Straight talk
on the web.
Thinking on web hosting, performance, and why most small businesses are paying twice what they should.
Leaving your agency feels impossible because they hold your domain
Your agency registered your domain in their own account and you have no idea how to leave without losing everything. Here is what you actually own, what you do not, and how to take it back.
You paid a deposit six months ago and still have no website
Six months ago you handed over a deposit. You still have no website, no real updates, and a growing suspicion you have been forgotten. Here is what to do next.
Your agency took the deposit and disappeared
You paid a deposit, signed off the brief, and now the agency has stopped replying. No site, no updates, no refund. Here is what to do next.
Your agency has charged you for SEO for a year and shown you nothing
Twelve months of SEO invoices and your phone still is not ringing. Here is what your agency is probably doing for that money, and what to do about it.
Your hosting bill is hundreds a month. It should be pounds.
Hosting a five-page business website costs the agency a few pounds a month. You are paying ten times that. Here is what the markup actually buys.
Your agency quoted one price and the final invoice was more than double
You agreed a price. The invoice came in at more than double. Here is how agencies engineer that gap, what you can push back on, and how to stop it happening again.
Your agency registered your domain in their name, not yours
You paid for the domain. The agency put it in their own account. Here is what that actually means, and how to fix it without paying them off.
Your agency disappeared after launching your site
The site launched, the invoice cleared, and then the emails stopped. This is what is actually happening at the agency, and how to fix it without starting over.
Your agency guaranteed first page of Google and 18 months later you are still invisible
An agency guaranteed you first page of Google. Eighteen months on, your business is nowhere. Here is why the promise was hollow and how to get out.
You pay a monthly retainer but have no idea what your agency actually does
Your agency takes the same direct debit every month. You have not asked them to do anything in six months. Here is what is probably happening on their end.