Business Website Launch Checklist

Launch day problems are almost always preventable. Work through this checklist on your staging site before going live, then complete the post-launch section within the first week.

Content

• All pages proofread for spelling, grammar and accuracy.
• Phone numbers, email addresses and addresses are correct.
• No placeholder text or dummy images remain.
• Legal pages are present: privacy policy, terms, disclaimer where relevant.
• Copyright year and company name are correct in the footer.

Functionality

• Every contact form submits and the message reaches the right inbox.
• Phone links open the dialler on mobile.
• WhatsApp links open the correct number with a sensible message.
• All menu and footer links work; no broken links.
• Downloads open correctly.
• Payment or booking flows tested end to end, if present.

Mobile and browsers

• Tested on at least one Android and one iPhone.
• Tested in Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.
• Text is readable without zooming; buttons are easy to tap.
• No horizontal scrolling on small screens.

Speed

• Images compressed and correctly sized.
• Lighthouse mobile test run on key pages. See the Website Performance Audit Checklist.
• Unused scripts and plugins removed.

SEO

• Every page has a unique title and meta description.
• One clear H1 per page.
• Image alt text describes images meaningfully.
• sitemap.xml generated and robots.txt allows indexing.
• Canonical URLs point to the live domain.
• 301 redirects set up for any changed URLs from the old site.

Accessibility

• Site can be navigated with a keyboard.
• Focus states are visible.
• Colour contrast is sufficient.
• Form fields have labels.

Security

• SSL certificate active; HTTP redirects to HTTPS.
• Admin logins use strong passwords and limited accounts.
• No secret keys visible in front-end code.
• Software, themes and plugins updated.

Go-live

• DNS changes scheduled at a low-traffic time.
• Old site backed up.
• Staging site blocked from search engines.

After launch (first week)

• Submit sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Check Search Console for crawl errors.
• Re-test forms on the live domain.
• Confirm backups are running.
• Update Google Business Profile with the new website URL.
• Share the new site with existing customers.

Next steps

Need a second pair of eyes before launch? Our website maintenance team can run a pre-launch review, or contact us for help.