It starts with unreturned emails. Then radio silence. Eventually you realise your developer has vanished and you’re left with a website you can’t access, can’t update, or can’t trust. It happens more often than you’d think.
First: establish who actually owns what.
Before you worry about fixes or rebuilds, you need to know whether you control your own website. That means having the login details for your domain registrar, your hosting account, and your website admin. If everything was set up under the developer’s email, that’s your first problem to solve – and it is solvable.
If you don’t know where your domain is registered, a quick WHOIS lookup will show you. Most hosting companies have dealt with this situation before and have processes for helping you recover access.
Then: assess what you’ve actually got.
Can you log in? Does the contact form actually work? When were the plugins last updated? Outdated software is a security risk, but don’t hit “update all” without knowing what you’re doing, that can cause its own problems.
When finding someone new, prioritise:
• A developer who will audit first before quoting
• Someone who explains what they find in plain English
• A clear ongoing maintenance arrangement, the lack of one is often why businesses end up here in the first place
Recovery is rarely as expensive as it feels. But it does require calm, methodical action, starting with making sure everything that’s yours is actually in your name.
If your developer has disappeared and you need someone to pick up the pieces, kupu can help. Call 01386 257 878, email [email protected] or visit kupu.co.uk.