An access and ownership audit answers one question for every account behind your marketing: does your business own it? Work through the accounts below, write down the owner, the login email and the renewal date for each, and fix anything held by a person or company other than your business. Most owners finish in an afternoon and end up with a single page that protects the business for years.
Why this matters for a trades business
Trades businesses are especially exposed to ownership problems for three reasons.
First, websites are often set up quickly by whoever was available: a nephew, a part-time office manager, a freelancer from a referral, an agency on a short contract. Each of them may have used their own email address or card. Second, staff turnover in the office is common, and the person who "did the internet" takes the knowledge with them. Third, owners are on job sites, not in front of dashboards, so problems go unnoticed until something fails.
The consequences range from irritating to serious. A renewal fails because the card belonged to a former employee. An agency relationship ends and the Google Business Profile, along with all its reviews, stays with them. A buyer for your business asks for proof that you own your domain and you can't provide it.
Step 1: list every account
Start with a blank page or spreadsheet. Go through these categories and write down every account you know of, plus any you suspect exist.
Website foundations
- Domain registrar (where you pay for the name)
- DNS provider (sometimes the registrar, sometimes not)
- Hosting company
- Website platform or admin login
- Security certificate, if managed separately
Search and listings
- Google Business Profile
- Google Search Console
- Bing Places and Bing Webmaster Tools
- Apple Business Connect
- Trade and local directories you're listed on
Advertising
- Google Ads, including Local Services Ads if you use them
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram) business assets and ad account
- Any other ad platforms
Measurement and communication
- Google Analytics or another analytics tool
- Call-tracking service and its numbers
- Business email administration
- Any texting or review-request software
To find accounts you've forgotten, search your email for "welcome to", "receipt", "renewal" and "verify", and look through card statements for small recurring charges.
Step 2: record the owner and access for each
For every account, fill in five columns:
| Account | Owner (legal) | Login email | Renewal / billing | Who else has access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain | ||||
| Hosting | ||||
| Google Business Profile | ||||
| Google Ads |
"Owner" should be your business. "Login email" should be an address on your business domain that will outlive any one employee, such as an office or admin address. "Renewal" should be a business card, with the date written down.
Mark any row where the owner is a person, a past provider or unknown. Those are the rows to fix.
Step 3: fix the problem rows
Work in order of risk: domain first, then hosting and DNS, then Google Business Profile, then ad accounts, then the rest.
If a former provider holds the account
- Ask in writing, politely and specifically, for ownership of each named account to be transferred to your business. Keep a copy.
- Give a reasonable deadline.
- If that doesn't work, use the platform's own ownership or recovery process. Most major platforms have one, and they verify ownership with the business itself, using details such as your business email, phone, documents or a code sent by mail.
If a former employee holds it
Use the same platform processes. If the employee left on good terms, a short call to ask them to transfer ownership is often the fastest route.
If you don't know who holds it
Start with whatever you can see publicly, such as the contact details on your listing, and work through the platform's recovery options.
Throughout, avoid creating a duplicate account as a shortcut. A second Google Business Profile, for example, can confuse searchers and split your reviews.
If this gets complicated, our access recovery service handles the process with you.
Step 4: tidy up access
Once your business owns each account:
- Remove people who no longer need access, including former staff and past agencies.
- Give current helpers their own logins rather than sharing one password. That way you can remove one person without changing everything.
- Turn on two-step verification wherever the platform offers it, tied to a business phone or authenticator app.
- Use a password manager for the business, so logins don't live in one person's head or a notebook in a truck.
Step 5: keep the register alive
The register is only useful if it stays current. Put a yearly reminder in your calendar to review it, and update it whenever someone leaves or a provider changes. Store a copy somewhere safe that the owner and one other trusted person can reach.
A good register also makes life easier for anyone who helps you. A new provider can start work in hours instead of weeks, and if you ever sell the business, it's evidence that the digital assets are yours to transfer.
A worked example
Imagine an electrical contractor with three vans. The audit finds:
- The domain is registered to the owner's personal email and renews on his personal card next March.
- Hosting is in the name of the freelancer who built the site in 2019.
- The Google Business Profile is owned by a previous agency; the office manager is a manager on it.
- Google Ads sits under the agency's manager account, billed to the business card.
The fix order: move the domain to a business admin email and card this week; ask the freelancer to transfer hosting or move the site to a business-owned account; request primary ownership of the Business Profile from the agency in writing; and ask the agency to transfer the ads account so the business is the owner, keeping the conversion history. The total effort is a few hours of the owner's time, spread over a few weeks of platform waiting. The risk removed is significant.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the person who paid owns it. Payment and ownership are separate settings on most platforms.
- Letting things lapse to "start fresh". An expired domain can be registered by someone else.
- Using a personal email for business accounts. It ties the account to one person forever.
- Doing the audit once and forgetting it. Ownership drifts every time someone joins or leaves.
When the register is done, a maintenance plan keeps renewals and access current. If you'd like help, contact us by call, text or email. And if you're also choosing a provider, read our guide on choosing a support plan.
Frequently asked questions
What's the single most important account to own?
The domain name. Whoever controls the domain controls where your website and email point. Everything else can be rebuilt; a lost domain can be very hard to get back.
Is it a problem if my agency is an admin on my accounts?
Not at all, as long as your business is the owner and the agency is a user you can remove. The problem is when the agency is the only owner, or when the account sits entirely under the agency's own business.
How often should we repeat this audit?
Once a year, and whenever someone who had access leaves, or you change providers. It's much quicker the second time because the register already exists.
Can I do this without technical knowledge?
Yes. The audit is mostly about finding accounts and reading their settings pages. Where a recovery or transfer gets complicated, that's the point to ask for help.