Your SEO sh*t - who actually owns it?
Hey hey, it’s Nikki, and welcome to "SEO F*%king What". This is the podcast where I cut through the bollocks and give you the real advice you need to get your website found (and making money) on Google.
In this episode, “Who Owns Your SEO Shlt,” I’m talking about something that’s been pissing me off for years: the sneaky way agencies and freelancers end up owning your entire Google presence without you even knowing it.
Over three decades working in digital marketing, I’ve seen businesses spend thousands on Google Ads, Analytics, and Search Console, only to realise later they've forgotten the most important aspect of running these accounts.
In this episode, I’ll break down how to get out of this mess when it happens and ensure it never bites you on the arse again.
I promise, it’s actionable stuff you won’t hear from those LinkedIn gooroos.
So click play and let’s get into it!
Transcript
Your marketing agency might own your entire Google presence
Speaker:and you'd never know it.
Speaker:This is SEO fucking what? I'm Nicky, 30
Speaker:years in digital marketing and I'm here to help you make money from
Speaker:your website by actually getting found on Google
Speaker:today. Why? You probably don't own your own Google accounts and how
Speaker:to fix it before it bites you on the ass.
Speaker:Let's talk about something that's been pissing me off for years.
Speaker:Businesses spend thousands of pounds on Google Ads, Google
Speaker:Analytics, Search Console, all the Google products, and they
Speaker:don't actually own any of it. Their agency does.
Speaker:Or even worse, some freelancer who did a bit of work for them three years
Speaker:ago and then buggered off. Here's how it happens.
Speaker:You hire an agency or a marketing person and they say,
Speaker:okay, we'll set up your Google Ads account for you. Brilliant.
Speaker:Except they set it up using their email address, not
Speaker:yours, theirs. Same with Analytics. Same with
Speaker:Search Console. Same with your Google business profile. And
Speaker:you, like most normal people who aren't obsessed with SEO, have
Speaker:no fucking idea that this is even an issue. Fast forward
Speaker:two years, you want to change agencies or that person leaves
Speaker:or you have a falling out and suddenly you discover you can't access
Speaker:your own data. You can't see your ad spend, you can't
Speaker:check your analytics, you can't prove what traffic you've been getting
Speaker:because you don't own it. They do. And
Speaker:here's the really shitty part. Some agencies do this
Speaker:on purpose. It's a lock in tactic. They know if
Speaker:they control your account, you can't leave easily. You're stuck with
Speaker:them because moving means losing all of your historical data,
Speaker:all your campaign settings, everything. It's hostage
Speaker:taking. But with your Google accounts, we've seen businesses
Speaker:lose years of analytics data because they couldn't get access when they
Speaker:switched agencies. I've seen ad accounts with
Speaker:thousands of pounds in credit just gone
Speaker:because the person who set it up won't or can't hand over the
Speaker:login. Sometimes it's just incompetence. Someone set
Speaker:things up quickly, used their own email because it was easier and never thought
Speaker:about the consequences. But the result's the same. You're
Speaker:fucked. And it's not just agencies. I've seen this with web
Speaker:developers, SEO consultants, even the managing
Speaker:director's nephew who knows about computers. Anyone
Speaker:who's ever touched your Google stuff could potentially own it. But the
Speaker:worst thing about this is Google doesn't give a shit
Speaker:if someone set up an account with their email. As far as
Speaker:Google's concerned, they own it. You can't just ring Google and
Speaker:say, oi, that's my business, give it back. They'll tell you to sort it out
Speaker:with the person who created the account. And if that person's being difficult,
Speaker:you're pretty much screwed. So here's what I want you to check right now.
Speaker:Who created your Google accounts? Who created
Speaker:your analytics, your search console and your Google Business
Speaker:Profile? Who created your Ads account? Whose
Speaker:email is the owner? If the answer is anyone except
Speaker:someone in your business, you've got a problem. So how do you
Speaker:fix this? And more importantly, how do you set things up
Speaker:properly from the start so this never happens? I'll tell
Speaker:you in just a moment.
Speaker:Okay, let's dig into what you do. First of all,
Speaker:audit what you have. Make a list for every Google product
Speaker:you use. Google Ads, Analytics, Search Console, Google
Speaker:Business Profile, YouTube if you've got a channel. Google
Speaker:Tag Manager if you're fancy. For each one, find
Speaker:out who the owner is, not just who has access,
Speaker:who actually owns it. If you don't know,
Speaker:ask your agency or whoever manages this stuff for you.
Speaker:And if they're cagey about it or won't tell you, red flag,
Speaker:massive red flag. Secondly, if someone
Speaker:else owns your accounts, get that changed. The owner needs to
Speaker:be an email address that belongs to your business, ideally
Speaker:a generic1like accountsourcompany.com
Speaker:or marketingourcompany.com not your personal email
Speaker:that you might leave the company one day. Definitely not your
Speaker:agency's email. And here's how it works for each platform.
Speaker:For Google Ads, the person who currently owns the account needs to add you as
Speaker:an admin, then transfer ownership. They can't just add you
Speaker:as a user. You need full admin rights, then ownership.
Speaker:If they won't do this, you might need to start a new account. It's
Speaker:a pain in the ass. Better than being locked out. Google
Speaker:Analytics is a similar deal. They need to add you as an admin of the
Speaker:account at the account level, not just the property level.
Speaker:Then they can transfer ownership. Make sure you're getting account
Speaker:level access because property level won't let you do everything you need
Speaker:for search console. It's a little bit easier, they just need to add you as
Speaker:an owner. You can have multiple owners, so they don't even need to remove
Speaker:themselves. But make sure you're an owner, not just a user
Speaker:for your Google Business profile. This is the one that fucks
Speaker:people over. Most often. The person who created it
Speaker:needs to add you as an owner through the Google business profile
Speaker:interface. But if they used a personal account
Speaker:to set it up and that account gets deleted, you're
Speaker:screwed. Google won't help you. You'll have to verify
Speaker:ownership all over again. And sometimes that means waiting weeks
Speaker:for a postcard to arrive with a verification code. It's
Speaker:medieval, but it's Google. And now. Set things up
Speaker:right from now on, if you're hiring someone new, make it
Speaker:clear from the start. All accounts get set up with your business email as
Speaker:the owner. They can have admin access, but they're not the owner.
Speaker:Put it in the contract, make it non negotiable.
Speaker:And if they push back, if they say, oh, it's easier if we set
Speaker:it up our way, or we need to be the owner to manage it properly.
Speaker:Bollocks. That's not how it works. Any decent
Speaker:agency or consultant will understand why you want to own your own stuff.
Speaker:Document everything. Keep a spreadsheet with all your
Speaker:accounts. Who owns them, who has access, how to get in,
Speaker:update it every time something changes. Because I promise you, in
Speaker:six months time, when someone leaves or you switch agencies or
Speaker:you have a new freelancer, you won't remember who set up what.
Speaker:And one more thing, I think.
Speaker:Set up two factor authentication on the email address that owns these
Speaker:accounts. Because if someone hacks that email, they've got access
Speaker:to everything. Your ad spend, your data, your entire
Speaker:Google presence. Don't be the person who loses their business because
Speaker:they used password 1, 2, 3. And check this stuff
Speaker:regularly, at least every six months.
Speaker:Go through all of your Google accounts, make sure that you still
Speaker:have access. Ownership hasn't changed. You're not paying
Speaker:for something that you don't need anymore. And people that shouldn't have
Speaker:access don't have access. You'd be surprised how
Speaker:many Google search console accounts, Google Ads accounts,
Speaker:and Google Analytics accounts that I still have access
Speaker:to that are clients that I haven't worked with for years.
Speaker:I know this isn't sexy SEO advice. It's not going to get you more
Speaker:traffic, but it will save you from a world of
Speaker:pain when something goes wrong. And trust me, something
Speaker:always goes wrong eventually. That's it for this
Speaker:week. Go check who owns your Google accounts. Seriously, do it now.
Speaker:And if this helped, follow SEO fucking what? Wherever you're
Speaker:listening so you don't miss the next episode. Until next time.
Speaker:Get found, make money. Stop letting other people own
Speaker:your.
