LAW FIRM MARKETING · GUIDE 08

Who owns your website? Check tonight, before you need to know.

Domain, hosting, site code, phone numbers, Google Business Profile, Ads, Analytics, Search Console, content. Nine things agencies quietly keep — how to check each one tonight, and what to write into the agreement.

The worst version of this story goes like this. A criminal defense firm decides to leave its agency after three years. Gives notice. The agency says fine — and mentions, in the last email, that the website was built on the agency's platform, the domain is registered under the agency's account, the tracking phone number on every page and directory belongs to the agency, and the Google Business Profile has the agency's email as the only owner. The firm can have thirty days of access to export "their content."

Thirty days later the firm has a Word document of its own practice-area pages, no website, a phone number that now rings at nobody, and a Google Business Profile it has to fight Google to get back. Rankings built over three years belong to a URL it no longer controls.

This happens more than anyone admits, and it almost never happens by surprise. It happens because nobody checked in year one. So check now, while it's cheap.

The nine things, and how to check each one

1. Domain name. Go to a WHOIS lookup (ICANN's, or your registrar's). Registrant should be your firm, with a firm email address you control — not the agency, not a former employee's Gmail. If it's the agency, ask for a transfer this week. A registered domain is the one thing that cannot be rebuilt; everything else can.

2. Hosting. Where does the site physically live, and whose account is it? If the answer is "the agency's platform" (FindLaw, Scorpion and a long list of others have or had this model), understand that the site is rented. You can leave with the content, not the site. That's acceptable only if you knew it going in and the price reflected it.

3. Site code and design. Is the website a standard platform (WordPress, Webflow, a common framework) that another developer can take over? Or proprietary? Ask for a full backup file — code and database — and ask whether the contract says you own the design. If the agency "retains rights to the design," you'll be rebuilding on the way out.

4. Phone numbers. Every tracking number on your site, your GBP and your directory listings — who is the account holder at CallRail (or whichever provider)? Numbers are portable, but only by the account owner. If the agency owns the account, they own the numbers your clients have saved, and the ones printed on your business cards.

5. Google Business Profile. Open business.google.com → your profile → Users. There must be a Primary owner that is a firm email you control. Agencies should be Managers, never owners. This one matters most: your Map Pack position lives on that profile, and reinstating ownership through Google can take weeks or months.

6. Google Ads. The Ads account (and its history, which affects performance) should be yours; the agency gets manager access through their MCC. If the account is theirs and you leave, your campaigns, keywords, negatives and the learning history go with them.

7. Google Analytics and Search Console. You should be an owner/admin on both, on your own Google account. Ten years of traffic history is a company record.

8. Content. Every page, blog post and image the agency produced for you — is it yours by contract? Most agreements say yes for the copy; images are often licensed to the agency, not you. Ask.

9. Landing pages, email lists, review profiles. The ad landing pages — on your domain or theirs? The email list from your newsletter — in whose account? Avvo, Justia, Yelp — who has the login?

If you can answer all nine tonight, you're fine. If three or more are "I'm not sure," schedule a call with the agency this week and get it in writing.

The contract language to require

You don't need a lawyer's help for this part — you are the lawyer. But here's plain language that works, adapted from what we put in our own agreement:

Ownership. All deliverables created for Client under this Agreement — including website code, design, content, images licensed for Client's use, landing pages, and data — are the property of Client upon payment for the month in which they were delivered. Domain registrations, hosting accounts, call-tracking accounts and phone numbers, Google Business Profile ownership, Google Ads, Analytics and Search Console properties shall be held in accounts owned by Client, with Agency granted manager-level access. Agency shall not condition the transfer of any account, credential or asset on payment of amounts not yet due.

Transition. Upon termination for any reason, Agency shall, within ten business days and at no additional charge, remove itself from Client's accounts, deliver a complete backup of the website (code and database) and provide all credentials it holds.

If an agency won't sign something like that, they're telling you the lock-in is part of the price.

"But they built it — isn't it theirs?"

It's a fair question and the answer is the same as with a contractor who builds your office: they own their tools and their process; you own the building, because you paid for it. An agency that wants to keep the website as leverage is charging you twice — once monthly, and once at the exit.

There's one honest exception: the "leased website" model, where a low monthly fee explicitly includes a site you don't own. That's a legitimate product for a solo practice that can't fund a build. It becomes a problem only when nobody said the word "leased" in the sales call.

The month-to-month trap, since we're here

The other exit surprise: contract length. "Month-to-month" in the pitch turns out to be a 12-month initial term with automatic renewal for another 12 unless you cancel in a specific 30-day window that isn't on any calendar you own. Read the term, the renewal, and the notice clause; put the cancellation window in your calendar the day you sign. Our own term is six months, then month-to-month with 30 days' notice — long enough for the work to show, short enough that we keep earning it.

Frequently asked questions

The agency has been great. Do I really need to do this? Yes, precisely because it's easy right now. The check takes an evening and the fix takes an email. When the relationship is strained is the worst time to discover the domain isn't yours.

We're mid-contract and the domain is in the agency's name. What now? Ask for the transfer in writing, citing that the firm's name and brand are its property. Most agencies will do it without argument; the ones that argue have just told you something. Keep the email trail.

Should the agency have any owner-level access? No. Manager access does everything an agency legitimately needs on GBP, Ads and Analytics. Owner-level is leverage, not a working requirement.

What about the tracking number clients already saved? Port it. Numbers are portable between providers by the account owner. Get the account in your name before you need to.

Want an outside read on what you actually own, and what your market looks like without the leverage? Your Growth Plan covers your Maps, organic and AI position — and we'll flag anything in your setup that isn't in your name. Free, in 48 hours. Get your Growth Plan

Attorney advertising services. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This article is general information, not legal advice on any specific contract.