Saying “goodbye” is a big deal. Maybe you’re sad about it (like when your daughter moves out of home) or maybe you’re happy about it (like when your son moves out of home). Either way, there comes a point at which you have to let go.
It’s the same with client websites. As a Rocketspark design partner, you’ve poured time and energy into turning their idea into a web-reality, but now it’s time to bid “farewell” to the project and hand it over to the client. But how? In this blog post, we talk you through the nuts and bolts of handing over “the keys” to your client.
Logging in
As a partner, you’ve been logging into your client’s website through Design Studio. But this is a partners-only platform, so your client has to login through Dashboard, the address for which should look something like this:
clientwebsitename.rocketspark.co.nz/dashboard
Conveniently, you can send your client’s login details to them directly from Design Studio in the site settings.
Upgrading
It’s up to you (and your client) to decide how you want the upgrade process to happen. The client can do it, you can do it on their behalf, or you can go through the process together. Regardless, there are three aspects to consider in the upgrade process:
- Domain names. Your client needs to decide whether they would like Rocketspark to host their domain or have their domain hosted by a third party. We've put together a guide to help you and your client decide on the best option for your situation.
- Email. As with domains, email can be either hosted by Rocketspark or hosted by some other provider. Which is better? The general rule of thumb is that if your client will have just a handful of email accounts—say, 2–3—then we’re more than happy to host them. If they plan on a larger number of accounts, have an existing email service up and running, or an IT company is involved, then we encourage them to host with a third party.
- Billing. This is where the client’s payment details are inputted and where the payment plan is selected. There are three plans to choose from: (1) Standard Plan, (2) Ecommerce Grow, and (3) Ecommerce Pro).
We've got more information about the upgrade process in our help guides: Learn how to invite clients to upgrade, Learn how to upgrade your client’s site for them.
Training
We pride ourselves on making editing easy, even for noobs. But you’ll still need to do some basic training with your client. We recommend that you come up with a checklist that you work through with them. Once you’ve ticked off each item, you can be confident that they’ll be able to manage and keep their website up-to-date.
Pro tip: Create a screen share video demonstrating the key aspects of editing on Rocketspark. The advantage of making a video is that the client can pause, rewind, and rewatch as needed, giving them a useful reference tool that they can return to over and over again.
Redirects
If your client has an old website, it pays to set up a 301 redirect (excuse the jargon). Simply put, if a user types in your client’s old web address, the redirect will automatically take them to the new website. This not only ensures anyone with the old address can still find your client, it’s beneficial for the new site’s SEO too.
Locking Options
There’s nothing worse than seeing your beautifully designed website get ruined. That’s why we give partners additional locking options. You can hide the template and the site-wide edit design options from your client if you don’t want them to edit the look of the website.
You also have the option of locking a specific stack. Your client will be able to edit the content inside the stack but won’t have access to any of the design controls. This is particularly useful if you’ve spent significant time perfecting the design.
Ongoing Costs
The Rocketspark subscription covers hosting, customer support, technical updates and more. There are 2 options when it comes to paying the subscription. You can pay it on behalf of the client or the client can pay it directly. That, of course, is your decision, but it is something that needs to be discussed early on.
Managing who receives the invoice and pays can all be done in your design studio. Check out our help video for setting up the different billing options.
Recap
True to the Rocketspark ethos, we’ve made the handing over process straightforward. The things to cover during the process are logging in, upgrading, training, redirects, locking and ongoing costs. Cover those things and you can be confident that the website you’ve worked so hard on is in good hands when it finally comes time to say “goodbye” to it (and, unlike your boomerang-like son, won’t be back on weekends for you to do his laundry).
