Do I have to sign a contract for a campground website?
Contracts are not automatically bad. They become bad when they are the only thing keeping you as a customer.
SHORT ANSWER
Not always. Many web companies require a twelve or twenty-four month term, especially if they waive a setup fee. Some, including us, work month to month. A contract is not automatically a bad deal, but before signing one, check four things: who owns the domain, who owns the content and site files, what the early termination fee is, and what you leave with if you cancel. If a company will not answer those plainly in writing, that is the answer.
The four questions
- Whose name is the domain registered in? Yours. Always yours. This is the single most common way parks get stuck.
- Who owns the content and the site files? You paid for the photos and the words; you should keep them.
- What is the early termination fee? Some are the remaining balance in full.
- What do I leave with? Get the specific answer in writing before you sign.
When a contract is reasonable
When real up-front cost is being amortized. A company that builds a $5,000 site and charges $150 a month with no setup fee is lending you the build cost, and a twelve-month term is fair. What is not fair is a twenty-four month term on a template with a $99 monthly fee and a $1,200 cancellation penalty.
The domain trap
The worst version of this is not the contract at all. It is the domain being registered in the web company's name. When you leave, they own your address. Your printed maps, your Google profile, your business cards, and every link on the internet point at something you no longer control. Check yours today: look it up on ICANN Lookup and see whose name and email are on it. If it is not yours, fix that before anything else.
What we do
No contract, month to month. The domain is registered in your name. You own the content and the photos. Cancel any month and we hand over what we have and point the domain wherever you want. We would rather keep you because the site works.
Related questions.
Is a website contract normal in this industry?
Common, yes, especially when a setup fee is waived. Month-to-month exists and is worth asking for.
What is a typical early termination fee?
Anywhere from one month to the entire remaining balance. Read that clause specifically before signing.
How do I find out who owns my domain?
Look it up at lookup.icann.org. If the registrant is your web company rather than you, ask them to transfer it now, not when you are leaving.
Can I transfer my domain away if my web company has it?
Usually, but they have to release it, which is exactly the leverage you do not want them to have. Move it while the relationship is good.
Want this handled for your park?
We build and run websites for RV parks and campgrounds, and nothing else. Websites from $85 a month, SEO from $250.