Once a designer has been chosen and a price agreed upon, the two main considerations for a business owner include the ownership of the material and information that make up the website, and the need to take steps to ensure such material and information do not infringe the rights of third parties. These issues should be dealt with in a contract with the designer.
It is worth remembering the general rule that if you instruct a designer to create a website for you, the designer will own the intellectual property rights in the content of that website, including the text, images and layout. Copyright is a right that arises automatically, upon creation. The ‘author’ is the owner of the copyright at first instance. As with every rule there are exceptions, but you should ensure there is a clause in the design agreement that assigns ownership of all intellectual property rights in the content and design (including any future amendments) to you. Upon execution of the agreement you will own such intellectual property rights and may notify the world of your copyright ownership by adding “© 2006 [Name of your company/business]” at the bottom of each web page.
You should also request a warranty from the designer that confirms they did not copy the content from a third party and that the content provided by them will not infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party. While it would be unlikely that a reputable designer would do such a thing, you don’t want to be sued because the designer has copied the design or content of the website from a third party. In the event you do need to make a claim against the designer, you should check that the designer holds sufficient professional indemnity insurance.
Web Hosting
When your website is ready to go public, you need to find an internet service provider (ISP) to host your website. The service expected from an ISP depends upon the importance of a website to your business.
If your business model places great emphasis on your online presence, particularly if your products or services are sold online, you should request certain ‘downtime’ assurances from your ISP. Downtime refers to a period during which your website is inaccessible due to a hosting problem or ISP maintenance. Obviously you’d prefer to minimise this downtime, and certain targets or rebates should be written into the hosting agreement. While this may not be so crucial if a website simply states the name and address of a business, imagine the losses that a business like Amazon would incur if its website regularly crashed.
Online security is also an issue if you intend to collect sensitive customer data. You should satisfy yourself that the ISP has suitable measures in place to minimise the risk of unauthorised access to, or loss of, your data. Both physical access and on-site environment as well as appropriate technological measures are important.
Once created, a live website is not supposed to be a static creation. In the same way that a business will vary its advertising and marketing through more traditional media, similar attention should be given to your website.
The bottom line for whoever operates a website is that the information posted about a company’s business on its website remains a form of advertising of the goods and services offered by that company and should be treated as such. It should be kept up to date and not mislead or deceive those viewing the website.
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