The 12-Month Contract Trap: What to Check Before Signing Any Restaurant Website Agency

Why This Article Exists

We've heard the same story too many times. An owner signs up with a web agency, pays a monthly fee for a year or two, then decides to move on — only to find they don't own their domain, their menu content lives on the agency's server, and breaking the contract costs more than just staying put.

This piece isn't a sales pitch for Takely. It's a checklist you can use with any agency — us included. Read it before you sign anything. We'd rather you walked away from a bad deal with anyone than walked into one with us.

The 12-Month Auto-Renewal: How the Trap Works

Many agency contracts run on an annual term with auto-renewal. The mechanics are usually buried in the terms: you sign for 12 months, and unless you give written notice (often 30–90 days before the renewal date), you're automatically locked in for another 12.

That means even if you spot a problem in month 11, you may have already missed the cancellation window and committed to paying for another full year. The agency isn't necessarily being malicious — this is a standard commercial term in a lot of industries. But for a small takeaway or independent restaurant operating on tight margins, it's a serious risk.

The fix is simple: demand a 30-day rolling contract. Pay monthly, cancel with 30 days' notice. If an agency won't offer that, ask yourself why they need to lock you in.

Five Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Run every agency contract through these five questions. Get the answers in writing, not just on a call.

1. Who owns the domain? Your domain name (yourshop.co.uk) should be registered in your name, to your email address, with you as the legal owner. If the agency registers it on your behalf and you leave, can you take it with you — or do you have to start from scratch with a new address? A new domain means losing any search ranking you've built up.
2. Who owns the website content? This covers your menu text, your photos, your written copy, your customer reviews integrated into the site. When you cancel, do you get an export of everything? Or does it all disappear when they turn the server off?
3. What are the exact exit terms? How much notice do you need to give? Is there an early-termination fee? What happens to your site between giving notice and the contract ending — does it stay live? Some contracts bill you for the full remaining term if you leave early.
4. What does the monthly fee actually cover? Hosting and SSL (the padlock) are the basics. But does it include content updates? Security patches? What if Google changes something and your site breaks — is that a fix included in the monthly, or a separate invoice? Get a defined scope in writing.
5. Is there a price review clause? Some contracts allow the agency to increase the monthly fee on renewal with limited notice. Know the cap, or negotiate one. A contract that starts at £49/month and quietly becomes £89/month 18 months later without your agreement is a problem.

Domain Ownership: The Detail That Catches People Out

Domain ownership deserves its own section because it's the one that causes the most lasting damage.

If you've had a website for two or three years and built up local search visibility, your domain has value. Google associates it with your location, your cuisine, your trading history. Lose the domain and you lose all of that — you'd be starting from zero with a new address.

Before you sign, check: is the domain being registered via Nominet (for .co.uk) or a registrar in your name? Ask for the login credentials for the registrar account to be held by you, not the agency. If they say they 'manage it on your behalf', that's fine — but you should be able to log in independently and verify you're the registrant.

At Takely, the domain is always registered in the client's name. If you leave tomorrow, you take it with you. That's how it should work.

What the Monthly Fee Should Cover (and Often Doesn't)

A monthly retainer from a web agency isn't just 'hosting'. Or it shouldn't be. Here's a breakdown of what's reasonable to expect, and what's often excluded without you realising.

The menu point is particularly important for takeaways. If your agency is embedding your menu as a PDF or an image, Google can't read it. That means your dishes, your prices, and your allergen info aren't searchable. A properly built site puts your menu as real text with structured data — that's what lets Google show your hours, your phone number, and even your dish names directly in search results. See our piece on getting your menu live in 7 days for more on what that actually looks like.

Red Flags in a Contract: A Quick Reference List

Not every clause is a dealbreaker, but these should at minimum prompt a conversation before you sign.

• Auto-renewal with a long notice window. 90 days' notice to cancel means you're effectively locked in for 15 months, not 12.
• 'We retain IP until final payment.' Intellectual property clauses that leave the agency owning your site until everything is settled are risky if a dispute arises.
• No defined scope for the monthly. If the contract doesn't list what's included, every request becomes a potential additional charge.
• Domain registered in the agency's name or account. Non-negotiable: this should be yours.
• Early termination fees equal to the remaining contract value. Paying to leave a 12-month deal in month 3 could mean 9 months of fees upfront.
• No data export guarantee. If you can't get your content out, you're being held hostage whether the contract says so or not.
• Price increase clause with no cap. 'We may revise fees with 30 days' notice' is vague. Ask for a cap — something like 'no more than RPI annually' is reasonable.
• Liability cap lower than the annual contract value. If the agency's maximum liability is £100 and you're paying £1,200/year, what happens if your site goes down for a week during your busiest period?

What a Fair Contract Actually Looks Like

Fair doesn't mean free. Agencies have real costs — hosting, developer time, support. A good contract protects both sides.

Here's what a well-structured restaurant website deal should look like:

• A one-off setup fee (covers design, build, and launch — this is legitimate).
• A clearly defined monthly fee for hosting, SSL, updates, and support — with a written scope.
• 30-day rolling monthly term after setup. Cancel anytime with a month's notice.
• Domain registered in your name. Login credentials in your hands.
• Full data export available on request at any time.
• No price increases without at least 30 days' notice and a defined cap.
• Defined response time if the site goes down.

That's what Takely offers. Our Starter package costs £499 + £49/month and our Growth package is £999 + £79/month — both on 30-day rolling terms. You own your domain and all your data from day one. If you want to check for yourself, get in touch and ask us to walk you through the contract before you commit.

If another agency offers those same terms, that's a win too. The point is that 30-day rolling with full data portability is the minimum standard you should accept — from anyone.

How to Check a Contract You've Already Signed

Already in a deal and having second thoughts? Here's what to do.

1. Find your renewal date. Check your original contract or your first invoice. Renewal dates are often 12 months from the date of that first payment, not from when your site went live.
2. Check the notice period. How many days before renewal do you need to notify them? Mark a calendar reminder for well before that date.
3. Log in to your domain registrar. Search for your domain on Nominet's WHOIS lookup (for .co.uk addresses) or ICANN's tool (for .com). Who is listed as the registrant? If it's not you, raise it with your agency now — not when you're trying to leave.
4. Request a data backup. Ask for an export of your site content in a portable format (ideally HTML files and a database export). A legitimate agency won't refuse this. It's your content.
5. Send any cancellation in writing. Email is fine, but keep a copy. Verbal cancellation on a call is not enough.