Website Launch Checklist: 30 Checks Before You Go Live

A new website launch should be a good day. Too often it is followed by a week of fixing broken forms, missing pages and a sudden drop in Google traffic. Almost every launch problem is preventable with a checklist. Here are thirty checks, grouped by area, that we use before any site goes live.

Content and design checks

1. All placeholder text and dummy images are removed.
2. Spelling, grammar, phone numbers, email addresses and prices are correct.
3. Every page has one clear H1 heading.
4. Images are compressed, correctly sized and have descriptive alt text.
5. The site looks right on small phones, tablets and large screens.
6. Fonts, colours and logos are consistent with the brand.
7. The favicon and social sharing image display correctly.

Functionality checks

8. Every form submits, sends a notification to the right inbox and shows a confirmation.
9. Spam protection is active on forms.
10. Payments, including M-Pesa, work end to end on the live domain, including callbacks and receipts.
11. Booking calendars, search and filters return correct results.
12. Phone numbers are tappable and WhatsApp links open the right chat.
13. There are no broken internal or external links.
14. The 404 page is helpful and links back to key pages.

SEO checks

15. Every page has a unique title and meta description.
16. The site is not blocked from search engines. Staging sites often carry a "noindex" setting that must be removed at launch.
17. An XML sitemap exists and is submitted to Google Search Console.
18. Canonical tags point to the correct versions of pages.
19. Every old URL that has traffic or links redirects with a 301 to its closest new page, in one hop.
20. Structured data (organisation, local business, articles, FAQs) validates without errors.
21. Internal links use the final URLs, not redirected ones.

Redirects deserve special attention. If you are replacing an old site, skipping them is the most common reason rankings drop after launch. Our guide on redesigning without losing SEO rankings explains the process in detail.

Performance and security checks

22. Pages load quickly on a mobile connection; test key pages with Google PageSpeed Insights.
23. HTTPS works on every page, and HTTP redirects to HTTPS.
24. Only one version of the domain is used, with or without www, and the other redirects to it.
25. Security headers are set and admin areas are protected with strong passwords and, ideally, two-factor authentication.
26. Software, themes and plugins are up to date.

Tracking, ownership and backup checks

27. Analytics is installed, and conversions such as form submissions, calls and WhatsApp clicks are tracked as events.
28. Google Search Console and Google Business Profile point to the correct website address.
29. Automatic backups are running, and one restore has been tested.
30. Your business owns the domain, hosting, analytics and admin accounts, and logins are stored securely.

What should you do on launch day?

• Launch early in the week and early in the day, so problems can be fixed during working hours.
• Re-test forms and payments on the live domain immediately.
• Check that the live site is indexable and the sitemap loads.
• Spot-check a sample of old URLs to confirm the redirects work.
• Clear any CDN cache so visitors see the new site.

What should you monitor in the first month?

Watch Google Search Console for crawl errors and pages that are not indexed, check analytics for drops on specific pages, read every form submission to make sure enquiries are arriving, and keep a list of small improvements from real visitor behaviour. A dip in rankings for a week or two is common during a migration; a sustained drop usually points to missing redirects or blocked pages.

What extra checks apply when you are replacing an old website?

A migration carries more risk than a brand-new site, because the old site already has rankings, backlinks and bookmarked pages. Before launch:

• Export every old URL from the old sitemap, Google Search Console and analytics, not just the menu pages. Blog posts and old campaign pages often carry links you have forgotten about.
• Map each old URL to its closest new page, and only use the home page as a last resort.
• Keep the same domain if possible. Changing domain and design at the same time multiplies risk.
• Preserve page titles and key content on your best-performing pages unless there is a good reason to change them.
• Update your Google Business Profile, social profiles and email signatures if any addresses change.
• Keep a copy of the old site for reference in case something was missed.

After launch, run a crawl of the old URL list against the live site and confirm every one returns a single 301 to a working page.

Who should own the checklist?

Your developer should run most of these checks, but you should see the results. Ask for a short launch report listing what was tested. At Blessedave Technologies, launch checks are part of every website design project, and our maintenance plans keep backups, updates and monitoring running afterwards.