Being in the hosting industry, we hear it all the time.  A week doesn’t go by without a question from someone about how to get their site or domain name from their current provider to move to us or to just gain control of it should they want to make a move.  Have you or anyone you know experienced any of the following problems?

• They can’t move their domain name.
• Their website is down all the time.
• Their e-mail arrives hours late.
• They pay large monthly fees for updates they never use.
• They have no access to do their own updates.
• They can’t backup their own site for their own peace of mind.
• Getting help from their provider takes days.

Here are 3 ways to avoid becoming a hostage to a web hosting provider and some ways to combat your captors.

Make sure you have access to your files

There are several ways to access your files for your website.  One way is through your control panel.  Whether your provider uses cPanel, Plesk or any of the other control panels on the market, you should have access to it.  Here at Infinity we use cPanel and built in to the cPanel interface is the ability to perform backups of your site.  Without access to your control panel, you lose a lot of control over your website, e-mail, databases and files.

Another way is using FTP.  FTP is short for file transfer protocol and by using an FTP client allows you to have direct access to the files in your website.  You should also be given an FTP username and password.  Using FTP, you can download copies of single files and in some cases your entire website.  That is assuming you’re not forgetting a database or other important parts of your site.  You’ll need help through the control panel for that.

If you don’t have FTP access, or your host has you on a “managed” service that doesn’t allow FTP access, they are just hiding the fact they are holding you prisoner.  If you need access to files, you should be given access to files.  Ask that they change the password temporarily for you until you get what you need, then they can change it back.  They should also be able to zip up your website files and provide you a backup file to download if the site isn’t too large.  If you are part of a managed website service, they may require you to sign off on a form that states you had access and anything that happens to your files while you are in possession of your FTP username and password is your fault the they’ll charge you to fix it.

Of course none of this applies if you don’t actually own your website.  This is often the case when you sign up for one of those sitebuilder template based sites where you build your own site online.  The hosting company in that case owns the templates and the files and when you leave, you’re left with nothing.

Make sure you control your domain name

Many times we get potential clients who get hung up on the fact that they have no control over the domain name.  Their contact information isn’t listed on the domain, they’re name isn’t on the domain and they basically have no ties to their own domain name.  This happens when a domain name is registered through a Registrar (place to register domains) that is resold by the hosting company instead of going directly to the Registrar.  Now I don’t recommend going directly to the Registrar as a work around, that’s not the answer.  Registering your domain name with your new hosting package is an easy way to get everything you need in one easy purchase.  Plus when the hosting provider does have direct access to your domain name, they can make many of the needed changes for you and eliminate one more thing you have to keep up with.  Many providers including us offer a free domain name registration or transfer for the first year when you buy certain packages or pay for certain terms up front.  It’s a good way to save $10-15 in your first year.

Here are some things to look for…Check your domain name WHOIS and see if you or your company is the Registrant.  Here’s an example for us:  https://www.enom.com/whois/default.aspx and you can see that our company is listed as the Registrant.  If your company and your name isn’t there, you don’t have much recourse through the Registrar (in our case Enom) should you need to forcibly take control of your domain name.  Next look down at the Administrative info.  Look at the e-mail address and make sure it is an e-mail address you have access to.  If you have control over the e-mail address in the Administrative info, then you have the ability to request usernames and passwords through the Registrar without having to deal with your hosting company.  Also look in your Billing Portal through your Hosting Provider and see if you have direct access to your domain names.  It’s a nice feature to be able to make any domain name changes through your Billing Portal so everything is in one place.  We use WHMCS which allows you to turn on auto renew, enable locking, update DNS servers, request an EPP Key for transfers and even update your own contact records.

What recourse do you have if you have no control over your domain name?  If your hosting provider will not (or in some cases cannot) provide you with a username and password to manage your domain name, you can request they transfer it to your new host.  Once your new host has control over the domain, making changes should be much easier.  Take caution however as transfers can take up to 7 full days once initiated so you may want to ask them to change the DNS servers to point to your new provider before starting a transfer or your site could be down for a week.  If they won’t cooperate at all, your only chance is to call the Registrar directly.  A good WHOIS search should tell you who the Registrar actually is.  Once you know, give them a call.  They will ask you for certain information and have you fax over documents proving ownership such as business license and copy of drivers license to prove who you are and that you actually own the domain.  This may take a few days, but can be much faster than waiting for unreturned phone calls and unanswered e-mails.

Make sure you can reach your web hosting provider

If you can’t this could be a sign of any number of problems.  The hosting provider could be overloaded or they could be on the way out.  Or the one guy running the show is on vacation and didn’t tell anyone.  Regardless, if they aren’t satisfying your needs, time to pack up and get out.  Contact your new host and see what they can do to help.  Several times we have to get involved directly with the hosting company to ask the right questions or take the right paths to get the data needed to allow a customer to move their website.  So if you’re stuck, find a new provider first, then ask them what they can do to help.  Even if they try but get nowhere then they at least showed you they are willing to take the extra time to help, they should be a good solution for your needs.