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).

Your launch support window

Every project includes 30 days of complimentary support from the day your site goes live. Your exact dates are in your project hub.

What's covered:

Anything not working the way we said it would at launch
Questions about how to use what we built
Small content corrections — a typo, a wrong image, a link we missed

What isn't:

New pages, features, or anything outside the original scope
Content changes made on your behalf — those are yours to make, and the guides show how
Problems with someone else's service, like an email outage or a payment provider
Problems caused by changes made after launch

Use it or don't — but know the date

The most common way this window gets wasted is that nothing felt urgent enough to raise until it had closed. If something about the site has been nagging at you, send it while the window is open. Anything submitted before the closing date is covered even if we fix it afterwards.

When the window closes, nothing changes about your site — only how new work is handled. It moves to either a care plan or quoted work. See services and pricing and what keeping a website running actually takes.

Common questions

What if something breaks right after launch?

Contact us immediately via ClickUp or by emailing support@chykalophia.com with "URGENT" in the subject. We monitor closely after launch and will respond quickly. See How to report a problem.

Can we launch on a specific date?

Yes. If you have a preferred launch date — for example, tied to a campaign or event — let us know early so we can plan around it. Rushed launches increase risk, so we'll always recommend building in buffer time.

Will my old website disappear the moment the new one launches?

The transition is quick but not instantaneous. There may be a brief overlap where different visitors see different things due to DNS propagation. This is normal and resolves within a few hours at most.

What happens after the project closes?

If you're on a care plan with us, we continue managing and maintaining your site. If you're not on a care plan, your site is entirely in your hands — and these guides are here to help you manage it confidently. You can always return to us for new work.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

What happens at launch & handoff

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