Independence. It’s an important principle. It got me thinking about the concept of freedom when managing your digital marketing presence and the data you collect. We often talk with marketers who outsource their digital marketing (or parts of it).
Many are unwittingly giving away control of their data. Even if you trust your digital marketing provider 110%, it’s still prudent that you own your accounts and the data held within each. If you want to avoid becoming a technology hostage, you’ll want to avoid nine mistakes.
Website Content Management System
Your website is probably running on a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, Squarespace or similar platform. We recommend that you:
- Have your company (or a trusted employee within your company) as the main administrator or Webmaster.
- Note who has access to your website and their respective administrative levels. Give “Administrator” level to only those Latest Mailing Database who have the authority, knowledge, and skill to make changes to critical aspects of your website.
- Receive key updates and notifications directly from the CMS system (e.g., security issues, upgrade notices). Each CMS enables you to add administrators and others who can access and make changes. If you switch online marketing vendors, you can simply revoke access.
All too often, I’ve seen clients who don’t have admin access to their own websites. This is a recipe for disaster, as a website is meant to evolve with the business over time.
Domain Registration, Hosting & FTP
You’ll want to manage the registration of your domain (website URL). You never want to rely on a marketing agency to register or renew your domain name with their contact info. Choose your hosting service wisely. Uptime and server management may seem like a commodity these days. However, you get what you pay for… in terms of service, security, and impact on SEO.
Google Analytics (GA) holds so much key information that I’m surprised when any client doesn’t own their GA account.
I’ve heard many horror stories where an digital marketing vendor “set it up for them,” but actually, it was set up as a sub-account. As B2B Phone List a result, the vendor is in control, and the client is granted access. This is backward and dangerous. –
If you don’t know how to set up a GA, follow these instructions. With clients who need technical assistance, we routinely set up a virtual meeting (for screen sharing) to walk them through the process. They become the account owner and then add us as a user. It’s important to note the Universal Analytics product is sunsetting mid-2023, so you’ll need to migrate to Google Analytics 4.