You paid someone to build your website, but now that the project is finally done, you may be wondering: now what? Too many small business owners find out the hard way that “done” and “handed off properly” are not the same thing.
If you want to be able to switch developers easily, make a quick change yourself, or simply know what it is that you actually own, having the right information is key. Here is what a good website handoff should include.
Domain and Hosting Credentials
This one gets overlooked a lot, and it can cause serious headaches when it’s missing. You need to know exactly where your domain name is registered and who has login access to it, along with the same info for your hosting account.
If a developer registered them for you, you want to make sure that they are registered in your name and not theirs. It’s not uncommon for business owners, down the line, to find out that their domain is technically owned by a developer they haven’t spoken to in ages. Suddenly a simple update becomes a negotiation match.
Admin Login Credentials for Your CMS
If you are using a content management system on your website (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.), you want to make sure you have full admin access and not just an editor login. This is not just about login credentials, but also knowing what platform your website is built on, even if your developer isn’t the one who built it for you.
We speak from experience when we say that plenty of business owners don’t know what system they’re actually using until the website breaks and they are scrambling to figure it out.
Source Files
For custom built websites in particular, you should receive a copy of all source code and files, not just access to the live website. This is required if you want to move hosting providers, switch developers, or just to have for a backup. A reputable website developer will not shy away from providing you with this as part of a project completion.
Access to Your Google Analytics and Search Console Accounts
Your website’s history in Google Analytics, Search Console, and other tracking tools should be under an account you own, rather than an account that belongs to your developer. You’ll never know what your site’s actual use and performance is unless you have direct access to the data.
A Guide on How to Edit Things
A good handoff also includes instruction. You should leave with basic knowledge on how to perform updates on your own—making edits, changing images, updating hours, adding a blog post—and documentation for any custom functionality built into your site. A written document or a quick “how-to” video is incredibly valuable should anything ever break without your original developer readily available.
Ongoing Support Costs
Though you may not think about it, website maintenance costs don’t just disappear once you are past the launch date. A detailed plan of what is paid for, what it costs, and when bills are going to be due should be included in your overall handoff.
Third-party Accounts and Tools
What email marketing platform are you using? Do you have a booking system? How are your customer-facing chatbots or text systems integrated?
The more integrations you are managing with external tools, the more important it is to document what those integrations are, who owns them, and how they work with your website.
Support Plan and Warranty Structure
What will your developer do for you before and after the website launches? Can you expect a warranty period for fixing bugs? Is ongoing support available, and if so, how much does it cost? Getting clarity on this upfront avoids awkward conversations later on.
A Handoff Done Right, From the Start
Your website is one of your most valuable assets as a business owner, but it can also be one of the easiest assets to lose actionable control over if your handoff isn’t carefully managed. Making sure you have everything in writing, along with the admin rights you need, means that you are protected long after the project is finished.
At Magna Technology, all of our websites are built with a full, transparent handoff because we believe in owning your website in every way that it deserves. Get in touch with our team today at (617) 249-0539 to get a good idea of the way we build and hand off websites the right way.