Nobody is maintaining it
The site still exists, but updates, backups and technical housekeeping have quietly stopped.
Take responsibility for the site you already have
Already have a website? We’ll take it from here.
You do not automatically need a redesign. We inspect the existing website, hosting, domain, email, backups and access, tell you honestly whether it is worth keeping, and then put the right support arrangement around it.
No unnecessary rebuildNo monthly retainer just for the sake of itWe review the site before the call
Quick enquiry
Need help with Website Takeover?
Send us the website and a short description. We’ll take a look before we reply.
Why businesses ask us to take over
You may not need a new website. You may just need somebody to own the problem.
These are very different situations from commissioning a brand-new site.
The original developer has gone
The person who built it has disappeared, retired, changed career or simply no longer supports it.
Changes take forever
You only need occasional edits, but getting them made has become harder than it should be.
An employee used to manage it
The person who knew how everything worked has left and responsibility needs to move somewhere dependable.
You inherited the website
You bought the business or took over the role and now need to understand what you actually have.
You simply want it looked after
No drama and no forced redesign — just competent ownership of the existing setup.
Before we touch anything
We find out how the current setup is connected.
Changing hosting or DNS casually can break email, forms or other services. The takeover starts with a map of the important moving parts.
The initial takeover review
We look at the website as a business asset, not just a collection of files.
The review tells us what should be preserved, what needs attention and what is simply not worth spending money on.
Platform health
WordPress/core, plugins, themes, PHP compatibility, SSL, obvious errors, backups and security basics.
Search foundations
Indexability, sitemap, redirects, titles, canonical setup, broken links and Search Console where available.
Speed & bloat
Obvious image, caching, database or front-end problems that make the existing site unnecessarily slow.
Accounts & access
Domain, hosting, CMS, analytics and other important accounts the business should understand and control.
What you actually need
The changes you make, how often you make them and what frustrated you enough to ask somebody else to take over.
Then we give you the straight answer
Keep it. Fix it. Move it. Rebuild only if it makes sense.
We are not coy about poor websites and we do not protect our own invoice at the customer’s expense.
Take over as-is
The website is fundamentally sound. We secure the important access and simply start looking after it.
Take over & repair
Keep the existing site but fix technical, performance, content or maintenance problems that are worth correcting.
Take over & migrate
The website is fine but the hosting, provider or infrastructure needs changing.
Recommend a rebuild
If spending money repairing the old site would be poor value, we will tell you that clearly and explain the better route.
Why Smarter Search existsThe best advice for the customer — even when it creates less work for us.
If your current website is usable, we will not invent a reason to replace it. If it is genuinely terrible, we will not take your money polishing something that should be replaced.
Support that matches the workload
Most five-page business websites do not need a monthly maintenance contract.
If you update the site once or twice a year, there is little point paying every month simply for the privilege of asking for a change later. We can host the site and deal with occasional work when you actually need it.
Larger sites, eCommerce websites and systems receiving regular changes are different. For those, we can agree a support arrangement that reflects the real amount of work and responsibility involved.
Questions
Website takeover FAQs
Do I need a new website if you take over my existing one?
No. We inspect the current site first. If it is fundamentally sound, we would rather keep and improve it than sell a replacement unnecessarily. If we think repair would be poor value, we will explain that clearly before any work is agreed.
Can you take over a WordPress website built by somebody else?
Usually, yes. We review the WordPress installation, theme, plugins, hosting, backups and administrator access before deciding what needs attention.
Can you take over a custom-coded or database-driven website?
Potentially. We first review the codebase and infrastructure so the site is matched to the right skills and hosting. Smarter Search can also accommodate custom hosting including VPS, dedicated servers, Node.js and NGINX-based environments.
Do I have to pay a monthly website maintenance fee?
Not for the sake of having one. Many small service websites only need occasional changes, so work can be handled when required. Larger websites, eCommerce sites or frequently updated systems may benefit from a more structured support arrangement.
Can you host the website after taking it over?
Yes. Standard service websites can usually use straightforward hosting, eCommerce sites need a more suitable package, and larger or custom applications can be placed on infrastructure matched to their requirements.
What happens to my email when the website moves?
We check email and DNS dependencies before changing hosting. We can take over email hosting if useful, but businesses already using Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 can normally keep those services in place.
What if I do not have all the logins?
Tell us what you have and what you are unsure about. We can help identify the current setup and work through access recovery or handover requirements before risky changes are made.
Let us look before we talk
Schedule a takeover call and tell us what you already know.
Give us the domain, platform, access you have, current hosting and the areas you want us to take responsibility for. We can inspect the public website before the appointment and make the call much more useful.