Website Launch Checklist
A website launch checklist is one of those things that sounds completely unnecessary when you're halfway through building a website and completely necessary when you discover basic problems when you launch the website.
This list covers the stuff I'd actually check before launching a website - from the obvious things like links, forms and mobile layouts to the less obvious SEO, indexing, security, analytics and technical details that are very easy to overlook when you're concentrating on getting the site finished.
Spending an extra hour going through the important stuff is 100% worth your time.
Before you start
Tick the things that apply to your website. This helps you decide which parts of the checklist need particular attention.
TL;DR - the things you really don't want to miss
Before launching, make sure you have at least checked these basic areas.
Go Through the Website Like a Normal Visitor
Use the website as someone who has never seen it before. If possible, ask somebody else to do this because you'll often miss problems when you already know where everything is.
Check the homepage, important pages, contact information, navigation and obvious calls to action.
Click Everything You Expect People to Click
Check Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook or any other networks you actually use.
Check the Website on a Phone
Ideally use an actual phone rather than relying entirely on the browser's responsive preview.
Check Your URLs Before You Create a Problem
Avoid unnecessary random numbers, parameters or messy URLs where a simple URL would make more sense.
Get the Basic SEO Stuff Right
You don't need to turn launch day into an SEO project, but there are some basics worth checking before you send people to the site.
Don't turn alt text into a keyword-stuffing exercise. Decorative images generally don't need descriptive SEO text.
This is one of the easy things to get wrong during development.
Check Robots.txt and Your Sitemap
Connect Google Search Console
Set Up Analytics Without Installing Everything Under the Sun
For example: traffic sources, popular pages, basic engagement or conversions.
Test Every Form
Have a Look at Website Speed
Sort Out Your Images
Make Sure HTTPS and Your Domain Work Properly
Find the Broken Links
Check Your Privacy, Cookies and Legal Pages
Check What Your Website Looks Like When Shared
Check Automated Emails
Do the Boring Security Stuff
Get Rid of the Development Junk
Search the website before launch. This is particularly important if somebody else built the website or if it has been copied from a development environment.
Take a Backup Before You Press the Button
Final Launch Checklist
These are the big final checks to run through before calling the website finished.
Your Checklist Progress
This is a checklist completion percentage, not a measure of whether your website is objectively good or ready to launch. You still need to use your judgement on anything you have marked as complete.
What to do next
- Go back through anything you left unchecked.
- Pay particular attention to forms, indexing, redirects, HTTPS and anything that could stop visitors completing the main purpose of the website.
- Check the website on an actual phone.
- Remove development and placeholder content.
- Take a final backup before making the website live or announcing the launch.
The launch test
The final question is fairly simple: if somebody arrived at the website today without knowing anything about it, could they understand what it does, navigate around it, contact or buy from you if appropriate, and leave without running into something obviously broken?
If the answer is yes and you've worked through the technical checks above, you're in a much better position to launch than you would be by simply checking whether the homepage looks finished.