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Who Really Owns Your Clinic’s Website and Content? 5 Checks Before You Need Them · The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

• 0:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Quick question.
• 0:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: If your web person, your marketing company, or the employee who“handles your website, social media, and the Google stuff” became unavailable tomorrow… could you log in to your own website?
• 0:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: What about your Google listing?
• 0:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your Instagram account?
• 0:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: And your domain—the actual website address patients use to find you?
• 0:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: If your answer is,“I think so,” this episode is for you.
• 0:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because“I think so” feels fine when everything is working.
• 0:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: It feels very different when your website is down and nobody knows where the renewal email went.
• 1:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: I’m Darcy Sullivan, with Propel Marketing Design and today we’re walking through five access checks every clinic owner should make before they need them.
• 1:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now, the title of this episode talks about your website, but we’re also going to look at a few other marketing channels—including your Google listing, social media accounts, and marketing reports.
• 1:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: And we’re going beyond whether you know the passwords.
• 1:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: We’re going to talk about whether you actually own your website and its content—and what you could lose if you break up with your marketing company.
• 1:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: You can delegate the work of managing your website and marketing.
• 1:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your clinic still needs a clear way to access its accounts and understand what belongs to the business.
• 1:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: By the end of this episode, you’ll know what to check and exactly what to ask the people managing your marketing.
• 1:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let’s start with something that surprises people: having a login doesn’t necessarily mean you control the account.
• 2:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: You might be able to change a paragraph on your website but have no ability to add a new administrator.
• 2:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: You might be able to post on Facebook but have no authority to manage who else has access.
• 2:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: And you might pay a website bill for years without knowing whether you can keep the website—or even the words on its pages—if you leave.
• 2:23
  Darcy Happy AI try: Those are three different questions: Can I get in?
• 2:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: What can I control?
• 2:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: And what do I get to keep?
• 2:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: Today’s checklist covers all three.
• 2:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: Picture a clinic switching marketing companies.
• 2:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: The owner assumes the new company can pick up where the old one left off.
• 2:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then they find out the domain is in one account, the website is on a platform they can’t move, and the Google listing belongs to a former employee.
• 2:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now a routine business decision has turned into a recovery project.
• 2:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: A clear access arrangement makes transitions easier for your clinic and the people helping you.
• 3:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let’s check yours.
• 3:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check one: Your domain name.
• 3:06
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your domain is your website address.
• 3:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you only check one thing after this episode, start here.
• 3:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Here’s the question: Could your clinic sign in to the account where that domain is registered?
• 3:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: You may know who built your website.
• 3:21
  Darcy Happy AI try: That doesn’t necessarily tell you who registered the domain—or where.
• 3:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe your original designer bought it.
• 3:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe an office manager handled it years ago.
• 3:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe the person who knew the answer left three employees ago.
• 3:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Find out which company holds the registration.
• 3:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then check that your clinic controls the account and that the registration information is appropriate for your business.
• 3:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: Next, check renewal.
• 3:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: When does the domain expire?
• 3:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Is automatic renewal turned on?
• 3:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Is the payment method current?
• 3:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: Who receives the notices?
• 3:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: An expired domain can interrupt your website and may also affect email connected to that domain.
• 4:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: This is a small administrative detail with a very visible consequence.
• 4:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Also ask whether the settings that connect your domain to your website and email are managed somewhere else.
• 4:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don’t have to understand those settings.
• 4:17
  Darcy Happy AI try: You just need to know who manages them.
• 4:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: One more detail: make sure your recovery plan still works if your clinic email goes down.
• 4:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don’t want every route back into the account to depend on the very service you’re trying to restore.
• 4:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your action for this check: find the domain account and verify that the clinic can access and recover it.
• 4:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: An old invoice is a clue.
• 4:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: A successful login is a check.
• 4:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check two: Your hosting If the domain is your address, hosting is the service that keeps the website available.
• 4:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Sometimes hosting is included with your website platform.
• 4:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: Sometimes it’s a separate account.
• 4:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: Sometimes your agency manages it for you.
• 5:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: Any of those arrangements can work.
• 5:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: What matters is understanding yours.
• 5:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ask:“Where is our website hosted?”“Who handles support if it goes down?”“And how do backups work?” Then ask the question people tend to save until they’re already leaving:“If we stopped working together, how would we get a copy of our website, and what would that cost?” Get that answer in writing.
• 5:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your agency may use a shared hosting account, so a separate hosting login for your clinic might not be part of the arrangement.
• 5:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: In that case, you need a clear process for support, backups, and leaving the service.
• 5:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: And don’t assume that“we have backups” answers everything.
• 5:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: Who can restore one?
• 5:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: What does it include?
• 5:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Can you obtain a usable copy?
• 5:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don’t need to become the person restoring the website.
• 5:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: You need to know who would do it and how you would reach them.
• 6:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your action: document where the site lives, who supports it, and how you would leave.
• 6:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check three: Your website—and the content on it While we’re talking about who owns your website, we need to spend a minute on the website itself.
• 6:17
  Darcy Happy AI try: Do you actually own it?
• 6:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: And do you own the content on it?
• 6:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: We have clinics come to us using custom website platforms built by clinic marketing companies.
• 6:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: And some of those owners have no idea that their arrangement doesn’t let them take the website—or its content—with them when they leave.
• 6:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: They know they’ve been paying for a website.
• 6:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: They see their logo, their services, their team.
• 6:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: So naturally, they think,“That’s my website.” Then they decide to switch marketing companies and discover what their agreement actually allows.
• 6:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: The website stays with the provider.
• 6:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: And depending on the agreement, the copy and other content may stay with the provider, too.
• 7:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: That means you could need more than someone to move your website.
• 7:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: You could need a new website and new content to put on it.
• 7:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: Think about what that includes: your homepage, service descriptions, condition pages, blog posts, and other material you assumed you could keep using.
• 7:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: That changes the cost, the timeline, and the work involved in moving to a new company.
• 7:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: And it’s much better to understand that before you give notice.
• 7:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your website has several parts: the platform, the design, the copy, the photos, and possibly paid tools or licensed features.
• 7:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: Those pieces can have different ownership and usage terms.
• 7:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: Owning your domain doesn’t settle those questions.
• 7:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Having an administrator login doesn’t settle them either.
• 7:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: So check your agreement and ask these questions directly:“Do we own the website, or are we paying to use it while we’re your client?”“Do we own the copy you’ve written for us, and can we use it on another website after we leave?”“What happens to our photos, blog posts, and other content?”“What exactly will you provide when our agreement ends, and what will we have to rebuild or replace?” Get specific answers in writing.
• 8:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: “You own your content” needs to be clear about which content that includes.
• 8:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: A custom platform can be a reasonable choice when you understand the arrangement.
• 8:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: The problem is discovering the restrictions when you’re ready to move on.
• 8:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your action: confirm your administrative access, what you own, and what you’re allowed to take and reuse.
• 8:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: You want to know what a breakup would involve before you’re in the middle of one.
• 8:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check four: Your Google listing and social media accounts Next, look at the accounts patients use to find and follow your clinic.
• 8:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Start with your Google Business Profile.
• 8:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: Who controls it?
• 9:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: This is easy to overlook because the listing can keep working long after the person who created it has moved on.
• 9:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: But eventually you need to change access, switch providers, or resolve a problem—and discover that the primary owner is someone you haven’t spoken to in years.
• 9:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Review the profile’s People and access settings.
• 9:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: Who is the primary owner?
• 9:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which other owners or managers are listed?
• 9:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: Are all of those people still supposed to have access?
• 9:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your clinic should retain primary ownership through an account it controls.
• 9:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your staff and marketing partners can have the permissions they need for their work.
• 9:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: And look beyond the email address itself.
• 9:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: A Gmail address isn’t automatically a problem.
• 9:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: An account controlled only by someone who has left the business is.
• 9:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: If your clinic can’t access the profile, Google has an ownership request process.
• 9:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Start resolving that while you have time to work through it.
• 9:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: Creating a second listing can create more confusion.
• 10:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now apply that same access check to your social media accounts.
• 10:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: Facebook.
• 10:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Instagram.
• 10:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: LinkedIn.
• 10:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: YouTube.
• 10:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: Whatever your clinic actually uses.
• 10:14
  Darcy Happy AI try: If the person posting for you left tomorrow, could you still manage the account and give someone else access?
• 10:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: Being able to publish a post may not give you control over the page, channel, or connected business account.
• 10:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check who has administrative control.
• 10:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check the recovery email and phone number.
• 10:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you run social media ads, check access to the advertising account, too.
• 10:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Use the platform’s individual access tools where available, so each person can have appropriate permissions.
• 10:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: While you’re checking, review your other business listings, including Apple and Bing if you use them.
• 10:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your action: verify that your clinic controls its listings and social accounts, and review who else has access.
• 11:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check five: Your search and tracking accounts Finally, check the accounts that help you understand whether your marketing is working.
• 11:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: That may include Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and other tools your provider has set up.
• 11:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: Here’s the key question: If your marketing company stopped sending reports tomorrow, could your clinic still access its own information?
• 11:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: A report is useful.
• 11:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: So is having access to the source.
• 11:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ask your provider for a list of the tools connected to your website and the clinic’s permissions in each one.
• 11:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: For Search Console, confirm that the clinic has ownership access.
• 11:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: For Analytics and any other tracking tools, confirm that your clinic has appropriate administrative control and that the data is associated with the correct business account or property.
• 11:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don’t have to learn every dashboard this week.
• 11:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: Just sign in, confirm you’re looking at your clinic’s information, and make sure there’s a reliable way to manage access.
• 12:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your action: verify access to the accounts behind your marketing reports.
• 12:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Here’s your 30-minute homework to get this all in order Block 30 minutes this week to start an account inventory.
• 12:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: For each of the five areas, write down: Who provides the service?
• 12:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: Who controls the account?
• 12:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: What access does the clinic have?
• 12:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: And how would the clinic recover access or change providers?
• 12:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: For the website, add one more question: What can we take and continue using if we leave?
• 12:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: Make sure your inventory includes your social media accounts, too.
• 12:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: Keep passwords and recovery codes in a secure password manager.
• 12:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: The inventory should tell an authorized person where to go without becoming a document full of passwords.
• 12:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: Use individual user accounts where possible, turn on multifactor authentication, and make sure recovery doesn’t depend on one employee’s personal phone.
• 13:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: You may not resolve everything in 30 minutes.
• 13:06
  Darcy Happy AI try: That’s okay.
• 13:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: The goal is to identify the gaps and assign the next steps.
• 13:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you find something unexpected, gather the facts before changing access or canceling services.
• 13:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Confirm that your clinic’s access works and understand what’s connected before making a transfer.
• 13:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don’t need to manage every part of your clinic’s online presence yourself.
• 13:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: You do need to know where it lives, who controls it, and what happens when something changes.
• 13:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: And when it comes to your website, make sure you understand what you’ve been paying for—and what you get to keep.
• 13:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: Start with your domain.
• 13:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: Find the account.
• 13:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: Try the login.
• 13:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Check the renewal information.
• 13:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then work through the other four checks.
• 13:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you’d like help figuring out what your clinic controls and where the gaps are, visit propelyourcompany.com to book a discovery call.
• 14:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: And send this episode to the person who handles your website or marketing.
• 14:04
  Darcy Happy AI try: It gives you a practical checklist to work through together.