Know how to run the website after launch.

Confirm ownership and access.

List the accounts the website depends on and confirm who owns them. Check the domain, hosting, CMS, design files, analytics, and connected services included in the project. Invite the right people with appropriate access and record who handles billing. Use the agreed secure access process rather than placing passwords in a shared handover document.

Practise the updates your team will make.

Ask the person who will maintain the website to complete a real editing task, such as changing a service description or adding a resource. Check the preview and publishing steps, image requirements, and any review process. Identify which changes are routine content updates and which require design or development work.

Check connected services with their owners.

Confirm where enquiries go, who receives notifications, and which accounts manage forms, scheduling, or other integrations. Test the agreed journeys and record the destination of each one. Analytics access and consent settings should also be part of the handover where they are included in the scope; access alone does not establish that every report is measuring the intended action.

Keep a practical operating record.

The team needs enough information to maintain the delivered setup. Record the content structure, important dependencies, subscription owners, and the support contact. Where backups or a recovery process are part of the setup, show how they work and who is responsible. Keep the record tied to the delivered website rather than a generic list of tools.

• Routine editing and publishing steps.
• Account owners, billing responsibilities, and renewal arrangements.
• Known dependencies and the process for reporting a problem.

Agree what happens after handover.

Clarify the support period, what it covers, and how to request changes. Separate fixes to agreed work from new pages or functionality, and identify who owns routine maintenance. If ongoing design and development support is useful, discuss Website Growth against the work your team expects to need. The arrangement should be clear before the project closes.