A site going live is not the end of a build, it is the start of a client actually owning it, and the handoff determines whether that goes smoothly or turns into a string of "quick questions" for months afterward. I treat launch day as a deliverable in its own right, not just the moment DNS flips. Here is what I actually hand over.
Access to everything
The client gets their own login to whatever they will actually touch day to day, not a shared account, not my own credentials with a promise to "sort it out later." For the sites I build on Orbit that means their own editor login to the CMS. I also hand over a short written note of what lives where: domain registrar, hosting, email, analytics, so none of it is locked inside my head or my inbox.
A walkthrough, not just a document
Documentation alone does not stick. I do a short walkthrough call or a screen recording showing exactly how to edit the pages they will actually change: swapping an image, updating a price, adding a blog post. People remember seeing something done once far better than reading a paragraph about it, and it means the first real edit they make is not also the first time they have seen the interface.
The legal pages are actually right
Privacy policy, terms, and a cookie notice if the site needs one, checked against what the site actually does rather than copied wholesale from a template and never looked at again. If there is a contact form collecting data or an ecommerce checkout handling payments, the privacy policy needs to say so accurately. This is not exciting work but it is the kind of gap that only ever surfaces at the worst possible time.
Analytics live and explained
Analytics is wired up and actually showing data before I call the site done, not configured and left untested. And I do not just hand over a dashboard link, I show the client the two or three numbers actually worth checking regularly, so a tool that could be genuinely useful does not turn into a tab they never open again.
Redirects and forms, tested live
If the launch is a migration from an old site, every redirect gets clicked, not just listed in a spreadsheet, and every form on the new site gets a real test submission so the first message to come through is not also the first time anyone checked it worked. I would rather catch a broken redirect myself than have the client's first week on the new site be the one that finds it.
A clear line for what happens next
Launch is not a disappearing act. I am explicit about what support looks like after go-live: how to reach me, what is routine versus what counts as a bigger change, and what ongoing maintenance actually covers. Vague expectations here are where good projects turn sour, not because the site was built badly, but because nobody agreed what happens after it ships.
A good launch is boring in the best way: the client knows what they own, how to use it, and who to call. If you want a site built this way from the start, get in touch.