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Switching from another agency

How to move your website, domain, ads and accounts from another agency or developer, without losing anything you've paid for.

Start a projectSee how it works

What should come with you

What's yours, and what to ask for. Everything you paid for.

Stays with the old agency

Their tools, their templates and their reporting dashboards. Nothing you paid for should stay behind.

  • Their internal tools
  • Their templates and themes
  • Their reporting dashboards
  • Their notice period
  • Their staff logins

Comes with you

Your domain, website, accounts, ad history, analytics and brand files, all in your name.

  • Your domain, in your name
  • Your website's content and files
  • Google Analytics and Search Console
  • Ad accounts and their history
  • Your Business Profile and social accounts

How the switch runs

Switching agencies, step by step. In the order that keeps everything safe.

Get the keys back before anything changes.

Access first, then the new site, then the switch: your website and ads never stop.

  1. 01List what existsDomain, hosting, website, analytics, ads, profiles and email, wherever they live.
  2. 02Check the contractNotice periods, what you own, and what they have to hand over.
  3. 03Get access in your nameEvery account transferred to you, or you made the owner.
  4. 04Back everything upThe site, its content and its data, saved before anything moves.
  5. 05Audit what you haveWhat's working, what isn't, and whether to keep the site or rebuild it.
  6. 06Build or take overA new site built, or the existing one taken over and cleaned up.
  7. 07Switch without a gapDomain, site and ads moved over in order, with redirects in place.
  8. 08Close the old accessOld logins removed and old billing ended once everything's confirmed.

What usually goes wrong

Where agency switches get stuck. And how we avoid it.

A domain in their name

Registered to the agency, not you; transferred to you before anything else.

Ads on their card

Ad accounts billed through the agency; moved to yours, history intact.

No admin access

You can see your analytics but don't own it; ownership moved to you.

Hosting on their server

The site lives on their hosting; a full copy taken before the move.

Code you can't take

A site built on their own platform; rebuilt, with the content kept.

A Business Profile you don't own

Your Google listing managed by them; ownership moved to you.

Notice periods

The switch timed to the contract, so nothing overlaps or lapses.

Lost history

Reports, conversions and ad data exported before access ends.

Keeping your rankings

How your search rankings come with you. The checklist we work through.

Rankings move with the pages, as long as every page has somewhere to go.

Search engines know your current site by its addresses. Each one is mapped to its new page before the switch.

  • Every old address mappedEvery address on your current site matched to a new page.
  • Permanent redirectsEach old page sends visitors and search engines to its new one.
  • Titles and descriptions carriedThe words search results show, kept or improved.
  • Structured data addedYour business, services and reviews, in the form search engines read.
  • A new sitemapSubmitted to Google and Bing the day the site goes live.
  • Search Console watchedErrors and missing pages caught in the weeks after the switch.
  • Your Business Profile linkedThe website link on your Google Business Profile updated.
  • Load time checkedPages tested on phones before launch, so the new site starts ahead.

Switching agencies, explained

Everything to know before you switch. In plain English.

Why businesses switch agencies

Businesses switch for the same few reasons: slow replies, reports that say little, a site nobody updates, and a feeling that the agency holds the keys. Often it's true: the domain, the ad accounts or the analytics sit in the agency's name.

A good switch starts by getting those keys back, politely and in writing, before anything else changes.

What you own, and what to ask for

If you paid for it, you should own it. Check your contract for what it says about ownership and handover, then ask for each of these in your name, not shared access.

  • The domain and its DNS
  • The website's files and content
  • Google Analytics and Search Console
  • Ad accounts and their history
  • Your Google Business Profile and social accounts
  • Logos and brand files

Asking for the handover

Most agencies hand over without trouble when asked clearly. Send a list of what you need, ask for ownership rather than shared access, and give a date. We can send the list for you, and talk to their team directly if that's easier.

Keep the site, or rebuild it

Not every switch needs a new website. If the site is sound, we take it over, clean it up and look after it. If it's built on the old agency's own platform, or it isn't bringing in work, we rebuild it, keeping the content and the rankings.

The switch, and the weeks after

The domain, the site and the ads move over in order, with redirects in place and campaigns kept running. We watch Search Console and the ad accounts closely for the first weeks, then close the old access for good.

  • Campaigns kept running
  • Search Console watched
  • Old access closed last

Questions and answers

Still have a question?

Ask us anything. We'll answer it straight, even if the answer is that we're not the right fit.

Ask us

  • Usually, yes, when asked clearly and in writing. What you paid for should be yours, and we'll send the request for you if it helps.

  • It can be transferred to you. We start there, before anything else changes, so your address is always under your control.

  • Yes. The ad account moves to your ownership rather than being replaced, so its history, conversions and learning stay intact.

  • Yes, if it's sound. We take it over, fix what needs fixing and look after it. If it's built on the old agency's own platform, we rebuild it and keep the content.

  • Check your notice period, then ask for access and ownership before anything else. We'll time the switch around your contract.

  • No. Everything moves over in order, with the old setup running until the new one is live and checked.

  • Taking over or rebuilding is priced as a project agreed before anything starts, then one monthly fee to look after it. We quote after a first call.

Kind words

Hear it from the businesses we've built for. What it's like to work with us, in their own words.

“Our new website and ads brought in more customers than we expected. Stratasis made the whole thing easy from start to finish.”
Anna BorowskaOwner, Apex Windows
“They took our whole website from idea to launch, online booking included, and never made it feel complicated.”
Elizabeth MarkowskiOwner, Virelle
“Everything was built around how we actually work, with the compliance side looked after from the first day.”
Daniel ZhaoFounder, Pelagion
“One team for the brand, the site and the ads. It finally feels like one business online.”
Mark SullivanDirector, Harbor
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