Questions to ask your website company?
1) Who owns the domain name?
As you will see if you click on the Domain Names, I insist that you own the domain to your own site. Some website companies will take ownership of the site - so if you fall out with them, or they go bust, you are left with nothing.
2) Where is the site being hosted?
Some website companies will host it themselves - they buy a reseller package and then put your site on their own shared server. Again, I believe that you should pay for the hosting from a company of your choosing. I have provided a list of companies under the hosting menu on the left hand side.
3) Where are the pictures used obtained from?
Pictures and photos are normally subject to copyright. If your website designed uses copyrighted images then you are potentially liable if a company sues for using an image. Getty Images won a case last year in the British High Courts (link).
4) How do I get a copy of the site
What would happen if your website company went bust or won the lottery and left the country? We are happy to provide you with a CD containing your website. If anything went wrong, you can take the site to any other website company and they can get the site back up and running within minutes.
5) How often can I update the site
Some companies will just provide you with a website - and that's it. Economy sites allow you to make monthly updates (you provide the text and photos / pictures if necessary) so you can keep your site up to date and fresh. This is free of charge for the first year and a nominal fee thereafter.
6) Where are you based?
For some reason, some website companies don't print their addresses on their stationary or on their own websites. My full contact details can be found here.