Before anyone else looks after your website, or the day you realise nobody does, collect ten things: the domain login, the hosting login, the DNS records, a copy of the site, your email settings, ownership of your Google Business Profile, ownership of Search Console and analytics, where your forms send, the licences for anything paid, and a written note of who pays for what. With those in your hands, no designer, agency or freelancer can leave you stuck, including us.
It belongs with why your website isn't generating leads, because a site you cannot change cannot be fixed. If you are already locked out, start with what to do when your web designer disappears.
The ten things, in order of what matters most
- The domain, in your name. The account at the registrar where your domain is registered, with your email as the owner and the renewal contact. This is the one item you cannot afford to lose.
- The hosting login. The company where the site runs, and whose card pays for it.
- The DNS records. A screenshot or export of where your domain points: the website, your email, any verification records. It is the map for moving anything later.
- A copy of the site. An export, a backup file or the project itself, whatever the platform allows. A site you can restore is a site you cannot lose.
- Your email settings. If your address uses your domain, where it is managed and who can reset it.
- Your Google Business Profile. You should be an owner, not just a manager the designer added.
- Search Console and analytics. Ownership of both, in your account, so the history stays with you.
- Where your forms send. Which inbox receives enquiries. Test it: a contact form that quietly stopped working looks exactly like a site that gets no leads.
- Licences for anything paid. Themes, plugins, fonts and photos: what was bought, in whose name, and when it renews.
- Who pays for what. One line per item above: who pays, how often, and when it renews.
How to check each one is really yours
Log in to each account yourself, today, from your own device. If you cannot, you do not have it yet. Check that the owner email on the domain and the Google listing is one you control, and that password resets come to you.
How to ask for it
One friendly message is usually enough: "Could you send me the logins and settings for the domain, hosting, Google listing and analytics, so I have them on file? Happy to keep working together." A designer who does good work has nothing to lose by it.
When you change who looks after the site
Collect the list before you give notice. Move the domain into your own account first, then the hosting, then everything else. Keep the old site running until the new one is live and your forms are tested, so you never have a day without a way for customers to reach you. What hosting and maintenance cover explains what you should expect from whoever takes over.
See where your site stands
The free website audit checks what the current site does, so you know what you are handing over. For a roofer or a landscaper, the domain and the Google listing are the two items worth checking this week.