A messy sign-off leaves a messy memory — and it’s one of the easiest things to fix with the right checklist in place.

Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.

Check out: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It’s a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and “is it just me?” moments.

In this episode, I’m walking you through my full website sign-off process — the checklist I use every single time to make sure projects end cleanly, clients are set up properly, and I can actually close the project and move on.

We get into:

• Holly’s website “pack-down” checklist and why you need one
• Cookie notices, GDPR, and what to check before you go live
• Why you should run a Page Speed Insights report and screenshot it every time
• Setting up admin accounts (the step Holly has forgotten more than once)
• Website manuals: why every client should get one and how to create them
• Hooking up analytics, pixels, and code tracking before handover
• How to test on incognito browser and mobile before you call it done
• Getting written sign-off from your client — and the wording that matters
• Migration, SSL certificates, and enforcing HTTPS after moving a site
• Contact form testing, SMTP, and GDPR-compliant database saving
• How to organise client training and what Holly’s personalised video manuals look like
• Setting up client logins and making sure they know how to run WordPress updates
• Asking for reviews at exactly the right moment
• What is and is not your responsibility once a project is signed off

If you want every project to end with a clean, confident handover — this one will help you build that process.

Grab Holly’s sign-off checklist at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sign-off-checklist

Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at [email protected]

And here’s the link if you want to learn more about Neal and Podknows: https://podknows.co.uk/

Skip to the good bits:

00:00 The sign-off feeling and making sure clients come back for the right reasons

01:46 Build your website pack-down checklist

02:50 Cookie notices and GDPR compliance

03:53 Run a PageSpeed Insights report and save the results

06:20 Create an admin account for the client

06:55 Website manuals and why every client needs one

07:37 Hooking up code tracking before handover

08:48 Testing on incognito browser and mobile view

10:27 Getting written sign-off from your client

11:10 Tying sign-off to payment

11:35 Migration, SSL certificates and enforcing HTTPS

14:21 Contact forms, testing and GDPR compliance

15:39 Organising client training

16:17 Holly’s personalised video walkthrough manuals

17:12 Getting the client logged in

17:58 WordPress updates and making sure clients know how

18:40 Ask for a review at the right moment

19:09 Your responsibilities after sign-off

When you sign off a website project and you hand it over and

your part in it is effectively done, it is such a good feeling.

Client's happy, you're happy, and most importantly, if you are a creative

like me, you're like, "Ugh, that was a really good, satisfying , brilliant

project. I never want to see it again."

It's one of those things where we've given it our all.

We've looked at it so much, we can see it behind our eyelids while they are

closed, and it's time to move on.

So today, I am going to help you in making sure that that transition of

moving on is such a good one that the only reason that your clients would

come back to you are for all the right reasons, because they want to work with

you again, because they're recommending you, not because they're coming back

saying, "Something's not right about the website and I need you to fix it."

all of us can tend to have a bit of a slightly varying, sign-off process,

and this episode is going to help you in really thinking about what you want

your sign-off process to be, how to standardize it, and how to kind of

hit those markers every single time.

You ready?

Let's get started.

Hi, I'm Holly.

I am the host of Websites Made Simple.

I am the founder of two website design companies, This

Demanding Life and Simply Sites.

And I am here to help you lovely website designers and developers in

having a much happier, much better, much more cohesive website career.

So let's get on it.

The very first thing I recommend is that you create some form of checklist so

that you can literally work through it on what I call as the website pack down.

we are literally packing it up to send it away.

Now, I use Trello for this.

I've also used ClickUp in the past.

I work off a MacBook and an iPhone.

I sometimes use my Notepad app.

But make sure you have something that really works for you, that is a checklist

that you can click and fill in the checks.

And if you don't know where to start, or you don't have one, or you think this

just sounds like the only way I'm going to get there is trial and error and I don't

want the errors, then I have my very own checklist that I will be sharing with you.

And all you need to do is go to websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sign-off-checklist

You can also find the link in the show notes as well, in the checklist

you want to have a cookie notice.

Have you put a cookie notice on the website?

Now, obviously there are some variations here.

Sometimes I build websites that just don't have any cookies on them, that

the client doesn't have any tracking connected to it or anything like that,

so the website can go live without it.

But there's no point investing in a website if you're not gonna do at least

a small amount of SEO, and part of that SEO would be hooking that website up to

analytics or a Google My Business profile.

And whether that gets done on your watch or whether it gets done after you've

signed off the website, having a cookies notice, the GDPR compliant one that links

to your privacy policy is going to make a really big difference here as well.

So do use a cookies plugin.

There are loads of free ones.

You don't necessarily have to go for one of the paid for ones,

but do make sure you've got a cookies notice on the website.

Next thing is have you done a PageSpeed Insights report?

And if you haven't, just Google PageSpeed Insights and

Google's own tools will come up.

You can also look at Pingdom.

You can also look at LightSpeed.

But I just prefer using Google's one because, you know, it's

Google that we're really trying to impress with these websites.

So go with that.

So go to PageSpeed Insights, pop in the URL, wait for it to run the

report, and see what the report says.

I like to, first of all, check that everything is as it should be, that

the accessibility is 100, that the SEO structure is 100, that best practices

is 100, and that the page speeds are

in the high 90s as well.

And I also just like to go through that report and just see if there's anything

there that might need correcting or that I could just pay a tiny bit of attention

to before I send the website live.

Once that's all done, I might rerun the report if I'm going to

do a little bit more work to it.

I screenshot those results, and those results also say the time

and date that the report was run.

And I like to keep a record of these, A, because it gives me something that

I can, you know, show clients these are the results I get from my website.

B, I put it in the website manuals that I give to the clients.

They have individual personalized website manuals that tell them how to work their

website once we've signed off the website.

And I like to put those scores in there as well so that they know I've

done a great job on their website.

And C, sometimes you get other people who will come in and work on the website

afterwards, like an SEO specialist or someone else who will try and convince

the website owner that you haven't done the job properly or whatever

else, and it gives me something there to say, "This was the result of your

website on the day it went live."

And it also means that if anyone else mucks up the website you've

still got that record as well.

So if you haven't been creating these free reports on PageSpeed

Insights, do start doing that.

Add it to your checklist as well. Something I have forgotten

on more than one occasion.

Now, in my defense, I will say that I have built hundreds of websites over the years.

You're gonna like this one.

Make sure you've created an admin account for the website owner.

a few times I've sent the website live and sent up the user manual and

like, "Oh, there you go." And they're like, "That's lovely, Holly, but,

um, how do I access the website?"

So don't expect them to know how to log into the website or anything else.

I also recently updated my website manuals as well to include this information in

the manual, how to log into the website.

If you do not have a website manual for your clients, A, you're missing

a trick because they can always you know, when, if they come back

to you saying, "How do I do this?

How do I do that?" You can say, "Go and look at the manual.

It's in there." And B, it just means you don't get caught in

the weeds of all of that stuff.

But if you haven't created a manual for them before, contact me at

[email protected], and I will share with you the template I use

for my website manuals as well, because it's just such a good thing to create

for the client, and it leaves a really good impression with them as well.

So make sure they have an admin account.

Make sure they know how and where to log into that admin account as well

Next on the checklist, if, um, they have anything code tracking based that

needs to go on the website, you need to do that before you hand it over.

They are not going to know how to do it themselves.

They are website owners, not website designers or developers.

So we are talking about if they have Google Analytics that need hooking up,

whether they've got Google container tags, whether you have scripts running

for mailing software, whether you have pixels for things like Meta

or running ads, anything like that, you need to make sure that's done

before the website goes live as well.

And when you are putting this in there as well, it's double the reason

to check the cookies policy as well.

If you are using the Site Kit plugin from Google which often considering Google

likes to have fast websites, the Site Kit plugin can be the one that actually slows

down websites, but it doesn't slow it down enough for it to not be worth using.

So do bear that in mind.

They also have on the Site Kit plugin the option that it can't run any cookies until

someone's clicked on the cookie banner to say that they're happy with that as well.

So just configure it how you want to configure it as well.

is there.

Another thing I would say is test the website on an incognito browser and just

make sure that everything is running exactly as it is because, you know,

we all have experience of it caching, and it showing us one thing where we

have it open on all the different tabs for all the different pages where we've

been working, working, working on it.

And it's showing the client something else.

So really do make sure you've checked it out on an incognito browser.

Make sure you've also checked it on mobile view.

Make sure that you have also done everything for mobile view.

It can be really right at the end like we think, "Oh, can't I just

leave this to the theme?" No, we can't leave it to the theme.

And your clients will check it on a mobile view as well.

And the last thing you want is just that back-and-forth ping-ponging with clients.

You want to have this really clean ending to it.

And I can tell you, I've had a really recent experience with a client where

it's gone back and forth, back and forth at the sign-off stage because

the client decided that she didn't want to work any of the school

holidays, so she delayed the sign-off.

Then she signed it off, and then she came back 'cause she hadn't looked at the

mobile version, and it went back, forth, back, forth, and neither of us had a

really good experience right at the end.

And it's … it can be hard when clients suddenly prioritize something else like

a school holiday or something like that.

So having a checklist really helps out here because you can just check it

along, and you know where you're at.

And so if you are picking something up and putting it down a little

bit, you always know where your launchpad is for that as well.

So the final stage in this part of the checklist is has the

client signed off on the project?

Have you checked with them that they are happy to publish this website?

Have you checked that they have checked it on their mobile and

checked it on a desktop and that they are happy to publish?

And you need to use wording around that.

Are you happy to sign off the site so we can send it live now?

Are you happy for me to publish the website, which will send it live?

Use terminology that the client understands, and make sure you have

that in writing over email, over them clicking a button, or whatever it is.

It is a really important stage of the project.

For me, I also have my payment terms are 50% deposit and 50% on completion when

we are ready to send the website live.

So when I say to them, "Are you happy to sign this off?" I'm also

sending the invoice at that point, so it's a really clear signal of

this project is wrapping up now.

So have a think about how you handle that part of the process.

So slightly technical stuff now, and the reason that I've put this after

the client signing off the project is because sometimes they stay with us

for hosting, and that's great because generally we'll have all of the setup

done from when we built the site.

I tend to build on a temporary domain anyway

Sorry, I had to pause you 'cause, uh, Dylan came thundering down the stairs.

He is the only one I've h- got home this weekend 'cause he

was competing this weekend.

Right, where were we?

We were on… Oh, uh, the technical thing

So if you've been hosting the website on a temporary domain, which is what

I always recommend people do when they are building websites, because then

you don't hand over the website until it's been paid for, and it can really

help sort out that sort of payment terms and everything with the client.

But if you've hosted it yourself, you'll have all of your settings there.

But often, and I particularly find this with custom-build websites, clients may

want it hosted on their own hosting.

And so when they do that, as part of the project, I consider it to

be our job to move the website over to their hosting for them.

Some people don't, and whatever your process is, your process is it.

But let's say that you are moving it for them, that you're migrating the website.

So the first thing once it's migrated is you need to check that

the website has an SSL certificate.

And if it doesn't, you need to support the client in getting one.

So whether that's doing it through their provider or however you want to recommend,

but they need an SSL certificate.

And then once they have that, have this as a checkbox on your list,

make sure that everything is loading

over HTTPS.

And it can be just as simple as, you know, running a script for enforce HTTPS so that

everything that goes over that connection is completely secure there as well.

And that caching plugins, if you're using one of those, make sure

that they are loading everything.

And I can often find if we are using some third-party software like mailing

software Kit is a real one for this, that it doesn't load the forms if

you have a caching plugin on there.

It's really annoying.

Kit really needs to do better with it because lots of the other ones do work,

but this one often doesn't, so we need to fiddle around with that as well.

It also might be that if you're trying to load off canvases or slide-ins or

something like that, you may need to look at the caching settings as well.

Again, what will really help you here is checking the site on an incognito browser

once you've sent it live and moved it onto the hosting there as well You want to make

sure that the email address on the contact forms is sending to the correct email.

Don't just put the client's email in there and hope for the best.

Do send a test email.

Do make sure that people are receiving the emails, because you may need to install

an SMTP plugin on the website to ensure that they do get those emails as well.

And I would also have it back up to the database as well.

Most forms will have this as, um, standard.

If you're a WordPress developer and you are still using Contact 7

forms, oh my goodness, there are so much better software out there.

But if you are still using them, there's a plugin called Flamingo, which will

save it to the database for you as well.

But make sure that as well as emailing forms, that they are there in the

database as well so that nothing gets missed as well with that.

And make sure that with the forms, with the saving to the database settings,

that they are all GDPR compliant as well.

We need to make sure within the practice, within the privacy policy, that the

website is supporting the client in how they are handling their data as well

So that brings us on to your own admin process.

You'll see what I mean by having this as a title here, and this

is your final checklist, and this is a little bit the one for you.

Have you organized training for the client so they know how to use their website?

And again, that could be you might run an hour-long session on Zoom where you

record the session and you show them how to do stuff, or it might be that you

create a website manual the way I do.

And what I have with my website manuals is I have a load of videos in

there, like video tutorials of how to change an image, how to update some

text, how to choose the right titles, how to do this, that and the other.

And then I just do a personalized walkthrough of the person's

website in an introduction video.

It's about five minutes long.

It just shows them where everything is on the website.

It shows them what plugins are on the website, where to find things.

Um, so it means that I just copy- I use this template for the website manual.

I put this five-minute video in there.

I send it off to the client, and essentially, my training process is

very, very quick from my point of view.

But I will say that it took me years to perfect this process as well.

So organize training for your clients however you do.

Have that as a check on your checklist.

Make sure that clients can log in to the website.

So I have the website email the client their admin login link, so they can

set their own password, so I don't have anything to do with the passwords.

Really encourage your client to do it there and then, so they don't come back

to you kind of weeks later saying, "Oh, the link's expired," with that one.

Make sure finally that they are happy with everything.

This is your very last chance to have this completely signed up.

And Really importantly, if you are a WordPress designer or developer, make

sure they know how to run updates on their website if you're not handling

that for them or if they're not having someone doing the maintenance for them.

I have a page on my website user manuals, and it is actually typed.

So rather than an instruction video, it says, "Look out for this, run this,

click this, click that." It is so important to keep websites secure, and

clients won't know to do it themselves.

So really do encourage them that, A, they know how to do it, and B,

that they set a schedule, whether it's weekly or fortnightly, that

they are running these updates.

It's really, really important.

Make sure they also know what happens next if they want to update the

website or get in touch with you.

So, that could be in your terms of service that you might just want to draw their

attention to, or a chatty thing at the end of an email that just says, you know, "I'm

so, so lovely to have worked with you.

If you'd like any work done again in future, look forward to hearing from you.

It will be considered a new project, even if it's on the same website."

And again, that's just kind of quite a clear clear directive of where

your work ends with that as well.

And once they have said, yes, they're happy, it's all been signed off, ask

them for a review or recommendation.

Make it really easy for them to do it.

I always put a link in the final email, say, "If you enjoyed working together,

I'd love if you could give me a review.

Here's a Google link.

Here's a link to my LinkedIn recommendations as well." Because if

you don't ask, you don't get, and people might do an announcement and tag you

in the announcement, but you want that review sitting on your Google profile

or your LinkedIn profile or wherever it is to make sure you've done that.

Very finally, what is a website designer's responsibility and what is

not after the website's been complete.

So I mentioned earlier in this show about what happens if someone

else gets involved in the website and says, "You've done it wrong."

And I say, "Well, go to your checklist on this." So if someone comes and says,

"I've had an SEO specialist," or someone like that, "working on the website,

and there's something you've done wrong here," it's … The first thing

I would say is get in touch with me.

I do crisis calls with web designers all the time, and I'll be able to tell you

what is your responsibility to fix and what is not your responsibility to fix.

So you could drop in on LinkedIn, and you can find me there at Holly C.

Christie, or you can email me at hello at websites made simple dot co dot

uk, or go onto the website and you will see that there's a form there.

You can even voice note it, and I will respond to you.

So I would say if you do end up in this situation, it can

be a little bit shocking.

You think, "Oh my gosh, I did everything right. I did- I worked to the best

practices. I worked to what I know." And sometimes it's just a case of

we don't know what we don't know.

And being very collaborative can really help here.

So rather than saying, "Well, it's all signed off and I've done my checklist.

Here I go," look at what you can do to help.

Look at where it would be considered a new project or whether it's actually

fixing the existing one as well.

But having your checklist, this checklist that I've got, again, you can find

it at websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sign, S-I-G-N, hyphen off hyphen checklist,

and it will make sure that you are hitting all of those goals.

That's it for me this week.

It's been a slightly longer this week, uh, one this week, but I

hope it has really helped and is going to help you going forward.

And until next time, enjoy your website business

I don't know why I said that.

I don't like hear- saying happy designing, but I don't know what to do.

All right, I'm gonna do until next time.

No, I'm gonna do I'll see you next time.

Okay

So I hope you've enjoyed this episode.

I'd love to hear from you.

Do let me know about it at [email protected],

and I will see you next time.