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Things a Sh*tty Web Designer will and wont tell you.

Having a website is extremely vital to your business, I’d say it’s the most important thing these days actually. Finding a quality designer can be pretty tough especially if you’re new and totally unfamiliar with the process of getting a website made. Domain names, hosting, turn around time and the cost to build the actual site can be super overwhelming for a beginner. You’re likely to run into plenty of freelancers who have no business sense, very poor customer service skills and sometimes their design skill level & knowledge may even be questionable. Here I will tell you some red flags to look out for when hiring a designer to work on your project.

 

1. You should purchase your domain name and hosting from godaddy.

Now godaddy isn’t terrible but it isn’t as good or as cheap as other places. It’s just pretty recognizable to the average person because they’re honestly the only hosting company to advertise on tv. I’m leery of any designer who recommends them because it may mean they don’t have much experience with anything outside of it. Godaddy’s 99cent (without coupon $2.99) domain names sound amazing until you realize they’re not actually 99cents ($2.99) after the first year they are $9.99 and then you have to pay an entire $7.99 extra to keep your personal information private. What do I mean by personal information? I’m talking your full name, address, email and the telephone number you used when filling out the information to purchases your domain name.

Protecting Your Work Online

Protecting your work online:

The toughest thing about being an artist and sharing your work online is where it may end up being shared without your consent. In a world where everything is a screen shot or a right click and save away, how do your protect your work from being stolen and used without your consent? How do you even begin to keep track of where it may end up? There’s honestly not a 100% full proof way to prevent your work from being taken or used without your knowledge.  You can try to watermark your work but a lot of times it can be removed with things like Photoshop you can try disclaimer messages but those often go ignored. I would recommend trying any prevention methods you can think of but some of the best things you can do are done after it has been taken and this is why monitoring your art work is very important. Here I will show you how you can  monitor your artwork and file what is called a DMCA Complaint (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) when you find your work being used without your consent.

Please keep in mind I am not a lawyer so take this advice at your own risk. I will tell you my experience and how I personally went about protecting my work and getting it removed but that does not mean every situation you may face will have the same outcomes as mine.

What is a DMCA?:

A DMCA basically protects you as a content creator online whether you create art in the form of pictures, text, audio, or even video. You do not need to have a legally registered copyright to file a DMCA complaint but please only file it if there is a legitimate reason to. It is important that the work originated from you because you can get into legal trouble for filing false claims. Here I am going to show you the steps you need to take in order to properly file a claim and get your content removed from where it is being hosted.