// AGENCY TAKEOVER
Switch marketing agency without losing rankings
Switching marketing agency without losing rankings means keeping your domain, website, Google Business Profile and Search Console in your business’s name while the people running them change. Your rankings belong to your website and your Google profile, not to the agency’s account, so the risk sits in the handover, not the switch. Web Blend runs Google Ads, SEO and GoHighLevel in-house for Australian trade businesses, from Darwin, and takes over at our published prices.
Updated October 2026
// START HERE
What your rankings actually belong to
Google ranks your website’s pages and your Google Business Profile. It doesn’t rank your agency. When the agency changes and those things stay put, the rankings stay put.
Four things decide whether that’s true for you:
- Your domain is registered to your business.
- Your website can be backed up or moved, not locked to the agency’s platform.
- Your Google Business Profile lists your business as primary owner. If you’re not sure, see Google Business Profile access.
- Your phone numbers on the site and profile are yours, not tracking numbers rented by the agency.
If all four are yes, switching is mostly paperwork. If any are no, fix that first, before anyone gives notice.
// THE ORDER
The order to do it in, before you give notice
Do these while the relationship is still friendly. Asking for access is easy now and hard later.
- List who owns what. Domain, hosting, website admin, Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics, Google Ads, Meta and call tracking. The free marketing account ownership checklist has every line.
- Get owner access in your business’s name for anything you don’t hold. Ask for it as housekeeping, not as a goodbye.
- Export the baseline. Search Console performance by month (it keeps about 16 months), Analytics leads by month, Google Ads campaigns and conversions, and a list of every page URL on the site. This is your before-picture.
- Ask for the work list. Pages written, links built and where they sit, directory listings, and any tracking numbers.
- Back up the website. A full backup if it’s WordPress; a content export if it’s the agency’s own platform.
- Read your agreement. Notice period, payout, and who owns the content and links (next section).
- Then give notice in writing, with a handover date.
// CONTRACTS
Locked into a marketing agency contract?
We can’t get you out of a contract, and nobody honest can promise to. What we can do is plan the handover so it lands on the day your contract ends.
You’re not unusual. The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman says almost three quarters of small businesses “don’t stay with the same provider for more than a year”, and one third “need help to resolve disputes with their providers” (ASBFEO).
Three steps:
- Find the term, notice period and payout. Paste the agreement into ChatGPT or Claude, ask it to list those three plus who owns the work, then check each answer against the clause it quotes.
- If it was agreed over the phone, ask the agency for the agreement in writing before you do anything else.
- If a term looks unfair, the Australian Consumer Law protects small businesses from unfair terms in standard form contracts (business.gov.au). The ASBFEO offers dispute information and access to mediation.
This is general information, not legal advice.
// THE RISKS
What makes rankings drop when you switch
Rankings rarely drop because an agency changed. They drop because something else changed on the same day.
- Page addresses change without redirects. A rebuild
that moves
/blocked-drains/to/services/drains/with no redirect throws away what the old page earned. Keep every URL, or 301 redirect it. - The old site comes down before the new one is live. Common when the site sits on the agency’s own platform.
- Links the agency controlled disappear. Some agencies remove the work they placed once you stop paying. Ask in step 4 which links sit on sites you don’t control.
- Phone numbers change. If the agency’s tracking numbers are on your site, profile and directories, switching them off breaks every one at once.
- Your Google profile drifts. Old addresses, old service areas, a wrong number, or listings left live after a move.
Nothing breaks on switch day if nothing structural moves on switch day.
// THE HANDOVER
How we take over from your old agency
- Ownership first. Your domain, DNS, Google Business Profile, Analytics, Search Console and Google Ads in your business’s name, with Web Blend added as a user.
- The baseline saved before anything changes, so you can see what moved and why.
- Every URL kept. If a page has to move, it gets a 301 redirect from the old address.
- DNS records copied before anything moves, so your website and email keep working through the switch.
- Then the monthly work starts, on the published plan that matches what your old agency did.
// LOCKED OUT
If your old agency holds the logins
That’s a recovery job first. Our Account Recovery is $490 + GST and covers seven account types, including your domain and Google Business Profile. For how these situations tend to play out, read what people say about websites held hostage.
// PRICING
Agency Takeover: our published prices
There’s no separate takeover fee. You move onto the plan that matches what your old agency did.
| If your agency ran | You move to | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Google Ads management | $650 + GST a month, plus your ad spend. Suits spend of about $1,500 a month or more. |
| SEO | SEO project | from $3,500 + GST, one-off. No retainer. |
| Ads, landing page and follow-up | Lead System | $3,000 + GST a month, plus your ad spend. No setup fee. |
| Held your logins | Account Recovery | $490 + GST, fixed. |
Not sure whether to leave yet? The $290 + GST Agency Second Opinion is credited once per business against the first month of any Web Blend monthly plan signed within 30 days of the audit.
Month to month. You own every login. Full terms are on our pricing page.
// FIT
Who should not switch to us
Not sure your agency is failing? Run the 15-minute check first.
-
Your agency is doing the work and you only want it cheaper. We’re not the cheapest. Check the prices above first. - You’re not sure they’re failing. Run the 15-minute check or get a second opinion before you move anything.
- You’re mid-contract with a payout. Sort the contract first. We’ll plan the handover for the end date.
- You want guaranteed rankings. Nobody can guarantee them, and we don’t.
// QUESTIONS
Questions about switching agencies
Not sure where your switch should start? Tell us what your agency runs and we’ll send the order.
Plan my switchWill I lose my Google rankings if I change SEO agency?
Not from the switch itself. Rankings belong to your website and Google profile. They drop when something changes at the same time: page addresses without redirects, a site taken down, removed links or new phone numbers. Keep those steady through the handover and the rankings have no reason to move.
Who owns the SEO work after I cancel my agency?
It depends on your agreement. Pages on a website you own usually stay. Links placed on sites the agency controls can be removed. Read the ownership clause and ask for the full work list before you give notice.
Can I cancel my marketing agency contract if they haven’t delivered?
That depends on your contract and the facts, and it’s a legal question. Start with the notice and payout clauses. Ask for the agreement in writing if it was verbal. The ASBFEO can point you to dispute help. We plan the switch around your end date; we don’t negotiate contracts.
What if my old agency won’t hand over our website or Google Business Profile?
Then it’s a recovery job before it’s a switch. Our Account Recovery is $490 + GST and covers your domain, website hosting, Google Business Profile, Google Ads, Meta, Analytics and Search Console.
Should I tell my agency I’m leaving before I’ve secured the logins?
No. Ask for owner access first, as housekeeping, while things are friendly. Export your baseline. Then give notice in writing with a handover date.
What does it cost to switch to Web Blend?
There’s no takeover fee. You move onto a published plan: Google Ads management at $650 + GST a month, an SEO project from $3,500 + GST one-off, or the Lead System at $3,000 + GST a month. Account Recovery is $490 + GST if the old agency holds logins. Monthly plans run month to month, and you own every login.
// GET HELP
Plan my switch
// AGENCY TAKEOVER
Tell us what your agency runs now
Luke replies personally with the order for your switch and the published plan that fits. No payment now.