WordPress Client Onboarding Kit

A complete, ready-to-customize documentation package for handing off WordPress sites to clients. Covers CMS training, content editing, user roles, event management, analytics, and marketing campaigns. Built from real client handoff experience.

What's in This Kit
  1. Who This Kit Is For
  2. Dashboard Orientation
  3. User Roles and Permissions
  4. Content Editing Guide
  5. Media and Image Management
  6. Event and Calendar Management
  7. Google Analytics Walkthrough
  8. Marketing Campaign Framework
  9. Ongoing Maintenance Checklist
  10. Client Handoff Checklist

1. Who This Kit Is For

If you build WordPress websites for clients, you know the hardest part is not the build -- it is the handoff. Clients call you two weeks later because they cannot figure out how to change a phone number. They accidentally delete a page. They do not understand why their Google Analytics shows zero traffic.

This kit solves that problem. It is a complete documentation package you can customize with your client's specific site details, hand over at launch, and reference every time they have a question. It saves you hours of support calls and makes you look more professional.

Customize the highlighted fields with your client's specific details.

2. Dashboard Orientation

Your WordPress Dashboard

Your website runs on WordPress, the same platform that powers 43% of all websites on the internet. You will manage everything through the Dashboard, which you access by going to:

https://yoursite.com/wp-admin

Log in with the credentials we provided. Once logged in, you will see the Dashboard home screen with these key areas:

The left sidebar is your main navigation. Everything you need is there.

3. User Roles and Permissions

WordPress User Roles

WordPress has five user roles. Each role has different permissions:

Your team's roles:

To add a new user: go to Users > Add New. Enter their email, assign them the Author or Contributor role (never Administrator), and click "Add New User." They will receive an email to set their password.

4. Content Editing Guide

Editing Existing Content

To edit any page or post:

  1. Log in to your Dashboard.
  2. Go to Pages (for static pages) or Posts (for blog articles).
  3. Hover over the page or post you want to edit. Click "Edit".
  4. Make your changes in the editor. The editor uses blocks -- each paragraph, image, heading, or button is a separate block you can click and edit.
  5. Click "Update" (top right) to save and publish your changes immediately.

Creating New Content

  1. Go to Posts > Add New (for a blog article) or Pages > Add New (for a static page).
  2. Enter your title at the top.
  3. Start typing your content. Press Enter to create new paragraph blocks.
  4. To add an image, click the "+" button and select "Image." Upload from your computer or choose from the Media Library.
  5. To add a heading, click "+" and select "Heading." Use Heading 2 (H2) for main sections and Heading 3 (H3) for subsections. Never use Heading 1 -- that is reserved for the page title.
  6. Set a Featured Image in the right sidebar. This is the image that appears in previews, social media shares, and search results.
  7. Set the Category and Tags in the right sidebar.
  8. Click "Publish" to go live, or "Save Draft" to save without publishing.

Content Best Practices

5. Media and Image Management

Working with Images

All images and files you upload go to the Media Library (left sidebar > Media).

Uploading Files (PDFs, Documents)

You can upload PDFs, Word documents, and other files through Media > Add New. To link to a file from a page or post, upload it first, copy the file URL from the Media Library, then create a link in your content.

6. Event and Calendar Management

Managing Events

Skip this section if your site does not have an events feature.

If your site uses an events plugin (such as The Events Calendar, Events Manager, or a custom events post type), managing events works similarly to managing posts:

  1. Go to Events in the left sidebar.
  2. Click "Add New" to create an event.
  3. Fill in the event title, description, date, time, and location.
  4. Set a Featured Image for the event (this appears on the calendar and event listings).
  5. Set the event Category (e.g., Workshop, Fundraiser, Meeting).
  6. Click "Publish" to make the event visible on your site's calendar.

Recurring events: If the plugin supports it, use the "Recurrence" option instead of creating the same event multiple times. This keeps your calendar clean and makes it easy to update all instances at once.

Past events: Most event plugins automatically move past events off the main calendar view. You do not need to delete them -- they serve as an archive and help with SEO.

7. Google Analytics Walkthrough

Accessing Your Analytics

Your site has Google Analytics installed. This tells you how many people visit your site, where they come from, and what they do. To access it:

  1. Go to analytics.google.com.
  2. Log in with the Google account: analytics-email@gmail.com
  3. Select your property: Your Site Name

Key Reports to Check Monthly

What the Numbers Mean

8. Marketing Campaign Framework

How to Track a Marketing Campaign

When you run a promotion, event, or advertising campaign, you want to know if it drove traffic to your website. Google Analytics can track this using UTM parameters -- special tags you add to your URLs.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Tracked Campaign Link

  1. Go to Google's Campaign URL Builder.
  2. Enter your website URL: https://yoursite.com
  3. Fill in three required fields:
    • Campaign Source: Where the link will be posted (e.g., "facebook", "newsletter", "flyer")
    • Campaign Medium: The type of marketing (e.g., "social", "email", "print", "cpc")
    • Campaign Name: A name for this specific campaign (e.g., "summer-sale-2026", "grand-opening")
  4. Copy the generated URL. It will look like:
    https://yoursite.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-sale-2026
  5. Use this link in your Facebook post, email newsletter, or printed QR code -- not your regular URL.

Viewing Campaign Results

In Google Analytics, go to Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition and filter by "Session campaign" to see how many visits each campaign generated. You can also see which campaign visitors stayed longest, viewed the most pages, and converted.

Example Campaign

Scenario: You are promoting a summer adoption event on Facebook, Instagram, and an email newsletter.

Create three separate tracked URLs -- one for each channel. All three use the same Campaign Name ("summer-adoption-2026") but different Sources ("facebook", "instagram", "mailchimp"). After the event, check Analytics to see which channel drove the most visitors and which visitors stayed longest on your site.

9. Ongoing Maintenance Checklist

10. Client Handoff Checklist

Use this checklist when delivering a completed WordPress site to a client. Every item should be complete before the handoff meeting.

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