My web developer disappeared. What do I do?

Secure your domain first, then your hosting and email, then take a full backup before anyone changes anything. The domain is the one thing you cannot rebuild: if it lapses or sits in someone else's account, your website and your email go with it.

Do these in order

1. Secure the domain

Look up your domain with a WHOIS search to see which registrar holds it, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Squarespace, which took over Google Domains. Get into that account, or ask the registrar to move the domain into an account in your name. Check the expiry date, turn on auto-renew and add two-factor sign in.

2. Find the hosting

The site lives on a server somewhere. Your domain's DNS records point to it, and a developer can tell you where in minutes. Get a login in your name. If the hosting is in the developer's personal account, plan to move it.

3. Protect your email

Business email usually runs through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, routed by DNS records. Make sure you are an administrator there, so a DNS change cannot cut you off.

4. Take a full backup

Files, database and uploaded media, stored somewhere you control. Do this before any updates, because an outdated site can break when its software is updated.

5. Take stock, then decide

List what the site runs, what is out of date and what is insecure. Then decide whether to repair it or rebuild it on a lean foundation, keeping your old addresses working with redirects.

Signs the site needs help now

• A browser "not secure" warning, which usually means an expired SSL certificate.
• Spam pages or strange links you did not add.
• The contact form stopped sending, and nobody noticed for weeks.
• Software or theme updates are years behind.

How we take over a site

We start with a full backup and a written inventory of what the site runs, then tell you what we would keep, fix or retire. Accounts go in your name, the code goes into version control, and from then on every change is backed up and logged. We take over sites for clients in Monmouth County and nationwide.