Website handover: what you should receive
Handover is the day a website stops being a project and becomes yours to run. It is also the day things get forgotten. Use this website handover checklist to make sure you leave with everything you will need a year from now.
Which logins should I have?
An administrator account on the site in your own name, not a shared one. Access to the hosting or the store platform. Access to the domain. Any connected services set up during the project, such as a form inbox, an email tool or a payment account. For each one, sign in yourself during handover while the designer is still there to fix what fails.
What files should come with the site?
The design file, the logo and graphics made for the site in formats you can reuse, and the original images. If the site is self-hosted, ask for a full backup taken on handover day and a note on how backups will run from now on. A backup you have never been shown how to restore is only half a backup.
Should someone show me how to edit it?
Yes. A site you cannot update is not finished. Ask for a walkthrough of the tasks you will actually do: changing text and images, adding a product or a post, reading form messages. Then do one of each yourself. If a routine change needs a long explanation, say so then. It may be a sign that part of the site should be simplified.
What should be written down?
A short document is enough: what the site is built on, which paid themes or plugins it uses and who holds each licence, what renews and when, and where the domain and hosting are held. Add the support terms: how long, from which day, covering what. You will not read this often. It will save you a great deal of searching on the day you need it.
How do I test before I say yes?
Open every page on your phone. Send the contact form and check it arrives. On a store, place a test order from start to finish, including the confirmation message. Switch languages if there are two. Compare the pages with the design you approved. Handover is the easiest moment to raise a difference, because the project is still open.
How I handle it
At handover you get the dashboard, and you edit the text, images, products, prices and posts yourself. Because the design was approved in Figma before the build, you have something exact to compare the finished site against. From the day the site goes live you have 180 days of support, covering anything that breaks, anything that behaves differently from what was agreed, and your questions about editing. Tell me about your project and what you want to be able to change on your own.
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