A website is not ready for handover when the homepage merely looks finished. The business should be able to receive enquiries, update ordinary content, understand who owns each account and recover the site after a problem. Ask for a short demonstration and a written record before final sign-off, while the project team is still available to correct gaps.
For the wider routine and recovery framework, see the small-business website continuity plan.
This checklist is for a new build or redesign. If you are still planning the site, use our WordPress launch checklist for the build sequence. This page starts at acceptance: what has the supplier actually delivered, and can the owner use it?
Receive the account map and project assets
Ask for the domain registrar, DNS manager, website host, email provider, WordPress administrator and any services connected to forms, payments or analytics. Record the business account holder, authorised supplier access and renewal contact for each. The website ownership audit gives a blank record to fill in. Do not request that the designer email a list of passwords; use provider-supported account access and recovery controls.
Receive the final logo files, licensed typeface or photo details where applicable, approved copy and any agreed design source files. Confirm which licences belong to the business, which remain with a supplier and what happens when a subscription ends. The exact transfer rights depend on the contract, so record the agreement rather than making assumptions at handover.
| Item | Acceptance evidence |
|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | Business can identify registrar, renewal, DNS manager and authorised change contact. |
| Hosting and WordPress | Named administrators can sign in with their own access; plan and support route are documented. |
| Mailboxes and form-recipient addresses are known; a test reaches the intended person. | |
| Content and media | Owner can make and preview an ordinary text or image correction. |
| Licences | Supplier lists paid plugins, themes, images and renewal responsibility. |
| Backup and restore | Scope, retention, retrieval and test owner are documented. |
| Analytics and search | Business has appropriate access; important events are defined, not merely assumed tracked. |
Test a complete customer journey
Choose the task the site was built to support. For a local tradesperson, that might be finding a service, checking the coverage area and requesting a quote. For a shop, it might be product selection through to an order confirmation. Test on a phone and desktop, with a labelled dummy enquiry or test order agreed in advance. Check what the visitor sees and what the business receives.
Record the page URL, date, device, outcome and person who accepted it. A form success message does not prove the notification reached an inbox. Our form-enquiry guide shows the checkpoints if delivery fails. If the project changed URLs, use a redirect map and check that important old links lead to appropriate new pages. Google’s site migration guidance recommends mapping and testing changed URLs rather than directing unrelated pages to a generic homepage.
Ask someone to show you an ordinary edit
The owner should see how to change a service description, business hour, staff detail or image without accidentally altering the layout. Have the supplier make one reversible demonstration edit in a safe place, show the preview and explain who approves it. If the site uses a page builder, record where that page is actually edited; changing a duplicate or inactive editor field can leave the visible page unchanged.
Define which edits are included after launch and which require a new quote. A handover is not an indefinite support agreement. Our maintenance-plan guide helps compare ongoing scope once the project ends.
See the recovery route before you need it
Ask what is backed up: database, media and site files, and any service settings outside WordPress. Who can retrieve a copy if the current hosting account is unavailable? Who would perform an isolated restore test, and how would the team check that enquiries or orders work on the restored copy? WordPress’s backup documentation distinguishes database backups from file backups; one alone may be insufficient for a full-site recovery.
You do not need to make the owner run a live restore as a handover demonstration. A documented test on an isolated environment and an agreed future schedule are safer. Use our backup restore-test guide for the acceptance details.
Sign off with an exception list
Not every issue must block launch. Write down each remaining item, its business effect, owner and due date. Separate a cosmetic improvement from a failed enquiry path, inaccessible account or missing recovery route. Confirm any agreed warranty period and where support requests go.
For a Formby or Freshfield business, this handover record is useful even if another supplier built the site. It tells a new designer what can be maintained and what must be recovered first. If you need help scoping a redesign or transfer, bring the record to our web design service or contact page so the discussion starts with the actual gaps.
