3 things to keep in mind before buying a domain from web developers

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The digital is the new normal. From organizations to people, the digital presence is now a matter of survival and existence. More than 15 billion people access Facebook daily. From such social networking sites to instant messaging applications like WhatsApp, the whole world is becoming digital, fast and furious.

In India, even in rural areas, people have access to the Internet through mobile phones. Therefore, it is natural that the penetration of the Internet makes the digital an indispensable reality. And as more and more people enter the Internet, mainly through the mobile Internet, even children and adolescents are becoming Internet users.

The digital reality is here to stay and the business communities, in particular, have to be aware of this fact in order to remain relevant. The digital presence of a company now is not only critical but indispensable. If you are not in the network, you are nowhere. A dynamic website of your company, social media pages and other online promotions are the only way to survive.

The domains must belong legally to you or your company

However, according to Pramod K Maloo, the founder of Kreative Machinez, a digital center for commercial promotions and marketing, in its rush to establish a strong digital presence, many end up making the wrong decisions by opting for digital service providers with questionable intentions. This is particularly true when one buys a domain for your company's website.

"You should never let a web developer buy a domain name for you, even if he / she does it, they must register the domain name * in their name. * The only exception to this is when you have given them a business name. In that case, have someone from your company be the point of contact At best, developers may need to enlist themselves as the technical or administrative contact if they are in a retention service to provide those long-term services. But the domain itself must legally belong to you or your company, "Maloo warned.

Sign the agreement only with full understanding

In many cases, the client who seeks to buy a domain often has some familiarity with respect to its technical part. Therefore, it is the web developers who are in charge of the whole process. If you include accommodation and ownership in your disbursements, be sure to acknowledge that they take care of everything and sign the agreement accordingly.

It has been seen that even after being careful and taking proper action, one faces problems with web developers who can act in a fun way and make unfair demands, including money. There have been cases in which web developers have retained a site as hostages when their customers tried to leave them.

"In such cases, the first step is to verify under what name the domain name is currently registered. If it is legally in your name, you can recover it if you go directly to the registrar and file a dispute. Generally, providing your identification will be enough to reset a password for you, "advised Sameer Desai, Director of Strategy and Founder, Seagull Brand Launch Center.

"However, if the domain is legally in the name of the developer, you will have to take it to the civil court and decide if it is worth the litigation," he said.

Keep a full backup

Professional Web Developers often allow their clients to access the site and, at times, also allow hosting rights, but for site security, they assign restricted access to the site's files and to the hosting account.

"To be sure, you have to keep a full backup of your current site in a separate place from the web developer's server. Customers can do this if they know what to do or if the developer can do it for them. It is as much for the equanimity of the client as for the developer, "advised Shubho Sengupta, an independent digital brand consultant, who has previously worked with organizations such as Ogilvy and Coca-Cola.

It is wise to always rely on a written contract before allowing web hosting companies to reserve a domain with their name. If web hosting companies run your business, which is true in many cases, get a signed NDA. "Also have a clear understanding of the details you will get from them when you decide to separate. These are, to say the least, very rudimentary surveillance measures, "said Sengupta.