Can I Move My Website to Another Agency?
Plan a move to another web agency with a clear asset inventory, rights review, tested migration and protection for website and email continuity.
Part of our guide: Who Owns Your Business Website? Domains, Content, Hosting and Access Explained
You can often move your website to another agency, but what moves depends on the platform, contracts, licences and access you currently have.
Some sites can transfer with their files and configuration. Others require a partial rebuild because a hosted platform or proprietary system does not export all functionality. Establish that before ending the current service.
Define what you want to change
You may want a different support provider, hosting arrangement or design. These are separate decisions.
A support handover might leave hosting and the domain where they are. A rebuild may replace the site while preserving the same domain and email service.
Write down the intended change so the project does not become larger or riskier than necessary.
Thinking about your own rebuild?
Tell us about your business, your current website and what you would like to improve. We will help you work out the next step.
Inventory the current system
Identify the domain registrar, DNS, hosting, content platform, code, database, media, forms, analytics, email and connected services.
Record who controls each account and which permissions the new agency needs. Check scheduled jobs, payment integrations, licences and external services that may be invisible on the public pages.
The website ownership guide provides the wider structure.
Review rights and exit terms
Read the contract for notice periods, handover charges, ownership, licences and termination effects.
Custom assets, stock media, commercial plugins and agency tools may have different portability rules. Ask which subscriptions must be replaced and which accounts can transfer.
If there is a disagreement, preserve records and seek appropriate advice. Do not assume possession of files resolves every rights question.
Request a specific handover
Ask for the agreed source files, content and database exports, media, build instructions, configuration notes and dependency list.
Secrets should transfer through a secure process, with replacement credentials issued where appropriate. Avoid putting passwords into ordinary project documents.
See keeping website files and content for what makes an export useful.
Test before changing the live route
The incoming agency should establish a private test environment and verify pages, forms, redirects, search metadata, mobile behaviour and connected services.
If customer data is copied, use appropriate access restrictions and handling. Prevent a staging site from accepting real payments or sending unintended customer messages.
Compare important URLs with the existing site. Missing redirects and forms can undermine an otherwise successful move.
Protect email explicitly
A website move does not necessarily involve email, but changing nameservers can remove mail-related records if they are not recreated.
Record MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and other relevant DNS settings before the change. Confirm which provider manages mailboxes and who will test delivery.
Read what happens to email during a rebuild and the DNS guide.
Agree the change window and recovery plan
Name the person authorised to switch traffic, the checks required afterwards and the conditions for rolling back.
Keep the old environment available for an agreed overlap period where feasible. Do not cancel it until the replacement and its dependencies have been verified.
Document any unavoidable interruption honestly rather than promising zero downtime without a tested plan.
Complete access cleanup after verification
Once the handover is accepted, remove obsolete supplier access and rotate relevant credentials. Preserve necessary records and backups.
Do not revoke service accounts blindly: identify what each one operates first. Update billing, support contacts and recovery documentation.
Can you move a website builder site?
Sometimes content can be exported while design or functionality cannot. Ask the new agency to demonstrate what can be moved and what must be recreated.
This is part of vendor lock-in, which can exist even under a perfectly valid contract.
A calm, documented transition is usually easier than a rushed cancellation. Contact AfterWorks to assess your current platform and prepare a concrete migration scope.
