Website launch checklist
Website launch checklist — check this before you press go.
Launch day is when small oversights become public. This is a practical run-through of what to check before a website goes live, with a plain-English note on what going wrong actually looks like for each item.
Content
What people will actually read.
Spelling and proofreading throughout.
Going wrong looks like: A typo sits on the homepage for months because no one reads it after it's approved.
Prices are correct and current.
Going wrong looks like: A customer calls annoyed because the site quoted last year's price.
Contact information is correct.
Going wrong looks like: Enquiries go to a phone number or inbox nobody checks any more.
Services listed match what's actually offered.
Going wrong looks like: A visitor asks about a service that was dropped two years ago.
Team details are current.
Going wrong looks like: A staff member who left is still listed as the person to contact.
Legal claims are accurate.
Going wrong looks like: A guarantee or certification is stated that no longer applies.
Functionality
Does everything that should work, work?
Forms submit and arrive where expected.
Going wrong looks like: A form 'works' on screen but the emails never arrive.
Phone links dial correctly on mobile.
Going wrong looks like: Tapping the number does nothing, or dials the wrong digits.
Email links open a working address.
Going wrong looks like: The mailto link points at an address that bounces.
Booking flows complete end to end, where relevant.
Going wrong looks like: A booking looks confirmed but never reaches the calendar.
Payments process correctly, where relevant.
Going wrong looks like: A test transaction goes through but a live one fails silently.
Navigation reaches every page it should.
Going wrong looks like: A page exists but there's no link to it anywhere.
Calls to action are visible and lead somewhere useful.
Going wrong looks like: A button says 'Get in touch' and links to nothing.
Mobile
Most visitors will arrive on a phone.
Navigation works on a real phone, not just a resized browser.
Going wrong looks like: The menu opens but won't close, or covers the whole screen.
Text is legible without zooming.
Going wrong looks like: Body copy is readable on desktop and tiny on mobile.
Forms are usable with a thumb.
Going wrong looks like: Fields are too small or the keyboard covers the submit button.
Imagery loads and displays properly.
Going wrong looks like: Images are cropped oddly or fail to load on slower connections.
Buttons are large enough to tap accurately.
Going wrong looks like: Two links sit so close together the wrong one gets tapped.
SEO
The checks that decide whether the site can be found.
Titles are written for every page.
Going wrong looks like: Pages share the same default title, or none at all.
Descriptions are written for every page.
Going wrong looks like: Search results show a random snippet of text instead.
H1s exist and describe the page.
Going wrong looks like: A page has no H1, or has three, competing with each other.
Canonicals point at the correct URL.
Going wrong looks like: Two versions of a page quietly compete against each other.
Sitemap is generated and accurate.
Going wrong looks like: The sitemap still lists pages that were removed months ago.
Robots file allows the right pages.
Going wrong looks like: A staging directive is left in place and blocks the whole site.
Pages are indexable unless deliberately not.
Going wrong looks like: Noindex is left on from staging and the site never appears in search.
Redirects are in place for any changed URLs.
Going wrong looks like: Old links from search results or bookmarks land on a 404.
Images have alt text.
Going wrong looks like: Screen reader users get no description, and images can't be found via image search.
Internal links connect important pages.
Going wrong looks like: A key service page is only reachable by typing the URL directly.
Analytics
Track what you'll actually use.
Analytics is installed and verified as tracking.
Going wrong looks like: The site launches and nobody notices analytics was never connected.
Search Console is set up for the live domain.
Going wrong looks like: Search performance goes unmonitored for months.
Conversion events are configured, where relevant.
Going wrong looks like: Traffic is visible but nobody can tell if it's converting.
Not every site needs every tracking platform. Add tracking you'll actually look at and act on — extra dashboards nobody checks aren't worth the setup time.
Legal and privacy
Easy to overlook, not optional.
- Privacy notice is present and accurate. A template notice describes data handling the site doesn't actually do.
- Cookie notice reflects what the site actually does. The banner mentions cookies that were never set, or misses ones that were.
- Consent mechanisms are in place where required. Analytics loads before anyone has agreed to it.
- Company information is displayed where legally required. Required details are missing, or list an address the business left years ago.
Domain and technical
The plumbing behind the site.
- DNS is pointed correctly and has had time to propagate.
- SSL certificate is active and the site loads securely.
- www and non-www versions are handled consistently.
- A single canonical domain is settled on and used everywhere.
- 404 pages exist and behave sensibly rather than erroring.
Post-launch
The job isn't done at go-live.
- Submit the sitemap to Search Console.
- Crawl the site to catch anything broken.
- Retest every form once more, live.
- Monitor Search Console for indexing issues.
- Monitor redirects for anything looping or missing.
- Check analytics to confirm real traffic is being recorded.
Planning a bigger rebuild? See our website project checklist and website redesign checklist. Moving platforms or domains? See the website migration checklist. For what to track once you're live, see how to measure website success.
Before you ask
Website launch checklist questions.
Want a second pair of eyes before launch? Get in touch.
Next step
Don't launch on hope.
Check it properly, once.
We'll run through the checks that matter before your new site goes live.