Is there a reason why a host would be reluctant to give up Cpanel access info?
-
Granted, a strange question here...
My client lost her cpanel login credentials, or never bothered to get them (she didn't even know she had a hosting account). Apparently she has a friend who is hosting her website for her, free of charge.
I need to get into the cpanel, but they are being extremely difficult. The client asked them and they didn't want to give it to her either. Still trying, but is there any reason why they would be so difficult? How does it benefit them? It can't be because they're afraid of losing her account because she isn't paying them anything. Totally confused by this. Any ideas?
-
Masbro, sounds like a bait and switch tactic, which stinks. However, you can now approach it from 2 additional angles for your client: 1) Have them pay for 1 month of cPanel access at that $45 rate, then get in there, take a complete back up of the website files and database file (if a CMS like WordPress) and then create a new web hosting account in HostGator or GoDaddy or anywhere feasible to your client and a server you're used to working in. Or 2) Just request from that company a full, most recent backup copy of the website files and DB and then you can upload those files to a new host as noted above, then change the DNS records for the domain to point to the new server. I'd find out that cost and see which is the cheaper alternative, however, either way, I would get your client away from them and cancel any monthly fees. Move on and with you by their side!
NOTE: Careful with the email hosting. So make sure you know where their email is hosted if using the same domain. If setting up a new host with their backup copy, then you can figure out the Mail settings/MX records as needed to make any modifications necessary.
Hope you get things resolved! It sounds like they are willing to play ball, so that's a huge plus for you and the client.
- Patrick
-
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I think that was it. At first I thought perhaps it was some blackhat hosting, but it appears they are legit; however, they are now asking my client to pay $45 a month to to get cpanel for linux dedicated license. I don't know why she would go through all that when Hostgator is less than $4 a month.
-
Masbro,
We run into this issue all the time working with small business owners. They have a friend's cousin's nephew from down the street get them a website and don't tell them anything about what really is going on with their domain purchase/renewals, where they bought the domain, where they bought the hosting, the login for hosting, where they are hosting email, or logins to WordPress/Drupal/etc if using a CMS. The list goes on.
Unfortunately for us, we have to figure all of that out for them. Although, fortunately, we also get to build a great rapport with the client and educate them on making sure they maintain control over all of their property. I would educate them about all you know for consolidating their domain, hosting and email if you wanted and make sure you keep a login record and you share that with them as well. If they lose it, then you have it.
Now, to answer your question. Many folks are very hesitant to provide direct cPanel access because they may be in a shared environment with many other domains and websites being hosted. So, once they give you login, then you may be able to see ALL of their clients or websites and, to me, that is a big security vulnerability. I'd never allow just anyone into our shared server.
They may also just want to validate who you are in representing your mutual client on their behalf. Usually a phone call to them, with the client on the line is a good starting point, or an email from the client to the host provider.
It really all depends on the level of work you have to do. If it's minor, then you can ask them to provide FTP or SFTP login OR if it's something major or a brand new website, then another alternative you could request is for them to simply provide you a full backup of the website/database files (if any) and you can move the hosting to another provider where you have a little more control.
I believe they are simply looking at this from a security viewpoint. Allowing you access, wouldn't be beneficial to their other clients in the server, putting them at risk potentially.
Again, there are several ways to get to the end point based on your goals and needs for the client. We see it all the time and sometimes it goes smoothly, and others, it can be a long-drawn out nightmare. I hope it's not that latter for you
And I hope this was a helpful answer!
- Patrick
-
Well I'd say they want to be sure they have the real person who owns the accounts in front of them and they can't be sure. The CPanel usually provides you with access to databases and all the domain settings. So if you want to do bad this is the absolute best way to go to get sites down usually.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Website ranking on Google dropping for unknown reason while rankings are improving on Bing. Please help!
one of my websites www.resumeble.com is showing a constant drop in rankings. Earlier the website was ranking for major keywords like resume writing services etc. I used Ahrefs site audit to find issues. According to Ahrefs there was a huge issue of duplicate pages, which is now resolved by proper canonical tag insertion. The site is built on Angular. Fetch report in Google shows perfect code and Sitemap is also perfect. Manual action reporting in webmaster shows no warning. Please suggest what steps should I take to fix this issue.
Technical SEO | | mayyaa40 -
Xml sitemaps giving 404 errors
We have recently made updates to our xml sitemap and have split them into child sitemaps. Once these were submitted to search console, we received notification that the all of the child sitemaps except 1 produced 404 errors. However, when we view the xml sitemaps in a browser, there are no errors. I have also attempted crawling the child sitemaps with Screaming Frog and received 404 responses there as well. My developer cannot figure out what is causing the errors and I'm hoping someone here can assist. Here is one of the child sitemaps: http://www.sermonspice.com/sitemap-countdowns_paged_1.xml
Technical SEO | | ang0 -
ADA, WCAG, Section 508 Accessibility and hidden text
I am working on fixing accessibility issues on client's site, and they have contracted with a vendor who provides both tools to monitor the site and consulting to help us fix issues that are found. When there are spatial relationships between elements on a page that would be not be evident to someone listening via a screen reader, a strategy that they recommended to us to is to add text helpers that are not visible, but still read by the screen readers. An example: Directions to our Fifth Avenue Store I have seen this technique used on a major brand site but I am concerned that their brand strength insulates them from a hidden text penalty far more than my client's brand would. Also, their implementation uses class names like "ada_hidden" which may help search engines understand the intent, or may not at all. I am looking for opinions regarding the use of this technique. Normally I wouldn't use it for risk of penalty, but here the intent is to improve the user experience of the pages. Anyone used similar techniques for ADA/WCAG, or solved the problem in a more SEO-friendly way? Thanks, Will
Technical SEO | | WillW0 -
Google showing a Cached option but then giving a 404
2 weeks ago my home page plus some others had a 301 redirect to another domain for about 1 week (due to a hack).The original pages were then de-indexed and the new bad domain was indexed and in effect stole my rankings.Then the 301 was removed/cleaned from my domain and the bad domain was fully de-indexed via a request I made (this was 1 week ago).Then my pages came back into the index but without any ranking power.Now when I perform a search for my domain my home page is listed with an option to view the Cache. Clicking on the Cache brings up a 404 error.So why is Google showing the Cached option but doesn't have the cached file? How do I get Google to properly update it's Cache or show a cached copy?
Technical SEO | | Dantek0 -
CPanel Redirects: Know How Needed
I have ran into something I have not ran into in the past. cpanel, setting a 301 redirect. --Drop down domain choice ----- / ---- ?attachment_id=539 http://ipromotis.com (Only box marked is redirect with or without www) Produces 301 Redirect http://ipromotis.com to http://ipromotis.com
Technical SEO | | yeagerd0 -
How to fix errors and warnings on a wordpress.com hosted site ?
Hello Mozers, I've 18 4xx errors ,812 duplicate page content and 412 duplicate page titles with about 605 too many links warning and about 4900 notices.. My website is hosted on wordpress.com and I just do not understand how do i fix these errors . To add on, last week the errors were lesser by 150 !! How do I get these issues fixed ? Please assist !!! Thanks , VIkash
Technical SEO | | mysayindia0 -
Give your top 3 of best optimized websites
Hey gents & ladies, Give your top 3 of websites that in your eyes are optimized in a good way? Tell me why you think the website is that good and notice the keywords.
Technical SEO | | PlusPort0 -
Do FB Likes, Tweets, +1s etc give weightage to a page
Lets say I publish a PR with two anchor links (keywords) to a particular website. Will these backlinks get more weightage in the eyes of Google if manage to get this page 100s and 1000s of FB Likes, tweets, +1s etc? Does this strategy really work?
Technical SEO | | KS__0