Web designer gone quiet? I’ll take your website on
If the person who built your site has moved on, stopped answering or shut up shop, you’re not stuck. I’ll find out who holds your domain and hosting, get it into your name, and sort what’s wrong. After that I’m just along the road.
- You end up owning your own domain and hosting
- Your email keeps working through the move
- A straight answer on whether to fix it or start again
Sound familiar?
These are the ways it usually starts. Any of them is enough to get in touch.
“My designer isn’t answering”
Emails bounce, the phone rings out, and there’s a price on the site that’s been wrong since March.
“I’ve had an email about my domain expiring”
You don’t know if it’s real, who it’s from, or what happens if you ignore it. Ignore the wrong one and the site and your email stop.
“The site’s gone down”
The hosting lapsed, or a card expired, and nobody told you until a customer did.
“I can’t change anything myself”
Every small change goes through someone else, when they get round to it.
“A friend built it, and they’ve moved on”
It did the job for a while. Now nobody knows the logins, and the friend’s in Australia.
“It’s full of rubbish”
The site’s been hacked, or the old address has filled up with spam. I’ve seen a Moray web firm’s own domain go that way after it closed.
What I do
In this order. You can stop after any step.
- one
Find out who holds what
From the web address alone I can usually see where the domain is registered, where the site is hosted and where the email runs. That tells us how big a job this is, and I’ll tell you straight.
- two
Get it into your name
Your domain and hosting should be registered to you, not your designer. If they are, moving them is paperwork and a few days. If they’re in the old designer’s name, there are still ways, and I’ll walk you through them.
- three
Move it, fix it, or start again
If the site’s sound, I move it to my hosting and fix what’s broken. If it’s past saving I’ll say so, and you can see a new homepage for free before deciding anything.
- four
Look after it
Hosting, backups, updates and changes, from someone you can ring. Some of my clients have had me looking after their sites for over 15 years.
Handy to have, not essential
If you can find any of these before we talk, it speeds things up. If you can’t find any of them, the web address is enough to start.
- The web address
- Any emails from a domain or hosting company, even ones you didn’t understand
- Any logins you were given, however old
- Who built the site, and roughly when
- Whether your email address ends in your own domain
Clients who’ve stayed
5.0from 59 Google reviewsWe’ve been using Colourjam as our website designer for over 15 years and couldn’t be happier with the service.
Chris built my website and has maintained it for many years. He also looks after the business email service provider.
Chris has been looking after my webpage and Internet for many years now. He has always been a pleasure to work with.
Not sure what state it’s in?
A free check of your website in about 30 seconds: speed on a phone, how it looks to Google, broken links and more, with Google’s own scores and plain-English fixes.
Questions people ask
I don’t have any logins or passwords. Is that a problem?
Usually not. What matters most is whose name the domain and the hosting are registered in, and that can be checked, and changed, without the old logins. If the domain is in your name, we can prove that and take it from there.
Will my email keep working?
That’s the first thing I check, because it’s the thing people notice. If your email runs through your domain, I plan the move so it carries on, and if there’s going to be a short gap I’ll tell you when.
Will I lose my place on Google?
Not from moving hosting. If we rebuild, I keep the page addresses or redirect the old ones, so Google follows along. I do that for every site I build.
What does it cost?
It depends what state things are in, so I’ll tell you after the first look, in writing, before anything starts. Taking on a working site and hosting it is a small job. A rebuild is priced like any new website: see the prices.
What if the site is beyond saving?
I’ll say so, with the reasons. Then I design your new homepage for free, so you can see what you’d be getting before you spend anything.
It’s on Wix or Squarespace. Can you take it over?
Not as it is, because you can’t take a site away from those platforms. What I can do is make sure the domain is yours and keep it alive, then build you a site you own. If it’s WordPress or plain files, I can usually move it across as it is, and we decide later whether to keep it.
What if the old designer won’t hand it over?
If the domain is registered to you, they don’t have to agree: the registrar deals with the owner. If it’s registered to them, it’s theirs, and we’d talk about whether it’s worth buying from them or better to start fresh with a new address. I’ll tell you which it is before you spend anything.
Do I have to move to your hosting?
No. If your hosting is fine and in your name, I can work with it. Most people do move, because it means one person to ring, but it’s your call.
Do you do this outside Moray?
Yes. None of it needs me to be in the room.
Site down right now?
Don’t wait for the form. Ring me on 07752 242215, monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and I’ll move it up the list. Otherwise the form at the top is the quickest way to get me looking.
