How do I move my domain to a new registrar when I leave an agency?

To move a domain to a new registrar when you leave an agency, contact the registrar you want to move to and ask the current registrar for the transfer code, also called an Auth-Code. ICANN says your registrar must give you this code within five calendar days of your request, and that transferring between registrars is your right as the holder.

Why can't I move my domain to a new registrar straight away?

A domain name cannot always move to a new registrar straight away because of 60-day rules. ICANN explains that a registrar may refuse a transfer within 60 days of first registration or of a previous transfer, and that changing the registrant's name, organisation or email address blocks transfers for 60 days. ICANN advises finishing the transfer before changing contact details.

Will I lose my Google rankings if I switch SEO agencies?

Your Google rankings can change for a time if switching SEO agencies includes moving the site. Google says 301 and other permanent redirects do not cause a loss of PageRank, the value pages earn through links, and that rankings may change temporarily during a move. Small to medium sites take a few weeks for most pages to move, according to Google.

How long should I keep redirects after moving my website?

Keep redirects after a website move for as long as possible, and generally for at least 1 year, according to Google's site move guide. That time lets Google transfer all signals to the new addresses, including links from other websites. Google adds that, for visitors, you can consider keeping the redirects indefinitely, while updating your own links to the new addresses.

What happens to the agency's review replies when I remove it from my Business Profile?

The agency's review replies stay on your Google Business Profile after you remove it. Google's help page says a removed user can no longer change business information or do admin tasks, and that their replies to reviews, posts and other actions stay on the profile. Read the agency's past replies before the handover, so you know what your customers have already seen.

Who should hold the Administrator role in Google Analytics when I change agencies?

You, the business owner, should hold the Administrator role in Google Analytics before an agency's access is removed. Google says you need that role to add or change users, and at the account level to delete users. Google also says the last user with the Administrator role cannot delete themselves, so confirm your own role first.

What should I get from my agency before I leave?

Before leaving an agency, get the domain in your name, the hosting account or a full copy of the site, every content file, copies of your reports, and owner access to Search Console, Analytics and your Business Profile. Google's help page says a Search Console property must have at least one verified owner, or no user will have access to it.

What is a URL map, and do I need one when changing agencies?

A URL map is a list of every old page address and the new address it should redirect to, and you need one when changing agencies only if page addresses change. Google's site move guide says to start with pages in your sitemap, pages with the most traffic and pages other sites link to, and to include images, videos and PDFs.

What should I do if my new agency changes my hosting but keeps the same page addresses?

If a new agency changes hosting but keeps page addresses, follow Google's guide for changing your hosting. Google suggests lowering the TTL of your DNS records, the setting that tells internet providers how long to remember them, at least a week before the move. It also says a temporary drop in how often Googlebot visits is normal right after the move.

How do you leave an agency and keep your website, accounts and rankings?

A handover checklist built on Google's documentation for site moves and redirects, and on ICANN's rules for moving a domain name.

See if customers can find you

Before you give notice, confirm that your domain, hosting, Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Google Business Profile are in your name, and get a copy of every content file. If page addresses stay the same, follow Google's guide for changing hosting. If they change, Google advises permanent redirects from each old address to its new one, kept for at least 1 year.

Where leaving an agency can go wrong

When a business leaves an agency, the accounts are the first thing to check. If an agency set up your website, it may have registered the domain name, opened the hosting account, created your Google accounts and kept the files. If any of that was done in the agency's name, you find out on the day you want to leave, when it is hardest to fix.

The second source of trouble is the move of the website itself. If the new provider rebuilds the site and the addresses of your pages change, Google has to learn where each page went. Google publishes a detailed guide for exactly this case, and we follow it below, step by step.

The order matters. Secure the accounts first, while the agency is still working for you, then move the site, and only then remove the old access.

Step one: find out what is in your name

Make a list of every account your website depends on, and next to each one write whose name it is in. Here is how to check each one.

Domain name: the company where your domain is registered is called the registrar. Search your domain at lookup.icann.org; ICANN, the body that coordinates domain names, says the Registrar field there shows who your registrar is. Then log in to the registrar, or ask for the login, and check that the person or business named as the holder of the domain (the registrant) is you.
Search Console: open Settings and look at the Ownership verification row, which shows your own permission level. Google's help page says an owner has full control, including adding and removing other users.
Google Analytics: in Admin, open Access Management. Google says that to add or change users you need the Administrator role at the account or property level.
Google Business Profile: open Business Profile settings, then People and access. Google says a profile can have several owners but only one primary owner.
Hosting: ask for the name of the hosting company, and check whether the account and the invoices are in your name.

The handover checklist

If any item below is in the agency's name, ask now, in writing, for it to move to you. Keep the replies; they are your record of what was agreed.

Handover checklist for leaving an agency, based on Google Search Central, Google help pages and ICANN, accessed 27 September 2026
Item	What it does for your business	What you need before you leave	Where to check
Domain name at the registrar	Your address on the internet; any email address at your domain depends on it	You as registrant, your own login, and the transfer code if you move it	lookup.icann.org, Registrar field
DNS records	The settings that send visitors to your hosting and email to your mail provider	A copy of every record before anything changes	The control panel of your registrar or DNS provider
Hosting	The computer that serves your website to visitors	An account in your name, or a full copy of the site	Your hosting company
Website files and content	Pages, images, PDFs and downloads	A complete copy: text, images, documents and any database export	The agency, in writing
Google Search Console	Shows how Google finds and lists your site	You as a verified owner	Settings, Ownership verification
Google Analytics	Counts visits and enquiries	The Administrator role for you	Admin, Access Management
Google Business Profile	Your listing on Google Maps and Search, with your reviews	You as primary owner	Business Profile settings, People and access
URL map and redirects	Sends visitors from old page addresses to new ones	A list of every old address and its new address, if any address changes	Google's guide to site moves
Reports and history	The record of what was done and when	Copies of every report you received	Your email and the agency

The domain name comes first

Your domain name is the address customers type, and any email address at your domain depends on it. That makes it the one item to secure before everything else.

ICANN states it plainly: it is your right to transfer your domain name registration between registrars. To move it, you contact the registrar you want to move to, and you need a code from the current registrar, called an Auth-Code or transfer code, which identifies you as the holder. ICANN says your registrar must give you this code within five calendar days of your request.

Timing needs care. ICANN explains that a registrar may refuse a transfer within 60 days of the domain's first registration, or within 60 days of a previous transfer. Changing the registrant's name, organisation or email address also blocks a transfer to another registrar for 60 days. ICANN's advice, which we repeat here, is to finish the transfer before you change the contact details, where you can.

ICANN also notes that you can change hosting providers, or update your domain's nameservers (the setting that says which company answers for your domain on the internet), without moving the registrar at all, which avoids the transfer process and its 60-day lock. In every case, make sure you are the registrant and that you hold the login yourself.

Your Google accounts: Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile

Search Console is Google's free service that shows how your site appears in Google Search, and its history is useful to whoever works on your site next. Google calls one website in Search Console a property, and its help page explains that a property must have at least one verified owner, or no users will have access to it. A verified owner proved ownership with a token, such as a small file placed on the website; a delegated owner was added by another owner without a token. Both have the same permissions.

When the agency leaves, remove its access in Settings, under Users and permissions. Google warns that a removed verified owner can regain access with any ownership token left on the site, so delete all of the agency's verification tokens as well. Google lists them under Unused ownership tokens.

Your Google Business Profile is your listing on Maps and Search, and it carries your reviews. Google says the owner has full control, and that managers have mostly the same access, except that they cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. If the agency is the primary owner, ask it to transfer primary ownership to you; Google says the profile must have at least one other owner or manager to receive it. When you remove a user, Google says their past replies to reviews, posts and other actions stay on the profile. Google also notes that a new owner or manager must wait 7 days before transferring primary ownership or removing other owners, so start early.

Google Analytics counts your visits and enquiries. To add or change users you need the Administrator role, and to delete users you need that role at the account level. Google adds a safety rule: the last user with the Administrator role cannot delete themselves. So make sure you hold that role before the agency's access is removed.

If only the hosting changes

If your new provider keeps every page at the same address, Google's guide for changing your hosting applies, and it is short. Upload a copy of the site to the new hosting and test it. Then change the DNS settings of your domain to point to the new hosting, watch the traffic, and shut down the old hosting only when nobody, including Googlebot, the program Google uses to visit pages, is using it any more.

Two details from that guide save trouble. Google suggests lowering the TTL of your DNS records, which is the number that tells internet providers how long to remember your settings, to a low value (Google's example is a few hours) at least a week before the move, so the change spreads faster. And if you proved ownership in Search Console with an HTML file, make sure that file is included in the new copy of the site.

Google also says it is normal to see a temporary drop in how often Googlebot visits right after the move, followed by a steady increase over the next few days.

If page addresses change: redirects, done Google's way

A redirect is an instruction on the server that sends anyone who asks for an old address, a person or Googlebot, to the new one. Google calls the ones used for moves permanent redirects and names them by their codes, 301 and 308. Google's site move guide says that 301 and other permanent redirects do not cause a loss of the value your pages earned through links, which Google calls PageRank.

Here are Google's steps for a move with changed addresses, in the order it gives them:

Prepare a URL map: a list of every old page address and the new address it should send visitors to. Start with the pages in your sitemap (the file that lists your pages for search engines), the pages with the most traffic and the pages other sites link to, and include images, videos and PDFs.
Update the links inside the new site so they point to the new addresses.
Use server-side permanent redirects where possible, and send each old address straight to its final new address. Google says Googlebot can follow up to 10 steps in a chain of redirects, and advises keeping a chain to no more than 3 steps, and fewer than 5.
Send each old page to its matching new page. Google says that sending many old addresses to one unrelated page, such as the home page, can confuse users and may be treated as a soft 404, meaning a page Google treats as missing.
If the domain name itself changes, tell Google with the Change of Address tool in Search Console, submitted for the old site.
Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year, Google says, and from the users' side consider keeping them indefinitely.
Submit the new sitemap in Search Console, and watch the traffic on both the old and the new addresses.

How long a move takes, and the mistakes Google sees most

Google is honest about the wait. It says a small to medium-sized website can take a few weeks for most pages to move, and larger sites take longer. It also says to expect temporary changes in ranking while Google visits and lists the site again, and that rankings settle over time. For small or medium sites, Google recommends moving all addresses at the same time.

Google also names the mistakes it sees most often. The first is forgetting to remove a block meant only for the test site: a robots.txt rule or a noindex rule, both instructions that tell search engines to stay away from a page or leave it out of results. The second is redirecting to wrong or non-existent addresses. The third is not updating the sitemaps with the new addresses.

In the end, the order is simple. Check the accounts before notice; move the domain and the Google accounts into your name during the notice period; switch the DNS or turn on the redirects on moving day and test a sample of old addresses; then remove the agency's users and ownership tokens, and check Search Console each week for errors.

If Licheo is your next provider, we start from the same list, and nothing goes live on your site until you approve it. Our free Get Found Check grades your site as it stands today in under 60 seconds, which is a useful record to keep before any change is made.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Who does your marketing. The other parts:

Questions people ask

How do I move my domain to a new registrar when I leave an agency?: To move a domain to a new registrar when you leave an agency, contact the registrar you want to move to and ask the current registrar for the transfer code, also called an Auth-Code. ICANN says your registrar must give you this code within five calendar days of your request, and that transferring between registrars is your right as the holder.
Why can't I move my domain to a new registrar straight away?: A domain name cannot always move to a new registrar straight away because of 60-day rules. ICANN explains that a registrar may refuse a transfer within 60 days of first registration or of a previous transfer, and that changing the registrant's name, organisation or email address blocks transfers for 60 days. ICANN advises finishing the transfer before changing contact details.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I switch SEO agencies?: Your Google rankings can change for a time if switching SEO agencies includes moving the site. Google says 301 and other permanent redirects do not cause a loss of PageRank, the value pages earn through links, and that rankings may change temporarily during a move. Small to medium sites take a few weeks for most pages to move, according to Google.
How long should I keep redirects after moving my website?: Keep redirects after a website move for as long as possible, and generally for at least 1 year, according to Google's site move guide. That time lets Google transfer all signals to the new addresses, including links from other websites. Google adds that, for visitors, you can consider keeping the redirects indefinitely, while updating your own links to the new addresses.
How do I remove my old agency from Google Search Console?: To remove an old agency from Google Search Console, open Settings, then Users and permissions, and remove its access. Google warns that a removed verified owner can regain access with any ownership token left on the site, so delete all of the agency's verification tokens too. Google lists them under Unused ownership tokens on the same page.
What happens to the agency's review replies when I remove it from my Business Profile?: The agency's review replies stay on your Google Business Profile after you remove it. Google's help page says a removed user can no longer change business information or do admin tasks, and that their replies to reviews, posts and other actions stay on the profile. Read the agency's past replies before the handover, so you know what your customers have already seen.
Who should hold the Administrator role in Google Analytics when I change agencies?: You, the business owner, should hold the Administrator role in Google Analytics before an agency's access is removed. Google says you need that role to add or change users, and at the account level to delete users. Google also says the last user with the Administrator role cannot delete themselves, so confirm your own role first.
What should I get from my agency before I leave?: Before leaving an agency, get the domain in your name, the hosting account or a full copy of the site, every content file, copies of your reports, and owner access to Search Console, Analytics and your Business Profile. Google's help page says a Search Console property must have at least one verified owner, or no user will have access to it.
What is a URL map, and do I need one when changing agencies?: A URL map is a list of every old page address and the new address it should redirect to, and you need one when changing agencies only if page addresses change. Google's site move guide says to start with pages in your sitemap, pages with the most traffic and pages other sites link to, and to include images, videos and PDFs.
What should I do if my new agency changes my hosting but keeps the same page addresses?: If a new agency changes hosting but keeps page addresses, follow Google's guide for changing your hosting. Google suggests lowering the TTL of your DNS records, the setting that tells internet providers how long to remember them, at least a week before the move. It also says a temporary drop in how often Googlebot visits is normal right after the move.

Sources

How to move a site (Site moves with URL changes), Google Search Central. Updated 2026-08-20, accessed 27 September 2026.
Redirects and Google Search, Google Search Central. Updated 2026-04-14, accessed 27 September 2026.
Changing your hosting, Google Search Central. Updated 2025-12-10, accessed 27 September 2026.
Managing owners, users, and permissions, Google Search Console Help. Accessed 27 September 2026.
Manage your Business Profile owners & managers, Google Business Profile Help. Accessed 27 September 2026.
Add, edit, and delete Analytics users and user groups, Google Analytics Help. Accessed 27 September 2026.
FAQs for Registrants: Transferring Your Domain Name, ICANN. Accessed 27 September 2026.

Record where your site stands before the handover

Run the free Get Found Check before you switch, so you have a grade for the site as it is today. Then talk to us about the move.

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