What Does a Website Handover Include?

The short answer

Five things: access, components, a CMS guide, SEO setup and training. The test of a good handover is simple. A week after launch, can your team publish a blog post and build a new landing page without calling the studio?

The handover at a glance

• Access: The site, domain and hosting in your own accounts
• Components: A library of sections your team can reuse
• CMS guide: How to add posts, case studies and team members
• SEO setup: Titles, redirects, sitemap and analytics in place
• Training: A recorded walkthrough for the people who will edit

What to check for each

• Access. Your company owns the workspace. The studio is a guest who can be removed.
• Components. Sections are named clearly and can be combined into new pages.
• CMS guide. Each collection has a short note on what every field does.
• SEO setup. Meta titles, descriptions, 301 redirects, sitemap, schema and Search Console are done before launch.
• Training. A recording beats a live call, because new hires can watch it later.

Signs of a weak handover

• The site stays in the studio's account.
• Every page is built differently, so nothing can be reused.
• There is no written guide, only a call.

We build Webflow and Framer sites so the client's team can edit them after handover.

Related reading: What Does a Webflow Agency Do?, Who Owns the Files After a Design Project?

FAQ

Do we need a developer after handover?

Not for day-to-day edits. You will want one for new templates or integrations.

Should the studio stay on after launch?

Some teams keep a small support arrangement. It should be a choice, not a need.

When should handover be planned?

In the proposal. Ask what you receive before you sign.

Want a site your team can run? Tell us about the project.