Putting real folks on the map.

Your domain name (myshop.com) is your address on the web. You rent it by the year, around $20, from a registrar. Here's the trap: the real owner is whoever is named in the "registrant" field, not whoever pays the bill. If your agency's name sits there, the domain is theirs, not yours. You can check for free by looking your domain up in a whois. If your name isn't the one that comes back, ask for the transfer in writing.

Four things to check, in order. One: who owns the domain and the code. It has to say in plain words that it's you. Two: what it costs to leave. An honest contract doesn't have a $1,200 termination fee. Three: the term. Thirty-six months for a website isn't normal. Four: the passwords, you need them in hand. If an answer stays vague, ask again by email. A decent provider will put it in writing without a fuss.

"Guaranteed first place on Google." Nobody can guarantee that, not even Google. SEO isn't a magic monthly subscription: it's a site that loads fast, clear content, and people talking about you. The real signals are boring like that: your site is quick, it reads well on a phone, and your name, address and phone number match everywhere on the web. If someone charges you $500 a month for SEO and can't tell you what they do with it, that's not SEO, that's just a subscription.