We're often competing with other website designers and website hosting systems for business. It's a tough market out there!

Customers and prospects are presented with many excellent options, making the decision even more difficult. The questions we are asked most often...

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Google the term "Dated" and you'll find a definition that includes "old fashioned." Watch just about any episode of House Hunters on HGTV, and you'll repeatedly hear people complaining about dated decor and cluttered layouts. Website designs, like home decor, can become outdated as tastes change and technologies accelerate faster than forest fungi after a Pacific Northwest rain. A website over two years old may be due for a makeover.

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Please be patient after changing Domain Name Server (DNS) Settings. The settings can take up to 72 hours to propagate throughout the Internet.

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3/13/15 Update: Thieves are stealing company web addresses, so please be wary of responding to suspicious "phishing" emails asking you to renew your domain or provide other sensitive account information. Also, guard and take responsibility for your own account user names and passwords.

More details about "Thieves Steal Company Web Addresses" here.

Original Article Below

Who has the keys to your domain...and your web hosting account...and your PayPal account...and all the other online accounts that make your business tick?

As a business, personal, or non-profit website owner, if you didn't answer this question with a resounding "I DO!," you are putting your website and possibly even your entire enterprise at risk.

Many companies such as domain registrars, website hosts, PayPal, banks, and others that are required to keep your sensitive online information safe WILL NOT COMMUNICATE with anyone other than the person who is listed as the main contact in their records. And they certainly will not release user name, password, and other account information to anyone other than the officially designated contact.

Knowing this to be true, consider what might happen in the following scenarios if you are not listed as the primary contact and you do not have a copy of your login information:

• Your employee leaves the company.
• You decide to switch web designers, or your designer retires or closes the business.
• Your spouse divorces you.
• Your relative turns untrustworthy.
• You and your friend or business partner have a falling out.

Now further imagine that one of these common situations arises and you need to:

• Change your account password or contact information.
• Change your web hosting service.
• Change your domain registrar.
• Change your website designer or search engine optimization (SEO) company.
• Access your PayPal account in order to add new payment buttons.

Ouch! You could be in a world of hurt, as one of our new customers discovered recently.

The bottom line is that YOUR contact information should be on ALL these accounts, and YOU should have a copy of all the login information for these accounts: that means URL addresses (e.g., paypal.com, namecheap.com, gmail.com, etc.), user names, and passwords. PLEASE do not rely on others (or Precision Computing Arts) to keep this essential information safe for you!

Tip: Here is one way to find out who is listed as the primary contact for your website's domain and to learn the nameservers for your website hosting account:

1. Go to http://centralops.net/co/DomainDossier.aspx
2. Type in your domain name (e.g., pcartsonline.com). Omit the www.
3. Check the domain whois record box.
4. Click GO. (Note: If you have changed the information recently, it may take about 24 hours to see the most recent changes.)

Oh, in case you are wondering, when Precision Computing Arts / Fastwebdev sets up an account for you, we never list our company as the registration, administrative, technical, or billing contact. We always list you — the company owner (or your designee) — and we always provide you with the complete login information for every account that we set up on your behalf. PLEASE STORE THIS INFORMATION IN A SAFE PLACE!

Questions? Please contact us.

Information current as of August 2016:

You ARE NOT REQUIRED by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) to file FORM 1099 Information Returns if you are engaged in a trade or business and the payment was made to another business that is incorporated, or the sum of all payments made to the person or unincorporated business is less than $600 in one tax year (unless the recipient is an attorney or law form). Otherwise, you may be required to file FORM 1099.

For specific details, please see https://www.irs.gov/uac/about-form-1099misc and https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/am-i-required-to-file-a-form-1099-or-other-information-return. Also consult your tax professional if you have questions.

NOTES:

1. You do not need to complete a FORM 1099 for your web hosting service, because these payments are made to a corporation (EZOT, Inc.).

2. Website consulting and support are being handled by PRECISION COMPUTING ARTS, LLC (an LLC, not a corporation, owned by Larry Gotkin), so you may need to complete FORM 1099 for consulting and support services.

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EFFECTIVE July 15, 2016: Elizabeth Olson will no longer perform website design and update services. However, we've found someone to help you, so there's no need to panic. Please read about our referral of Larry Gotkin.

PCA will continue to host — and welcome — new and existing SiteBuilder websites and provide account support for them. NO CHANGE here for any current or future PCA customers.

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Our website content management system (CMS) includes Flash tutorials and other online help (including a downloadable user manual) to make it easy to learn how to update your "build-your-own" websites.

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For customers using our Precision Computing Arts / Fastwebdev website hosting system, here's some clarification about those "unable to charge credit card" messages that may occur during automated monthly credit card billing.

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A website will look more professional if you pay close attention to the appearance of the text, make the links behave consistently, and ensure that photos are not so large that they distort the design of your pages.

» Read more about great looking text and pages

Is your site indexed in Google or Bing? Here are some quick ways to find out, along with tips for indexing your Sitebuilder Website.