Whenever we first begin working with an SEO or website design client, we usually send the same list of items that are needed to begin working on the project. To simplify this process, we are including the list below, as well as some important links. While this is intended for our clients, this is also a good resource for any company that is thinking of hiring a new digital marketing company.

When you first begin working with a new digital marketing company, there are often several items that will be needed at the beginning of the project to start doing SEO or create a website. This article breaks down standard questions web designers and SEO professionals will ask, and gives an overview about why they are needed, and how you can protect yourself, and your digital assets from unscrupulous companies.

This is access which you would get from your registrar. The domain is the actual url (domain.com). This could be Network Solutions, Godaddy, Google Domains, to name a few. This is usually at a cost of $10-$15 per year, although some premium names could cost more. If we manage your domain, it makes it easier. However, ownership of that domain name will always be yours as long as you pay the registrar. While we work with you, we can take care of the payment and invoice you for it. Many website design companies do this. However, there are a few things you should know:

• Give access, not ownership. As a developer, it's important for me to have access to your DNS so I can make adjustments to your settings, setup your mx records, and create new dns records that will help facilitate some of the work. However, this should always be done as a designated or authorized manager of the domain so you still retain full access. Google Domains makes it easy to add other users to make these adjustments, and grant them specific rights, depending on their role. For example, you could give a bookkeeper rights to view and pay the domain, but not access the settings.
• Domain names are sometimes stolen if your security is not set correctly. We recommend setting a 2-step verification process and locking your domain to the registrar. This is a seperate process, and we can help you with this.
• Some website design companies will make it difficult to gain access to your domain. While they do have a right to take your website down due to non-payment, per your contract, they have no right to take ownership of your domain and should release that at any point that you request it, should they have control.

If you will be using our hosting services, or your website is remaining on your existing hosting account, we would need FTP and CPANEL access to your existing host. Cpanel access is important as it provides the easiest access to your website, and it's content. Your host should have those details, or you should have an email with that information. When possible, we always recommend creating a new username and password, rather than giving out yours. If you must, just make sure it's someone you trust.

This is for content management systems such as Joomla, WordPress, Drupal, Shopify, etc. We would need you to add us as an administrator using the email account [email protected]. Please do not send us your username/password, as you want to make sure you keep our account access separate. If this process is confusing, you can give us your username and password and we will create a new user account for us, and reset your password so you can add a new password.

If you are using a third party email service (such as MS Outlook or GSUITE), please let us know so we can ensure your email routing stays the same. If you need email accounts on your hosting account, please let us know. We recommend separating your email accounts from your website, as this is the preferred method. For more details, please contact us.

We need you to add [email protected] as an owner of your Google My Business listing. The Google my business listing is what is found on Google on the right hand side when your business is searched. You can reach Google My Business by going to https://business.google.com. If for some reason you do not have a listing, don't worry, we can create one for you.

If you are currently using Google Analytics, we would need you to add our account as an administrator. The purpose for this is so we have access to previous website analytics data so we can track your previous growth so we have something to compare to over the current preriod. This is the best way to demonstrate success of your current SEO campaign.

If you are currently using search console, we would need you to add us as a user. This is so we can analyze errors and other information about your website so we can work to improve the performance. If you don't have this setup, we can set this up now, however it would not include historical data.

If we are also taking care of your SEM (Search Engine Marketing), the process is pretty simple to add a user to manage your account. You can control how much access third parties have, and they will never be able to access your credit card information. However, be aware, mistakes can be costly. If the person doesn't know how to edit Google ads correctly, they could increase your budget and you could end up spending thousands more. We have heard this many times by people who had someone internally at their company managing their pay-per-click campaigns.