Agency website handoff: prepare the client for the next edit

Plan for the ordinary change that comes after launch

A website handoff should leave the client able to make or request the next change without rediscovering how the site works. That change may be a new project photograph, a staff update, a revised service area, or a form going to a different person. The files are one part of the delivery. Access, responsibility, and review instructions make them manageable.

Agree on who will maintain the site while the project is still being built. If the agency will continue doing that work, describe how requests reach it and what the arrangement includes. If the client will edit the site, identify the tasks they will perform and the ones that require technical help.

Morrow Studio: a portfolio creates recurring content work

Morrow Studio’s concept includes project photographs, a description of the practice’s approach, and a conversation request. A real architecture practice would need to add new work, update project descriptions, and keep inquiry details current. Decide who supplies the photographs and captions, who checks permissions, and who approves the published presentation.

For each project, keep the approved name, location detail, image credit, and description together. Mark proposals and completed work accurately. The client should know what to send when they ask to add a project, without needing to understand the page source or guess which image dimensions the layout expects.

Identify the delivered version and what remains open

Record the public URLs, the version that was reviewed, and any unresolved work. Separate the current publication from draft changes so someone does not replace a working page with an unfinished copy. Keep the source or release package in an agreed location that the receiving team can access.

In Waveform, review the saved version and its findings before publication or export. A downloaded draft may still need work. If you hand over exported files, identify the package you tested and the destination where it was checked. Avoid sending several similarly named ZIP files without saying which one is the delivery.

• The pages included and their public addresses.
• The approved version and where its files or project are kept.
• Open issues, with a person responsible for each one.
• The steps used to publish a replacement and restore the prior version when supported.

Put ownership and access in writing

List the domain registrar, hosting account, form destination, analytics property, and any external booking or checkout service. Name the organization that owns each account and the person who can administer it. The client should know which subscriptions must remain active for the site to work.

Use individual access where the service supports it, with permissions matched to the work. Transfer credentials through an agreed private channel and keep them out of page source and handoff notes. After the receiving team confirms access, review temporary agency access and retain only what the maintenance arrangement requires. Do not remove the only working administrator before the handoff is verified.

Demonstrate the tasks the client will depend on

Walk through a representative edit and the publishing steps with the person who will use them. Then follow the site’s main customer action. For an inquiry page, send a clearly marked test and verify that the receiving person can find and reply to it. Document the difference between saving a request and delivering it to an external service.

For a downloaded Waveform page, a managed form still depends on its configured hosted endpoint. Note that dependency in the handoff. Test other connected services at the final address too.

Include a repeatable review with content changes

New content can introduce new problems: an oversized image slows the page, a long heading breaks a mobile layout, or a pasted link points to an old campaign. Give editors a short review matched to their tasks. They should check the page on a phone, follow the changed links, and inspect any new text or imagery.

W3C’s maintenance guidance recommends regular accessibility reviews and including checks in the publishing process. Keep a record of recurring issues and address their cause. If every new project arrives with missing image descriptions, improve the content request or editor training instead of fixing each omission only after publication.

Source: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Sustain accessibility

Know who handles a move, an outage, or an expired offer

Assign responsibility for renewal notices, broken forms, and time-sensitive content. Give the client a contact route for an urgent failure and explain what information helps investigate it: the URL, what happened, and when. Keep personal customer details out of casual screenshots and shared issue notes.

If the handoff includes changing public URLs, plan the move separately. Google’s site-move guidance covers mapping old URLs to new destinations, redirects, and monitoring after the change. Preserve links people still use, and review search access at the final address. A handoff is ready when the receiving team can find the current site, access the right accounts, and carry out the next agreed task.

Source: Google Search Central: Site moves with URL changes