Before you fire your web design team, take a look at the checklist below to confirm that you’ve got everything accounted for.
Step 1: Carefully Review Your Contracts
First and foremost, start by examining your Master Services Agreement (MSA) and Statement of Work (SOW). Many contracts contain an exit clause specifying a notice period before termination. There may be other legalities that you’ll need to follow, such as the notice type and reasons for termination. If you have a good relationship with your former web team, you may be able to negotiate a clean exit. However, legal counsel is recommended to ensure that you abide by contract terms. Once you’re ready, start accounting for the different services attached to your website..
Step 2: Secure Access Credentials to all Your Web Services
Your digital presence exists across multiple platforms and services, with each requiring unique credentials. Ensure you have or are working towards full ownership of the seven items below.
Note, you’ll notice the threat level for each item, which are briefly explained:
- Critical threat – replacing it is a huge lift and extremely costly. Abuse of it will hurt your digital brand.
- Medium threat – it can be replaced but requires a bit of effort. Abuse of it can hurt your digital brand.
- Minor threat – it can be easily replaced. Abuse of it will do little to no damage to your digital brand.
1. Website & Server Access - Your Digital Front
CMS Credentials (WordPress, Shopify, etc.)
- Your content management system (CMS) is the gateway to your website. It houses all your text, video, and image content. Without CMS access, you have no way of managing what people see on your website.
- Critical threat
SSH Security Keys
- Allows access to your web server and is critical when your web development team needs to make updates on it. The issue with an SSH key is that it can be shared and used to access your server at any time. This is a big red flag.
- Critical threat
Cloud Credentials (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, etc.)
- The cloud houses all of your digital services: hosting, files, domain, and CDN configurations. It’s imperative that you maintain these credentials.
- Critical threat
2. Analytics & Tracking - Your Customer Insights
Google Analytics
- Retain ownership to access historical data and ensure tracking continuity. If you lose access, it’s not the end of the world. It just makes data-driven decisions challenging. Fortunately, you can partner with a web team, like Uplancer, to enrich your decision-making with industry data.
- Medium threat
Google Tag Manager
- Google Tag Manager (GTM) sends event data to third-party services. If access is lost, GTM can be reinstalled fairly easily.
- Minor threat
3. Advertising Accounts - Your Paid Channels
Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and More
- Losing access means losing campaign data and benchmarking for future ads. Although losing data is painful, a good digital marketing team can help you set up your ads again. You’ll just need to be patient through the ads’ learning phases, which can take days to months, to complete. Just make sure you block the billing through your credit card company if you can’t recover your account.
- Medium threat
4. Social Media Accounts - Your Social Channels
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok
- An angry web team can delete posts, engage with customers maliciously, change passwords, or disrupt customer engagement. If you lose access to your social media accounts, there are steps that you can follow to disable and reclaim them.
- Critical threat
5. Business Listings & Local SEO - Your Local Presence
- A Google Business Profile is critical for all businesses since over 90% of searches happen on Google. If you don’t already have ownership of your profile, reach out to Google for help reclaiming it and prevent abuse of it.
- Critical threat
Yelp, Clutch, Yellow Pages, Chamber Listings
- Similar to social media and Google, you’ll want to prevent abuse of your brand. Reclaim these accounts as soon as you can.
- Critical threat
6. CRM & Email Systems - Your Marketing Technologies
CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.)
- Losing access to you Customer Relationship Management software could mean losing leads, customer data, and crucial communications. You’ve spent time, energy, and resources setting up a sales process and acquiring leads. If your CRM is the only source of truth, you may not have a way to follow up with past or current leads.
- Critical threat
Email Admin Access (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.)
- Email is the core communication channel for many businesses, so don’t ever give up administrator access to it. Otherwise, it will be a tough fight with email service providers, such as Microsoft and Google, to regain control. Additionally, your previous web team can delete your email inboxes, disable emailing completely, and forward and respond to your emails.
- Critical threat
7. Plugins & Third-Party Services - Your Third Part Services
Paid Plugins & Software Licenses
- Ensure they are registered under your business, and not your web team. If not, you can purchase another license under a new account.
- Minor threat
Form & Compliance Tools (JotForms, CookieYes)
- If tied to your old team, these services can be revoked unexpectedly. As a result, your business may be at risk for non-compliance according to local laws (GDPR, PIPEDA, and equivalent), so make sure to replace them immediately when lost.
- Medium threat
Payment Processing Accounts (Stripe, PayPal, Square)
- Unauthorized changes could result in financial loss. This is obviously a major issue and can be escalated to the federal level. You’ll likely recover the account but it will likely be a messy process.
- Critical threat
As you can see, there are number of critical threats to your digital brand. You must fight tooth and nail to gain ownership for all of them. If you need help reclaiming ownership of what’s yours to prevent future business disruptions from occurring, reach out to Uplancer for help!
Step 3: Conduct a Proper Walkthrough and Handover with Your New Web Design Team
Once you’ve gained access to your accounts, walk your new web team through your digital setup. Ensure that they understand where everything’s located and what each of your services does. Note, a well-documented transition reduces downtime and prevents surprises, and can be used for future transitions.
For cloud services like AWS, remember to delegate access with the appropriate permissions rather than sharing your root or primary account credentials. If you’re unsure of how, let us know and we can help!
Step 4: Final Resolutions if Your Web Design Team Still Doesn’t Cooperate
If you’ve reached this stage, we’re sorry that you’re going through this. It’s not right and unfair. We’ve seen similar situations unwind badly, but the good thing is it’s not over. What you’ll need to do first is weigh your options:
1. Calculate the True Cost of Contract Termination
Ending an engagement isn’t just about cutting ties; it comes with hidden costs. Therefore, be rational and take the path with the least resource commitment while considering the following:
- Legal Fees: If these disputes can’t be resolved mutually, you may need legal intervention. This route may end up being more costly than parting ways and rebuilding your site.
- Termination Fees: Some contracts require payment for the remaining balance or a termination fee. Understand if this is an option.
- Business Downtime: A poorly managed transition can lead to lost revenue and halt your business operations.
- Rebuilding Costs: If your website is taken hostage, a complete website rebuild and migration may be necessary, which usually isn’t cheap. However, it may be the best option.
2. Pick Your Poison – It’s Not Free
If your existing web design team still refuses to hand over access, you have two options:
- Legal Action: You may have legal grounds to reclaim your digital accounts. A formal notice from your lawyer may be enough. On the other hand, litigation may cost tens of thousands of dollars and may take years to litigate.
- Lift-and-Shift / Rebuild: If all else fails, rebuilding may be the only solution and is something that you’d want to start immediately. We’ve assisted many businesses in this situation, helping them migrate their websites and digital assets to a secure environment within weeks. The new setup ensures that ownership remains firmly in your hands. As a plus, you can reference this article to confirm we’ve built your website the right way!
Final Takeaway: Ownership Is Key
The number one rule: never let your web design team have full control of your digital services and assets.
Protect your business from sabotage, financial loss, and unnecessary headaches. If things go sour with your web designers, proceed cautiously through contract termination and consult with a new web design team. Don’t wait until it’s too late; secure your digital brand today. When you’re ready to fire your agency, read about how to do so here.
Need Help?
Uplancer specializes in doing web design and web development the right way. We can help your transition away from your web team or become their replacement! Contact us for a free consultation and safeguard your online presence today.
