Fazley RabbiWhen a website project is handed over, you should end up controlling everything needed to run, fix or move the site without the original developer: the domain and hosting in your business's name, full administrator logins, the source code and a recent backup, access to every connected service, and a few short documents explaining how it all fits together. Collecting this at launch takes an hour or two. Recovering it later from someone who has changed their number can take weeks, and sometimes it cannot be done at all.
Why handover is where things go wrong
Many businesses discover the gap only when something breaks. The domain is about to expire and nobody knows the registrar login. The hosting sits in a freelancer's personal account. Email on the domain stops working and the only person with access cannot be reached. None of this needs bad intent; it usually happens because nobody made a list. A clear handover protects both sides, and good developers welcome it. Website ownership basics explains the ownership side in more depth.
Ownership: accounts in your business's name
These should be registered to your business, using an email address and phone number the business controls, not a staff member's personal account:
- Domain name: your business as the registrant, with access to the registrar account and the renewal date noted.
- Hosting or server: the account, the billing and the control panel.
- Email on your domain, if it was set up as part of the project; see professional email on your own domain.
- Google Search Console, Google Analytics and your Google Business Profile, with you as owner and the developer added as a user if needed.
- Meta business tools, pixel and ad accounts, if the site connects to Facebook or Instagram advertising.
It is normal for a developer to set some of this up in their own account during the build. Ask for ownership to be transferred before launch, not "later".
Logins and access
Ask for a complete list of logins, handed over securely: ideally into a password manager that the business controls, not pasted into a chat message.
- Website admin (CMS) with full administrator rights.
- Hosting control panel, server access and database.
- File transfer access, if used.
- Domain registrar and DNS management, if they are separate.
- Payment gateway merchant dashboard.
- Email sending service, SMS gateway, maps, chat widgets, and any paid theme or plugin licences.
After handover, change the shared passwords. Give the developer a personal user account where ongoing access is needed, so it can be removed cleanly later. Turn on two-step verification, and keep the backup codes somewhere safe that more than one trusted person can reach.
Code, files and backups
- Source code, including any custom theme or plugin, ideally in a code repository (such as a Git repository) owned by your business.
- A full backup of the files and database taken at launch, stored outside the hosting account.
- Design files, original images, logos and fonts, with their licence details.
- Deployment notes, if putting changes live involves more than uploading files.
Documents worth having
- A one-page map: where the domain, hosting, email and DNS live, and how they connect.
- Short how-to notes for common tasks: adding a product, changing a price, publishing a post.
- Who is responsible for updates, renewals and backups after launch, and what any maintenance agreement covers. See a website maintenance and backup plan.
- Renewal dates for the domain, hosting, certificates (if not renewed automatically) and paid licences.
- Known issues, and anything that was left out of the original scope.
A handover checklist you can copy
| Item | Received | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Domain in the business's name, registrar login | ||
| Hosting account and billing in the business's name | ||
| CMS admin login with full rights | ||
| Server, database and file access | ||
| Source code in a repository you own | ||
| Full backup stored away from the server | ||
| Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile ownership | ||
| Payment, email, SMS and ad account access | ||
| Licences for paid themes, plugins and fonts | ||
| Short documentation and a list of renewal dates |
Agree on it before the project starts
The easiest time to agree on handover is at the beginning. Ask that the proposal or contract lists what you will receive and when, and states who owns the code and design once the work is paid for. Rules on who owns creative and software work are not the same everywhere, so for anything important, ask a lawyer to check the wording.
If you are already missing some of these items, start with the domain and hosting, because everything else depends on them. If you need help untangling access to an existing site, get in touch.