Slow updates
You wait days or weeks for small changes that should be routine.
Managed website provider switch
Unhappy with your web designer? We’ll help you switch.
We investigate what you own, what you can access and what your current provider controls. Then we help recover anything missing, work out the safest route and supervise the entire handover until your website is in better hands.
We review your site before the callWe step in if the old provider is difficultNo rebuild unless there is a reason
Quick enquiry
Need help with Switch Web Designer?
Send us the website and a short description. We’ll take a look before we reply.
Sound familiar?
You do not have to stay stuck with a provider that is not working for you.
Most switches start with one or more of these problems.
No response
Emails disappear into a black hole and you never know when work will happen.
No access
You do not have WordPress, hosting or domain account logins.
Paying but unsure why
You are charged for maintenance or hosting but cannot see what is actually being done.
Website falling behind
Plugins, WordPress, performance or security appear to have been neglected.
Provider makes leaving difficult
The handover stalls, information is withheld or nobody gives you a straight answer.
First: establish control
We map the accounts before touching the website.
This avoids the classic mistake of moving the site first and discovering afterwards that email, DNS or the domain was tied to the old provider.
Important: we ask whether you have access — we do not ask you to send passwords through the booking form.
Then we choose the route
The answer depends on what we find.
We do not sell everybody a rebuild. The current site and account situation determine what happens next.
Keep the existing site
If it is doing its job, we can preserve it and change who looks after it.
Move the hosting
Transfer the site to a better hosting arrangement while protecting DNS, SSL and email.
Recover access
Work through missing domain, hosting or administrator access before attempting the switch.
Repair what is broken
Stabilise an otherwise useful website instead of replacing it unnecessarily.
Rebuild where justified
If the platform, code or access situation makes the old site a liability, we plan a controlled replacement.
Choose the new provider
Smarter Search may take the work on directly or introduce a provider better suited to the site and support required.
We stay involved
Smarter Search supervises the entire switch.
You are not passed a phone number for another designer and left to coordinate the handover yourself.
Tell us what is happening
Give us the domain, the access you have, the current problem and what you want to improve.
We investigate before the call
We look at the public website and use your answers to understand what needs checking first.
We organise the handover
We coordinate access, backups, migration and communication with the relevant providers.
We stay until it is settled
We supervise the move through to a working website under an arrangement you understand and control.
When the old provider is difficult
We step in and help with the handover.
If access or business assets are being held up, we help identify exactly what needs requesting and communicate the handover requirements clearly. Where useful, we can provide professional request templates for the client to send in their own name.
That can include domain transfer or registrar access, website administrator access, hosting/control-panel access, backups, DNS details and email information.
These are practical handover requests, not correspondence pretending to come from a solicitor or a substitute for legal advice.
What does it cost?
Clear about who pays us.
If we introduce you to an independent provider, that provider may pay Smarter Search a finder’s fee. In that situation you do not pay Smarter Search for the introduction.
If the best outcome is for Smarter Search to carry out migration, development or ongoing support directly, any chargeable work is explained and agreed before it begins.
Questions
Switching web designer FAQs
Can another web designer take over my existing website?
Usually, yes. We first establish the platform, hosting, domain ownership and available access, then decide whether the existing website can be moved safely or whether something needs recovering or repairing first.
What if my current web designer will not cooperate?
Smarter Search will help you pursue the handover rather than leaving you to deal with it alone. We identify what is already under your control, help prepare clear requests for the missing assets or access, and work through alternative recovery routes where necessary.
What if my web designer registered my domain name?
That can make the switch more involved, but it does not automatically mean the domain is lost. We first establish the registrar and registration details, then help you request the transfer or account access needed for the business to regain practical control.
Will I lose my email or Google rankings when I switch?
A managed switch should identify email, DNS, URLs, redirects, analytics and other dependencies before anything changes. That does not remove every possible risk, but it greatly reduces the problems caused by an unplanned migration.
Does Smarter Search charge me to find a new provider?
When we introduce a suitable independent provider, the provider may pay Smarter Search a finder’s fee and the client does not pay us for the introduction. If Smarter Search is going to carry out chargeable migration, development or support work directly, the cost is explained before that work starts.
Do I have to rebuild my website?
No. We prefer to preserve a usable existing website where that is the sensible option. A rebuild is recommended only when the existing site, platform or access situation gives us a good reason to do it.
Start with the current setup
Book a call — but give us the website details first.
Tell us your domain, what access you have and what is going wrong. We can then look at the website before we call instead of spending the first half of the appointment gathering basic information.