How to switch web design agencies without losing your domain, email or rankings

Most people don't decide to switch web agencies over one big failure. It's the slow pile-up: the edit that took three weeks, the invoice with four "30 minute" lines for a phone number, the account manager who left and took all the context with them. Then one day you realize you don't actually know who has the password to your own website.

Switching is routine if you do it in the right order, and painful if you don't. The classic mistake is to cancel first and start collecting logins afterwards, when the agency has no reason left to reply quickly. The seven steps below work the same whether you're leaving an agency, a freelancer or the friend who "does websites".

Key takeaways

• Don't cancel first. Collect logins and a full backup while the relationship is still friendly.
• Check whose name is on the domain registration. Whoever is listed there controls the domain.
• In the US, a contractor usually owns the code they write unless your contract assigns it to you.
• Your email runs through your domain. Copy the MX records before anything moves.
• Keep your page URLs, or redirect them with 301s, and your rankings come with you.

First, find out what you actually own

This is where most switches get stuck, so settle it before anyone knows you're leaving.

• The domain. What matters is the registrant, the person or company on the registration, not who pays the renewal. Log in to the registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace Domains and so on) and check the contact details. If the agency registered it under their own name, fix that first.
• The code and design. This one surprises people. Under US copyright law, custom work by an outside contractor generally belongs to the contractor unless there is a signed agreement that transfers it to you. A website usually isn't a "work made for hire" by default. Read your contract for an assignment or license clause. If there isn't one, you may have the right to use the site but not to take the source code elsewhere.
• Photos and fonts. Stock images and paid fonts are often licensed to the agency, not to you. Ask whose account they're under.
• Your content. Text and photos you supplied are yours. Everything else, see the contract.

We're not lawyers, and this isn't legal advice. If a lot is at stake, have an attorney read the contract. For a deeper look at each of these, see Do I own my website?

Collect every login

Make a list and write down who holds each one today: you, the agency, or both.

For Google tools, ask the agency to add you as an Owner, not just a user. An owner can't be removed by someone with a lower role.

Read the contract before you give notice

Four things set your timeline: the minimum term, whether it auto-renews (and for how long), the notice period, and what the agency hands over when the contract ends, in what format and at what price. Some agencies charge a "release" or "offboarding" fee. Better to find that out now than in the final week. The questions worth asking any provider up front are in 14 questions to ask a web designer.

Give notice in time, but let the contract run until the new site is live. The old site should stay up until the moment you switch.

Take a full backup

• WordPress: files plus database. Most hosts have a one-click backup, or use a backup plugin.
• An agency's own platform: you usually won't get an export that runs anywhere else. Save every page's text, every image and the full list of URLs.
• A site builder: most only export content, not design. See how to cancel your website builder and switch.

Whatever the platform, save your sitemap (usually yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml). It's the list you'll use to set up redirects.

Build the new site before you switch anything

The new site gets built on a preview address while the old one stays live. Two things are non-negotiable:

• Same URLs, or 301 redirects. Every page Google knows needs to exist at the same address or redirect permanently to its new one. The difference matters: 301 vs 302 redirects.
• Everything customers use. Contact forms, booking, downloads, privacy policy. Check where the form sends its messages.

Whether you rebuild from scratch or carry the existing site over is mostly a cost question. A rebuild is priced like a redesign (see website redesign cost). Carrying the site over is cheaper and safer for rankings.

Move the domain and email without losing mail

1. Screenshot your DNS records. All of them, but especially the MX records. They decide where your email goes.
2. Unlock the domain and request the transfer code. It's called an auth code, EPP code or transfer authorization code. Under ICANN's transfer rules, your registrar has to give it to you within five days of asking. A domain that was registered or transferred recently may be locked for 30 to 60 days, depending on the registrar.
3. Carry the email records over. If your inboxes are with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, recreate the MX (and SPF/DKIM) records exactly at the new DNS host. If the agency hosts your email, move it to a provider in your own name first.
4. Point the website at the new host. Change only the records for the site. Leave the email records alone.

More detail, including how long changes take to spread, in change DNS without breaking email.

The first two weeks after the move

• Send yourself an email and a contact-form message.
• Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and watch the Pages report for new errors.
• Visit a handful of old URLs to confirm the redirects work.
• Remove the agency from every account you took over and change the passwords.
• Only then cancel the old hosting, and keep your backup.

If your web developer disappeared or is holding your site hostage

Most agencies help with a handover because it's the professional thing to do. When they don't, or when the person simply stopped answering, you still have options:

• Ask in writing, with a date. Email a list of what you need (logins, transfer code, backup) and a deadline. The checklist above includes a template for that email.
• If the domain is in your name, you can work with the registrar directly. Registrars verify the registrant and can reset access for you, and the transfer code has to be released on request.
• If the domain is in their name, you need their cooperation to change the registrant, or a dispute process. This is the point to talk to an attorney.
• Your public content is recoverable. Everything visible on the live site (text, images, page structure) can be carried over to a new site without the agency's help. Only the code itself may be off limits.

How long does switching take?

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

Switching web agencies isn't a leap into the unknown. It's a list. Keep the order (secure, build, switch, cancel) and you lose neither email nor rankings. Settle who owns what before there's a disagreement, and there usually won't be one.

If you'd like to see your new site before you cancel anything, we'll rebuild your homepage for free, carry over the rest, and put the code in a repository in your name. If you ever leave, you take all of it with you.