Near the end of a build, the most common conversation is this one. “I think that’s about right.” “I’m not quite happy with it.” Both people are being reasonable, and the conversation goes nowhere, because the definition of finished was never written down anywhere.
Acceptance criteria exist to remove that conversation. They do not need to be elaborate: write, in sentences, what you will do to decide the work is complete. They only count if written before the work starts — written afterwards, they are not criteria but demands.
Two properties of a good criterion
First, a third party must be able to verify it. “Fast” cannot be verified; “the first screen appears within three seconds on a phone” can. Second, the method comes with it. Without stating which tool and which conditions, two people will measure the same item and arrive with different answers.
With both properties in place, handover becomes a judgement rather than a negotiation. Pass, and the final payment is released. Fail, and the outstanding items list themselves.
Criteria that suit almost any WordPress site
Some conditions apply regardless of sector. Start from these and add whatever your business needs.
The third line goes missing surprisingly often. The search-visibility setting used during development stays on through launch, and in that state you can publish as much as you like and appear nowhere. One line in the acceptance criteria removes that failure structurally.
The fifth line matters too. How much you can change yourself shapes what you have actually bought. A structure where every wording tweak needs a supplier request is a legitimate choice — but you should discover you made it at handover, not six months later.
Putting speed and scores into criteria
If you want performance or search scores in your criteria, write the measurement conditions alongside: which page, which tool, mobile or desktop, how many runs and which value you will take. Measurements move with conditions, so a number without conditions is just a future argument.
For the same reason, record the “before” values first. If improvement has been promised, the prior state has to exist somewhere for a comparison to mean anything. That is why before-and-after measurement is a fixed part of how we work: what has not been measured cannot honestly be guaranteed.
Criteria protect the supplier too
Writing demanding criteria can feel like putting pressure on the other side. In practice it is the reverse. Without criteria, nobody knows when the revisions stop. With a stated pass condition, the supplier is responsible up to that line and can legitimately quote for anything beyond it. Both sides get predictability.
The standard we hold ourselves to is written step by step on our process page, and what is and is not included appears alongside the pricing on the optimization program page.
Next part
Once the criteria pass, it is time to take delivery. The next part is the handover list — which files and accounts you must actually receive before this is genuinely finished.