How to leave without losing the site.
Nine steps for a contractor stuck in a contract that is not working, in the order that protects the asset.
Sequence beats speed
The instinct is to send the email today. Do not. Once notice is given, cooperation becomes optional, and everything you need is easier to obtain while the relationship is still commercial. Work through the list below first, then give notice.
The nine steps
In this order, without skipping.
Most disputes are a missed date, not a disagreement.
Log in yourself if you can. If you cannot, that is the first thing to fix.
Analytics access, Search Console, form submission archives, call logs, and every page of content.
Page counts, dates, and the agreed metric. This is your leverage if the exit is contested.
Do not do it by phone.
A lapsed account can take a site offline.
If they hold the domain
Ask for a transfer authorisation code in writing, with a deadline. Registrars have dispute processes, and a domain you have paid years to promote is a real asset with real value. Do not rebuild on a new domain until that route is exhausted, because starting again on a fresh domain discards the authority the old one earned.
What to protect above everything
Three things, in order.
Everything else can be rebuilt. The domain carries the history.
If you paid for pages and query work, you should hold copies of both.
A profile you do not own can be edited or abandoned by someone who no longer works for you.
Before you sign the next one
Run the vetting questions in this cluster, and read the ten contract terms worth refusing. Most contractors who have left one bad engagement sign a second contract with the same ownership clause in it, because the relief of leaving is louder than the paperwork.
A note on timing
Do not start this in the middle of your busiest storm season. Migrations go wrong, DNS takes hours to propagate, and forms break quietly. Leave in the off-season, with the new build already specified, so the site that replaces the old one is ready rather than rushed.
What to keep copies of, specifically
Six exports, taken before notice goes out.
Do not rebuild on a new domain
The instinct after a bad engagement is a fresh start with a new domain. It discards years of accumulated authority and every external link pointing at you, and it is the most expensive mistake available at this moment. Keep the domain, fix the site on it, and treat the domain as the asset the engagement was supposed to be building.
The conversation itself
Keep it commercial and short. You are not obliged to explain, negotiate, or accept a retention offer, and a written notice citing the clause is sufficient. If they ask for a call, answer in writing. Most exit disputes in this trade come from a verbal agreement neither side wrote down.
Related guides.
Eighteen vetting questions in the order that disqualifies fastest, and how to read the answers.
Long lock-ins, borrowed proof, vague reporting, and the ownership clause that keeps your own site hostage.
How to vet a roofing marketing agency, the contract terms to refuse, and why generalists keep failing this trade.
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