Most contractors assume they own their website and Google listing. After all, they paid for them. But paying for something and owning it are not the same thing.
In my last post, I told the story of a Milledgeville roofer who paid marketing companies for years and found out he owned almost none of it: his website went dark, and his phone numbers were scattered across the internet. Read that story: What Happens to Your Website and Google Listing If You Stop Paying Your Marketing Company?
This post is the practical part. Here’s how to find out right now what you own, in about 15 minutes, with no technical skills.
1. Your Google Business Profile
Start here, because it matters most. For most contractors, your Google profile brings in more calls than your website.
- Sign in to the Google account you think manages your business.
- Search your business name on Google.
- If you see your business with editing options (like “Edit profile”), you have access. If you don’t see any edit options, someone else controls it.
- Go to the ⋮ menu → Business Profile settings → People and access.
- Look at every name on that list and what role each one has.
What you want to see: you are listed as Primary owner or Owner. Your marketing person should be a Manager.
Red flags: you aren’t on the list at all; a company you stopped working with is still on the list; only your marketing company is an Owner. If a former vendor is still on there, remove them. They can still edit the listing that brings in your phone calls.
2. Your domain name
Your domain is the “yourcompany.com” part. If someone else owns it, they own your address on the internet.
- Ask yourself: do I have a login to the company where my domain is registered? (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Network Solutions, and so on.)
- If you don’t know where it’s registered, go to lookup.icann.org, type in your domain, and look for the Registrar name. That’s where it lives.
- Log in there and make sure the domain shows up in your account, and that it’s paid for with your card.
Red flags: “our web company handles that”; you’ve never gotten a renewal email; the domain sits in the marketing company’s account, even if your name is on it somewhere.
3. Your website
- Do you have a login to the place where your website is built or hosted (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or another platform)?
- If you canceled your marketing company tomorrow, would the website stay up?
Red flag: your website runs on the marketing company’s own platform and you’re “renting” it month to month. When you stop paying, it disappears. That’s exactly what happened to the roofer in my last post.
4. Your phone numbers
This one surprises people.
- Google your business name and look at every listing that comes up: Google, Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps, MapQuest, the BBB, directory sites.
- Write down every phone number you see.
- Call any number you don’t recognize.
Red flag: numbers you don’t recognize. Some marketing companies use tracking numbers that forward to you. When you leave them, those numbers can stop working or ring somewhere else.
My roofer client had six different numbers out there. Every wrong one is a customer who might not reach you.
5. Your Facebook page
- Open your Facebook page and go to Settings → Page access (sometimes called Page roles).
- Make sure your own personal Facebook account has full control.
Red flag: only your marketing company’s account has full control.
Your scorecard
| What | You own it if… |
|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | You are the Owner |
| Domain | It’s in your registrar account, on your card |
| Website | You have the login, and it stays up if you cancel |
| Phone numbers | Every listing shows your number |
| Your account has full control |
All five? You’re in great shape.
Missing even one? Fix it now, while you’re on good terms with your marketing company. It’s a lot harder after you’ve left. I learned that the hard way cleaning up after someone else’s vendor.
Want a second set of eyes?
If you went through this and something doesn’t add up, or you just don’t want to deal with it, I’ll check it for you free. I’ll tell you what you own, what you don’t, and how to get it back.
Get a free look-up