Website QA review: a complete guide to signing off a project with your client

Discover how to organise the QA review of your website efficiently with your client. Definition, key steps, best practices and tools to centralise feedback — a complete guide for web designers and freelance developers.

Why the QA review phase is crucial (and often rushed)

The QA review phase is an essential stage but one that is generally poorly handled by independent contractors. Without proper structure, this phase generates repetitive exchanges, requests that exceed the original scope and relationship friction.

What is a website QA review?

A QA review is the verification and validation phase before going live. It determines whether the deliverable matches the agreed specifications.

Timing of the QA review within the project

The seven stages of a typical web project:

1. Client brief and specification
2. Mock-ups and wireframes
3. Development on a test environment
4. Internal QA review
5. Client QA review on the test environment
6. Fixes arising from the QA review
7. Signing of the QA sign-off report and going live

The five steps of an organised QA review

Step 1 — Preliminary internal QA review

Before sending anything to the client, carry out a complete check including:

• Compliance with the specification
• Browser testing (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
• Responsive checks (mobile and tablet)
• Validation of forms, links and redirects
• Performance checks

Step 2 — Sending the preview link

Tell your client:

• What they need to check
• The deadline for feedback
• A single channel for submitting their observations

Step 3 — Centralising feedback

An effective system must make it possible to:

• Precisely identify the area concerned
• Attach visual context to each request
• Keep a history per project
• Track the progress of fixes

Step 4 — Fixes and validation

For each piece of feedback:

• Determine whether it falls within the QA review or is an enhancement
• Handle the items within scope
• Bill out-of-scope requests separately
• Document each fix made

Step 5 — Signed QA sign-off report

The signed report certifies the compliance of the deliverable and represents the contractor's legal protection for triggering the final payment.

Structure of the QA review document

Elements to include

• Project information (name, test URL, date, version)
• List of features with status
• Details of anomalies (description, screenshot, priority)
• History of client feedback
• Signature area with validation date

Five common mistakes to avoid

1. No QA review deadline
2. Accepting feedback across several channels
3. Starting fixes before all observations have been collected
4. Being vague about the distinction between QA review and enhancements
5. Going live before the sign-off report is signed

Comparison of QA review tools

The browser extension reduces friction on the client side by allowing feedback directly on the page with automatic screenshots.

QA sign-off report template

Summary of key points

• Plan the QA review from the contract stage
• Carry out a thorough internal QA review before delivery
• Set an explicit deadline for feedback
• Use a single channel for centralisation
• Distinguish between QA review (included) and enhancements (billable)
• Do not go live before the sign-off report is signed
• Use the signed sign-off report as a condition for the final payment