
Why choose GO Creative
Hiring the right digital partner is just as important as the tools you use. We’ve seen too many businesses held to ransom, locked out of their own websites, ghosted by agencies, or forced to rebuild from scratch. That’s not how a trustworthy partner operates.
At GO Creative, we’ve built our reputation on transparency and reliability. Our clients always retain ownership and access. We don’t gatekeep. We don’t cut off your team. We set you up to run your business – with or without us.
- Our clients receive immediate access to our Client Portal, where they can manage domain names, hosting, invoices, contacts, and more.
- Third-party providers, such as IT teams, can also be granted access to relevant services.
- Hosting login details are provided right away.
- Our clients are given full administrator access to their website, ensuring they’re not restricted or given lower-level permissions.
This approach is part of our commitment to complete transparency.
We’ve helped thousands of Australian businesses clean up their digital presence and sleep a little easier at night. If you’re unsure who controls your digital assets, it’s time to find out.
Need help accessing your domain, website, or other digital tools? Get in touch with us today, and let’s make sure you’re in control of your own business.