How to spot a bad website deal

A bad website deal rarely looks bad on the first call. It looks friendly, cheap and fast. The trouble shows up later: a contract you cannot leave, a domain that turns out to belong to the seller, a monthly bill that keeps growing, or a site that disappears when you stop paying. Some offers are outright scams; many more are legal but built to lock you in. Here are the warning signs, how to check an offer in a few minutes, and what to do if you are already in one.

Bad deal or scam: two different problems

A scam takes money for nothing, or for something you did not order. Fake invoices, fake "your listing will be removed" calls, payment for a website that never arrives.

A bad deal delivers a website, but on terms that cost you far more than they should over time, or leave you with nothing when you leave. These are more common than scams, and more damaging, because they last for years.

The warning signs overlap, so the list below covers both.

Red flag 1: they own your domain

The domain is your web address. It is printed on your truck, your cards and your invoices. If the seller registers it in their own name, they control it. When you want to leave, they can refuse to hand it over, charge a "release fee", or simply be slow.

How to check: look up your domain at ICANN's lookup tool. Many records are private, but you can see the registrar (the company it is registered with). Then log in to that registrar yourself. If you have no login, you do not control your domain. My web designer registered my domain covers getting it back.

Red flag 2: a long contract for a simple site

A two- or three-year minimum term for a five-page site, with automatic renewal and a cancellation fee equal to the remaining months. The monthly price looks small, so the total is easy to overlook. Multiply it out before signing.

Signs in the paperwork: "initial term of 36 months", "automatically renews for successive terms", "early termination fee". A fair provider can explain why a long term is needed. For a simple site it rarely is.

Red flag 3: the low price with upsells built in

The site is cheap, but everything useful costs extra each month: the contact form, the gallery, removing their ads, a "premium" plan to use your own domain, a "local SEO package", review management, a chat widget. The base price is bait.

Ask for the price of the site you actually need, with everything on it, per year. If the answer is three times the advertised price, the advertised price was not real.

Red flag 4: pressure to decide now

"This price is only good today." "We have one spot left in your area." "If you don't act now, your competitor will take it." Real providers have no reason to rush you. A website decision that cannot wait until tomorrow is one you should not make today.

Red flag 5: promises nobody can keep

A promise to put you above everyone else when people search, or a set number of calls a month. Nobody can honestly offer either.
"We work directly with Google." Google does not hand out special placement through resellers.
A guaranteed number of reviews, which can mean fake reviews that put your listing at risk.

Honest providers can explain what helps Google understand your site, but they do not promise where it will show up. SEO scams small business owners should ignore lists the common pitches.

Red flag 6: you cannot see what you are buying

Paying in full before seeing a draft, with no examples of their work that you can visit, is a risk. Ask to see three live sites they built for businesses like yours. Visit them on your phone. Call one of those businesses and ask how it went.

The common scams aimed at small businesses

Fake domain renewal notices. A letter or email that looks like an invoice for your domain, from a company you have never used. Paying it can move your domain to them at a high price. Your real renewal comes from your own registrar.
"We already built your new website" emails asking for payment to unlock it, usually from someone who copied your old site.
Calls claiming your Google listing is about to be suspended. Google does not call owners to demand money to keep a free listing.
"Your website has errors" emails offering to fix problems they invented, often asking for your login.
Requests for passwords "to check something". No genuine provider needs you to read a password over the phone.

You can report scams to the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov.

A five-minute check on any offer

Before you agree to anything, ask these five things and write down the answers:

Will the domain be in my name, with my login?
What is the total cost per year, everything included, and in year two?
What is the minimum term, and how do I cancel?
If I leave, what do I keep?
Can I see the work before paying in full?

A good deal survives all five. A bad one usually fails the first or the third.

If you are already in a bad deal

You may not be stuck forever. Steps that usually help:

Find and read your contract. Note the end date of the current term and the notice you need to give.
Check who controls the domain and ask, in writing, for it to be transferred to your name. Polite and early is better than angry and late.
Save everything from your site: text, photos, your list of pages. What to save before you replace your old website has the list.
Plan the new site before cancelling the old one, so you are never without a site.
For large sums or a dispute, talk to your attorney. Your state attorney general's office also takes consumer and small-business complaints.

What to do this week

Look up your domain and confirm you can log in to the registrar yourself.
Find your website contract or the terms you accepted, and write down the renewal date.
Add up what you paid for your website in the last twelve months.
Put a note by the office phone: "Never give passwords or pay website invoices without checking."

If you decide to leave a bad deal, you can see your site rebuilt first from your current pages, so you know what you are moving to before you cancel anything.