Domain Name Ownership and more - Advice Please
Ok, so I've been talking to a potential UK offline client about putting up a new website for them, plus SEO work and a newsletter.
They already have two websites and are unhappy with both:
The first is on a domain name which is their trading name. It's a 16 letter .co.uk domain without hyphens. The domain was registered by the company who built the site. The site is very poor (3 pages) and they don't rank in the first 200 for what they do locally, but they are locked into a five year contract at £35 per month. There are 2.5 years to go on the contract.
The company who built the site have said that they can exit the contract if they give 6 months notice, but they will not let them have the domain name OR if they complete the contract, they can have the domain name at the end.
The second site is on a domain name like this:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xx-xxxxxxx.com (not .co.uk) so not ideal at 32 characters long with a .com extension and very difficult to say on the phone.
The site itself is better than the old site, but is unfinished. The company was apparantly told that there were no ongoing costs after the site was paid for, but now find that there is an ongoing cost. I don't yet know what they have signed contractually. As far as I'm aware, they are not paying the monthly fees.
What I discussed with them initially (not realising they were tied in) was to build a new site on the domain that is their company name.
Options for site on domain 1:
1) They pay £1050 to buy out the contract and recover the domain name of their business.
2) They give 6 months notice to exit the contract, then try to recover the domain name.
3) Buy the .com extension (which is available) and build a new site
4) Stick a hyphen in (which will make it 17 characters) and buy the .co.uk extension and build a new site.
Options for site on domain 2 are messy, because I'm not sure what they've signed 'till we meet up again on Monday. Ultimately, they are not happy with the surprise ongoing fees, the domain name, and the fact that the site isn't finished.
To resolve things now, I'm leaning towards suggesting either 3) or 4) above and giving 6 months notice to exit, then try to recover the domain name and redirect it to the new site. This means that they have a further £210 to pay instead of £1050. Frankly if they lose the domain name I don't think it's a big deal long term.
Any suggestions welcomed, particularly with regard to the possible cyber squatting issue after the 6 months is up, specific to the UK.
Tony
They already have two websites and are unhappy with both:
The first is on a domain name which is their trading name. It's a 16 letter .co.uk domain without hyphens. The domain was registered by the company who built the site. The site is very poor (3 pages) and they don't rank in the first 200 for what they do locally, but they are locked into a five year contract at £35 per month. There are 2.5 years to go on the contract.
The company who built the site have said that they can exit the contract if they give 6 months notice, but they will not let them have the domain name OR if they complete the contract, they can have the domain name at the end.
The second site is on a domain name like this:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xx-xxxxxxx.com (not .co.uk) so not ideal at 32 characters long with a .com extension and very difficult to say on the phone.
The site itself is better than the old site, but is unfinished. The company was apparantly told that there were no ongoing costs after the site was paid for, but now find that there is an ongoing cost. I don't yet know what they have signed contractually. As far as I'm aware, they are not paying the monthly fees.
What I discussed with them initially (not realising they were tied in) was to build a new site on the domain that is their company name.
Options for site on domain 1:
1) They pay £1050 to buy out the contract and recover the domain name of their business.
2) They give 6 months notice to exit the contract, then try to recover the domain name.
3) Buy the .com extension (which is available) and build a new site
4) Stick a hyphen in (which will make it 17 characters) and buy the .co.uk extension and build a new site.
Options for site on domain 2 are messy, because I'm not sure what they've signed 'till we meet up again on Monday. Ultimately, they are not happy with the surprise ongoing fees, the domain name, and the fact that the site isn't finished.
To resolve things now, I'm leaning towards suggesting either 3) or 4) above and giving 6 months notice to exit, then try to recover the domain name and redirect it to the new site. This means that they have a further £210 to pay instead of £1050. Frankly if they lose the domain name I don't think it's a big deal long term.
Any suggestions welcomed, particularly with regard to the possible cyber squatting issue after the 6 months is up, specific to the UK.
Tony
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