What happens at launch & handoff
The final steps before your site goes live — what to expect at launch, how ownership is transferred to you, and what happens after the site is live.
Launch is the moment your new website goes live for the public. It's the most visible milestone of your project — and one that involves a careful checklist to make sure everything goes smoothly. Here's what to expect.
Quick summary
Before going live, we run through a pre-launch checklist, get your final sign-off, and switch your domain to point to the new site. After launch, there's a short monitoring period and then a formal handoff where all accounts and credentials are transferred to you.
The pre-launch checklist
Before we push the button, we run through a thorough checklist. This includes:
- All pages load correctly across desktop, tablet, and mobile
- All links and buttons work
- Contact forms submit and send confirmation emails
- Any payment or booking integrations are tested with real transactions
- SEO settings are in place (page titles, descriptions, sitemap, robots.txt)
- Analytics tracking is confirmed and recording
- SSL certificate (the "padlock" in your browser) is active
- Speed and performance are within acceptable ranges
- Legal pages (privacy policy, terms) are present if required
We'll share this checklist with you so you can verify items on your end too.
Your final review and sign-off
Before we go live, we'll ask you to do a final walkthrough of the staging site and formally sign off. This is your last opportunity to catch anything that's missing or needs adjustment.
Take this review seriously
Once the site is live, any changes — especially significant ones — affect real visitors and may require additional work. A thorough final review saves time and stress.
See How approvals & sign-off work for more detail.
Going live
Once you've signed off, we switch your domain to point to the new site. This is called a DNS cutover and usually takes effect within a few minutes to a few hours, depending on your domain settings.
During the cutover:
- Your old site may still show for some visitors briefly (this is normal and temporary)
- We'll monitor the new site closely in the hours immediately after launch
- If anything unexpected happens, we can act quickly
Ownership handoff
After launch, we transfer full ownership of all accounts to you:
- Your hosting account is under your email address and billing
- Your domain registration is confirmed in your name
- Your Google Analytics, Search Console, and other tool accounts have you as primary owner
- Any agency-level access we used during the project is stepped down or removed
See Transferring accounts & ownership to you for the full process.
After launch
The project isn't entirely done at launch. There's typically a short post-launch period where we:
- Monitor for any issues that emerge with real traffic
- Fix any minor items that surface in the first few days
- Ensure all forms, integrations, and tracking are working correctly in the live environment
After this settling period, your project formally closes (unless you're continuing with an ongoing care plan).
Common questions
Related guides
- How approvals & sign-off work
- Transferring accounts & ownership to you
- How to revoke our access later
- How to report a problem with your site
- Why websites need maintenance
Need a hand?
What happens in the development phase
What's happening behind the scenes while we build your website — and what you need to do (and not do) during development.
How to request new work or changes
The right way to submit a request for new work or a change to your website so we can act on it quickly and accurately.