A practical procurement-to-handover checklist for Kenyan companies that need a credible website, clear ownership, accessible journeys, measurable performance and an operating plan after a successful launch.
The website is a company system, not a marketing department souvenir
A corporate website often begins in marketing and ends up touching almost everyone. Legal reviews claims and privacy notices. IT controls domains, identity and security. Human resources publishes vacancies. Procurement evaluates suppliers. Business units own service facts. Leadership approves the public position. If those roles are not visible at the start, the project tends to collect delays and contradictory feedback near the end.
The checklist below is designed to create evidence at each decision point. A tick without an owner or a document is only a memory waiting to fail.
1. Set the business outcome before the page list
- Name the primary audiences and the decision each audience must be able to make.
- Choose the few conversion actions that matter, such as an enquiry, application, download, call or account sign-in.
- Record what the current site gets wrong using evidence from search, analytics, support questions and stakeholder interviews.
- Define what success can be measured after launch without inventing a guaranteed commercial result.
2. Make procurement compare the same work
| Area | Question | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant work | Has the team solved a comparable information or transaction problem? | Live examples with a clear account of the supplier's role |
| Method | How are scope, content, review and acceptance controlled? | Named phases, responsibilities and approval gates |
| Accessibility | How will keyboard, screen reader, contrast and error states be checked? | A test plan mapped to WCAG 2.2 AA |
| Security | Who validates inputs, permissions, dependencies and deployment? | Server-side controls, update policy and test evidence |
| Ownership | Which accounts, files, licences and repositories transfer to the company? | A draft handover register |
| Support | What happens after launch and what is outside the support lane? | Response expectations, escalation route and exclusions |
3. Give every piece of content an owner
Content is usually the schedule, even when the project plan pretends otherwise. Build a matrix with every proposed page, its purpose, source material, writer, factual approver, legal reviewer where needed, image owner and due date. Separate facts from positioning. A designer can improve hierarchy, but should not invent a branch location, certification, market share or client outcome to fill a gap.
- Confirm the official company name, address, contacts and social profiles.
- Verify service descriptions with the people who deliver them.
- Record usage rights, captions and alternative text for every image.
- Identify old pages that must be retained, redirected, merged or retired.
- Approve a publishing owner who can keep the site accurate after launch.
4. Treat accessibility as a release requirement
The current WCAG 2.2 recommendation is a practical baseline for requirements and testing. For a corporate site, that means more than colour contrast. Navigation must work with a keyboard, headings must describe the document, form labels and errors must be clear, focus must remain visible, motion must respect user preferences, and touch targets must remain usable on small screens.
Ask for a mix of automated and manual testing. Automated checks find valuable defects, but they cannot decide whether link text makes sense, whether an error message helps a person recover, or whether focus follows a logical path through a complex menu.
5. Decide what analytics may collect
Measurement should start with decisions, not a list of every possible event. Define the conversions, supporting steps and operational questions the team will review. Record who controls the analytics property, who can access it, how consent affects collection, how long data is retained and how internal or test traffic is handled. A dashboard no one owns becomes expensive wallpaper surprisingly quickly.
6. Run a launch that can be reversed
- Approve the final content and record the version that was approved.
- Test forms from submission through delivery, acknowledgement and failure recovery.
- Map old URLs to relevant new URLs and test permanent redirects.
- Verify titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, social images, robots rules and sitemap entries.
- Check common Android and iPhone sizes, keyboard navigation and reduced motion.
- Take a restorable backup and write down the rollback decision and owner.
- Confirm production analytics, security monitoring and the incident contact.
7. Handover the keys, not just a login
The company should know who owns the domain registration, DNS, hosting, CMS, code repository, analytics, search tools, email delivery, form inboxes, third-party integrations and paid licences. Store access in a company-controlled password manager with named administrators and recovery methods. Remove temporary supplier access when it is no longer needed.
| Item | Company owner | Proof of handover |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | IT or named executive | Registrant details, recovery contact and tested login |
| Website and CMS | Digital or communications owner | Administrator access, role list and publishing guide |
| Code and deployment | Technical owner | Repository, environments, release instructions and rollback notes |
| Analytics and search | Marketing or digital owner | Property ownership, access list and reporting definitions |
| Media and content | Communications owner | Source files, licences, alt text and content inventory |
| Support | Service owner | Named channels, response expectations, renewal date and exclusions |
A Business Websites engagement should make these responsibilities visible before launch, not after the first urgent change. The website can then become a dependable company asset rather than a folder of files only the original supplier understands.
The final test is simple
Ask whether a new staff member could understand the site, publish safely, find the accounts, read the evidence and know whom to call. If the answer depends on one person's memory, the project is not finished.
Plan a Corporate Website