My client handoff checklist

I’ve handed enough small-business sites over to clients now to have a list I run through every time, mostly written after skipping one of these once and regretting it. Sharing it as-is.

• Forms actually deliver. Submit every form as a real visitor would, on the live domain, and check the inbox it’s supposed to land in — not the admin’s test submission log.
• Mobile isn’t an afterthought pass. Load every page on an actual phone, not just a resized browser window. Real devices catch things emulators don’t.
• 404 and error pages are styled. The default theme 404 is not a good look, and it’s always the first thing a client finds by accident.
• Someone other than the developer has the login. Preferably two people. “Only Jim can log in” is a business continuity problem waiting to happen.
• Backups are actually running, not just configured. Check the backup plugin’s log, not just its settings page.
• Analytics is verified, not just installed. A pageview from an incognito tab, confirmed in the dashboard, before calling it done.
• The client knows how to add a blog post before launch day, via a five-minute screen share, not a follow-up email they’ll lose.

None of this is impressive. It’s just the stuff that turns into an awkward call three weeks after launch if it’s skipped.