Website Development Agreement-Yes, you need one.

Posted by Natalie Sulimani

January 29, 2009

The relationship between you and your website developer starts out wonderful. You’re both promising each other fantastic things! You are going to get a website that will amaze and dazzle your audience and in return, you will shower the developer with their fees. It’s all very romantic. But alas, sometimes the relationship doesn’t go so well and that’s okay, you can walk away at any time… or can you? What does the Website Development Agreement say? Ooops, there isn’t one… That’s where things get really sticky. So, let’s be serious for a moment. Here is why you need an agreement between you and your developer:

First, repeat after me: WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS ARE NOT STANDARD. Sorry for the yelling, but you can negotiate and you should.

You need to know who owns the website code at the end of the day and here’s where you need pay attention. Look out for the word PROPRIETARY. On the same note, who owns your logo?

Who set up the domain name? Try to avoid hosting on your developer’s hosting account. Yes, it’s convenient and it might save you a few bucks, but it also means that they have the username and password to the account.

Also, be aware of your developer using specific programs to make your site work. While they may have already purchased the license, you might need to when you walk away. Some of these licenses costs thousands of dollars.

Keep these points in mind when negotiating with your developer and by all means, consult your attorney because at the end of the day, you want to be able to walk away with the product you paid for. Reverse engineering code can cost you th0usands of d0llars which for small business, is crucial for your budget.

Don’t let your developer hold the keys to the castle.