A quick guide to making sure you protect and control your company’s key digital identity elements
Recently I was working with a client who needed reboot their web presence. Both the company’s primary web site and their newly acquired, complementary business’s site were outdated. In addition, social media accounts, directory listings (such as Google and Yelp), and even their suppliers had incorrect information since both businesses had moved to a new location.
With this client, one of the first challenges we was gaining control of the key elements of their online identity. Obtaining proper access is the only way to work on a wide range of issues such as removing broken homepage items, updating services, including supplier information, and providing correct contact information for the business itself. In addition, getting a site updated, or completely rebooted, is the first step before tackling social media and search engine listings.
If you would like to learn more, this article talks about
- How to think about protecting your real estate
- Key Identity Elements
- Social Media and Business Listings
- Who Controls the Keys
- Controlling Access
- Bonus Information for Pennsylvania Businesses
How to think about protecting your digital real estate
To make things more concrete, I encourage clients to think of their digital presence in terms of real estate. To secure ongoing access it is critical to know
- What the key elements of your presence are
- Who controls them
- How they are accessed
Knowing these 3 things will help ensure that your site never goes offline and that you don’t lose control over your presence. You wouldn’t want to be locked out of your house or not know when taxes or mortgage payments are due. Think of your digital property the same way. Even if you are a small company who entrusts your digital presence to a marketing or web development agency it is important to know how to access and control your digital identity.
Key Identity Elements
No matter what your circumstances are, make sure that you know where your
- Domain registration– e.g. yoursite.com is registered.
- Web site hosting – where your web site, and possibly email accounts, lives.
While the gold standard is to have separate companies for these two things, many use the same company for both since most hosting packages offer to keep your domain name registration up-to-date for free. It makes it easier to keep track of things but does put control of your primary digital assets in one place.
Social Media and Business Listings
While you don’t own either a social media company such as Instagram or a search engines such as google; it is important to remember that these are important parts of your online presence too. Given the interconnectivity of the net today, it is hard to overstate the importance of these resources for visibility and Search Engine Optimization. Therefore, it is very important to keep track of both the ownership and editing rights for:
- Social media accounts
- Business and directory listings
If you haven’t claimed either one, do it today and make sure you have hours, contact info, services, branding elements and your website listed. Make sure this information stays updated. Just like your website, add new information and posts to support SEO and build your business.
Who Controls the Keys
The control over the “keys to the kingdom” can be surprisingly problematic. Over the years I have encountered quite a range of control issues including:
- Access controlled by employees (or relatives) no longer associated with a firm
- Lack of understanding about the difference between hosting services and domain registrations
- Entities which purchase domains for clients to use, but retain ownership or control
- Websites built for clients who cannot gain or share access to their own company’s sites
Since personnel and providers can change over time, it is a good idea to
- Make sure that contacts are is in the name of your company too, e.g, not just a 3rd party.
- Use a general corporate email address for the primary access not personal accounts
- Have recovery addresses and phone numbers in place
- Know your support PIN and contacts in case of an emergency
Controlling Access
Retaining (or regaining) control of the accounts related to the key elements of your digital presence involves making sure that you know your:
- Service provider
- Login URL
- Login ID
- Password
- 2-step verification channel
It is much easier to gain control before you need it. Once everything is setup, make sure to check account settings regularly and that provider emails about accounts are not going to spam. For example, if the credit card that renews a domain name or hosting agreement is no longer valid, make sure that you learn about it before your site goes offline due to payment issues.
Bonus Information for Pennsylvania Businesses
If you are a business in Pennsylvania you must file an annual report with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania stating that your company or organization continues to exist and is using its marks, e.g. logos. The reports must be filed, EVERY year, as follows:
- Corporations (business and nonprofit)/domestic and foreign: between January 1st – June 30th
- Limited liability companies/domestic and foreign: between January 1st – September 30th
- Limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, business trusts, professional associations/domestic and foreign: January 1st – December 31st
For more information, visit the Commonwealth’s website: pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/types-of-filings-and-registrations/annual-reports.html