The Website Launch Checklist We Use Before Every Go-Live

Website launches rarely fail because of the big things. The design gets approved, the pages get built, everyone celebrates — and then someone notices the contact form emails go nowhere, the old URLs all return 404 errors, and the whole site is still telling search engines not to index it.

This is the checklist we run through before every launch. Copy it, adapt it, and work through it a few days before go-live, not an hour before.

Content

• Every page has final copy — no placeholder text, no "Lorem ipsum."
• Spelling and grammar checked, including headings and buttons.
• Every image has meaningful alt text (or empty alt text if purely decorative).
• Legal pages are in place: privacy policy, terms, cookie policy if needed.
• Contact details, addresses and phone numbers are correct everywhere.
• The copyright year in the footer updates automatically.

Forms and functionality

• Every form submits successfully and the message arrives where it should.
• Confirmation messages and emails are clear and correct.
• Spam protection is enabled.
• Links all work — run a broken-link checker across the site.
• Search, filters and any interactive features tested with real content.
• Custom 404 page exists and helps people find their way.

SEO

• Every page has a unique, descriptive title and meta description.
• One clear H1 per page.
• The "noindex" setting from staging has been removed. This one causes more invisible damage than anything else on the list.
• robots.txt allows crawling of the pages you want indexed.
• An XML sitemap is generated and submitted in Search Console.
• Canonical URLs are set correctly.
• Social sharing images and descriptions (Open Graph) display well.

Redirects (for redesigns and migrations)

• A full list of old URLs exported before launch.
• Every old URL with traffic or links redirects (301) to the most relevant new page.
• No redirect chains or loops.
• The most visited old URLs manually tested after launch.

Skipping redirects is the most common way a redesign loses years of search traffic overnight.

Performance

• Images compressed and sized for the space they fill.
• Core Web Vitals checked on key templates on a mobile device.
• Caching and a CDN configured.
• Unused scripts, plugins and fonts removed.

Accessibility

• The site can be navigated using only a keyboard, with visible focus states.
• Colour contrast meets accessibility guidelines.
• Form fields have proper labels.
• Headings follow a logical order.
• Tested with a screen reader on at least the main pages.

Devices and browsers

• Tested on real phones, not only a resized desktop browser.
• Checked in the major browsers your visitors use.
• No horizontal scrolling on small screens.
• Tap targets large enough on mobile.

Analytics and tracking

• Analytics installed and recording visits on the live domain.
• Key conversions (form submissions, purchases, sign-ups) tracked as goals.
• Consent banner works as intended where required.
• Search Console and any other webmaster tools verified.

Security and operations

• HTTPS active everywhere, with HTTP redirecting to HTTPS.
• Admin accounts use strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication.
• Default and test accounts removed.
• Automatic backups configured — and one restore actually tested.
• Uptime monitoring set up to alert someone who will act on it.
• Domain and SSL renewal dates recorded, with auto-renew turned on.

Launch day

• Launch early in the week and early in the day, never on a Friday afternoon.
• Someone who can fix problems is available for the rest of the day.
• After DNS changes, check the site from different networks.
• Submit a test form and make a test purchase on the live site.
• Watch analytics and error logs for the first few hours.

One week later

• Check Search Console for crawl errors and 404s.
• Review analytics against the old site's baseline.
• Collect feedback from the team and early visitors.
• Fix the small issues while everyone still remembers them.

A launch isn't the finish line — it's the moment real visitors start telling you what to improve. This list just makes sure they're telling you about the interesting things, not the forgotten ones.