Building client websites with AI: a freelancer's handover checklist

Before you start building

• Agree who owns what. Put it in writing: the client owns the content and the finished site; you own your tools and anything you reuse across clients. Say whether the price includes edits after launch, and for how long.
• Agree who owns the accounts. The domain, the site and any email should be in the client's name, or moved to them at handover. Holding a client's domain in your own account helps nobody when you're on holiday.
• Choose a setup the client can live with. A simple site of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images has no plugins to update. If the client needs a shop or bookings, use a dedicated service rather than building one.
• Collect content early. Logos, photos with usage rights, opening hours, prices and legal text. AI can draft copy, but the client must check facts like prices, addresses and claims.

While you build

• Keep one project folder. Your AI chats will come and go; the folder is the source of truth. Keep it backed up.
• Publish early to a real link. Clients give better feedback on a link they can open on their phone than on screenshots.
• Keep secrets out of the site. Anything you publish is public. See Is it safe to publish AI-written code?
• Check the basics on a phone. Text size, tap targets, image sizes and load time. The launch checklist covers it.
• Add the boring pages. Contact details, a privacy notice if you collect personal data, and a page for when something isn't found.

Who owns what

Fill this in with the client before the build. Every row should end up in the client's name, unless you've agreed otherwise in writing.

The handover call

Run through this with the client on a call, with their screen shared, not yours.

1. Give the client their own access. Ideally the site sits in an account they control; at the very least, invite them with their own sign-in. Confirm they can get in without you.
2. Give them the edit path. Show them how to ask an AI for a change and check the result. Do one real change together, like updating the opening hours.
3. Show them how to undo. Version history is the safety net that makes clients comfortable editing. Roll back once on the call so they've seen it work.
4. Hand over the files. A .zip of the finished site, plus your project folder if your agreement includes it. Ordinary files mean the client can move without you.
5. Write a one-page note. Use the template below.
6. Agree what happens next. Will you stay on as an editor? Is there a retainer, or do they pay per change? Decide now, not during the first emergency.

The domain

• Unlock it first if you are moving the registration. Registrars lock domains by default.
• Allow time. Moving a registration between companies often takes days, not minutes.
• Don't break email or DNS. If the client's email runs on the domain, copy the existing mail records exactly and don't change them during the move. Do the move at a quiet time.
• The site and the registration are separate. On Page Lemon, a transferred site keeps its connected domains working, but a domain stays registered wherever it was bought. To put the registration in the client's name, use the registrar's own "change of registrant" or "transfer to another account" steps. See Your own domain.

Money and rights

• Final invoice paid before the transfer. Say so in the agreement. After handover you have little leverage.
• Licences for what you used. Fonts, photos, icons and templates may have terms the client must follow, or may need renewing. List them in the handover note.
• Who owns the finished work depends on your contract and your country, and ownership of AI-assisted work is still being settled. This is not legal advice. Get a template contract checked by a professional.

Letting clients edit with their own AI

Many clients already use ChatGPT, Claude or another AI. If the site lives somewhere their AI can reach, they can make small changes themselves: a new price list, a holiday notice, a new photo. You stay on for the bigger work.

On Page Lemon, you can hand the whole site to the client and stay on as an editor, or just invite them as an editor. Say any of these to your AI:

• Invite sam@example.com as an editor on my siteCopy
• Transfer my site to client@example.com and keep me as an editorCopy
• What changed on my site this week?Copy
• Roll back my site to version 3Copy
• Remove sam@example.com from my siteCopy

A few facts from the co-editors guide:

• In a transfer (sending one needs a paid plan), you approve it in your browser, and the client gets an email and accepts by signing in. They need a paid plan of their own. You can cancel until they accept.
• The site moves with every version, its connected domains, and its forms and bookings with their data.
• Nobody overwrites anyone. If someone changed the site since your AI last loaded it, nothing is published until you choose to add your change on top.
• Each version records who published it. Rolling back adds a new version, so nothing is lost.

Maintenance agreement

Decide this in writing, before the first request arrives.

• What's included. Small text and photo changes? Fixes if something breaks? For how many months?
• Response time. "Within two working days" is a promise you can keep. "Straight away" is not.
• What costs extra. New pages, a redesign, a shop, anything over a set number of hours.
• How to ask. One email address or form, with the page, the change and a deadline. It keeps requests from getting lost.

Training and backups

• Training session. Thirty minutes is enough. Cover how to ask an AI for a change, how to check it, how to roll back and who to call.
• Backups. Version history is a safety net, but it has a length. Page Lemon keeps 7 days on Free, 90 days on Prompter, 1 year on Builder and Team and 2 years on Company. A site can also be downloaded as a .zip from Settings → Download .zip. Keep a copy somewhere the client controls.

• Download my site as a .zipCopy

The handover note

One page, saved where the client keeps important documents. Copy this and fill it in.

Website handover note

Site address:
Domain registrar (company and account email):
Domain renewal date:
Site account and plan (and renewal date):
Who has access (names, roles):
Where the files are (the .zip, the project folder):
How to ask an AI for a change:
How to roll back a change:
Fonts, photos and templates used (and their licences):
Support contact and response time:
What is included and what costs extra:
Date of handover:

Three months later

• Check the site still loads and the contact details are right.
• Check the domain renewal date and who gets the reminder.
• Ask what they changed themselves. It tells you what to make easier next time, and often turns into the next piece of paid work.

Your handover checklist

0 of 12 doneClear ticks

• Ownership of content, site and accounts agreed in writing
• Domain registrar account in the client's name
• Email, analytics and forms set up in the client's name
• No secret keys in the published files
• Tested on a phone
• Client logged in alone on the call, with no passwords sent in chat
• One real edit and one rollback done together
• Files handed over as a .zip
• Fonts, photos and templates licences listed
• Final invoice paid before the transfer
• Support arrangement agreed in writing
• Handover note sent