Website Handover Checklist: What a Small Business Should Receive Before Final Payment
A website is not fully delivered until its owner can access it, test it and keep it running when the original developer is unavailable.
A website is not fully delivered until its owner can access it, test it and keep it running when the original developer is unavailable.
Confirm who owns the domain and accounts
Before launch, identify the registrar account, domain renewal responsibility, DNS access, hosting subscription and the people authorized to manage them. Do not assume that paying an invoice automatically transfers control of every service.
Ask for an account inventory with provider names, ownership, renewal dates and recovery contacts. Passwords should be transferred through a secure method, not pasted into a public document. Enable multi-factor authentication where appropriate and remove unnecessary temporary access after handover.
Receive the agreed content and deliverables
Check that all contracted pages, images, graphics, licenses and editable source materials have been delivered. If the website relies on a CMS, ask who will maintain it and what access levels your team has. For custom work, clarify repository access, documentation and license terms.
Confirm whether fonts, stock photography, third-party plugins and paid services can legally continue to be used after the project ends. A working website is not necessarily permission to reuse every asset outside the agreed scope.
Test the entire customer path
Open the website on a phone and computer, follow menus and internal links, and submit real test inquiries. Check that the form reaches the right inbox, the success message is truthful and the team knows who must answer. If the site includes bookings or ecommerce, verify the workflow using appropriate non-billable tests.
Make accessibility checks part of acceptance: visible focus, labeled forms, understandable error messages, image alternatives and readable contrast. The W3C WCAG guidance is a useful starting reference.
Protect SEO and basic site configuration
Review page titles, meta descriptions, canonical URLs and indexing settings. If an old website is being replaced, keep valuable URLs or map changed paths to relevant redirects. Submit or verify the sitemap and check that robots instructions do not accidentally hide important pages.
Google's site move documentation explains why URL changes should be carefully planned and monitored; a redesign alone never guarantees better search rankings.
Set clear support and maintenance terms
Know who fixes an urgent outage, which tasks are included after launch, how backups are created and tested, and what happens when a paid tool expires. Include a small written list of unresolved issues with owners and deadlines.
Your acceptance checklist should separate launch blockers from nice-to-have improvements. A practical handover can be simple, but it must make the website maintainable. For ongoing checks, see our maintenance checklist.
Can your team operate without the developer?
Have the developer sign out. Then ask your own team to log in, change an opening hour and send a test message. Locate the domain registrar, hosting provider and backup instructions. A functioning homepage does not prove that ownership was transferred.
Practical check: Keep an itemized acceptance list of access, licenses, support and unresolved issues.
Is your website helping customers take the next step?
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