As we head into a long-awaited holiday weekend, all thoughts are on celebrating our nation’s independence. However, business owners and marketers alike should also take time to consider their own digital independence and to ensure that any company-owned digital assets are in the business’s full control. The two main areas most vulnerable are a company’s website and Google Analytics account.

Website

First, when it comes to your website, think of it as your business’s digital front door. Much like the business’s name, logo, exterior signage and inventory, this adds value to your brand and should be something that you invest in wisely. Unfortunately, there are some website providers that will sell you an extraordinarily cheap website on the front end but never fully grant you 100% ownership rights. As a best practice, you should always choose a digital agency who will work with you to create a great website—at a fair price point—in which your business would wholly own the images and content that the site contains. That way, you are free to choose whichever digital agency you like to be your partner at any point in time.

Also, while it is far less common, some website providers will purchase and end up owning the business’s domain name (i.e. the URL). Like any other brand asset, the domain name should be registered to a business owner or a senior officer, with several others at the company also given access, in the event that there may be employee turnover. There’s nothing worse than not knowing who or where your web domain has been registered, or worse still—losing it because you had no idea your domain was about to expire.

Google Analytics

The second major obstacle to overcome when exercising your digital independence is to ensure that a business owner (or a senior employee) also has access and full ownership to your business’s Google Analytics and Google My Business accounts. With full ownership of your Analytics account, you can easily grant other partners or employees permission to view data. Without full ownership of your Google Analytics and Google My Business accounts, clients frequently struggle to have any historical data available in which to compare website traffic or digital campaign performance.

So, while you might be chowing down on a hot dog and celebrating our nation’s independence this weekend, come Monday, do a double check to ensure that as a marketer or business owner, you too can celebrate your digital independence. And if you find out that isn’t the case, give me a call or shoot me an email—we’re a Google Premier Partner who will give your brand a free and fair evaluation and talk through how we can help you take back control (and independence!) within the digital space.

Heather Morris is a Digital Brand Strategist for 2060 Digital, a division of Hubbard Cincinnati. Email her or call her at 513.699.5045 to set up a free digital audit.