Launch day is when small mistakes get expensive. A contact form that emails nobody, a staging setting that tells Google not to index the site, a missing redirect that throws away years of search rankings. None of these are hard to fix, but they are easy to miss. This website launch checklist covers everything to check before, during and after you go live, so your new site starts winning customers from day one.
Before Launch: Content and Design
- Proofread every page. Read the copy out loud, check names, prices, phone numbers and addresses, and remove any placeholder text such as “Lorem ipsum”.
- Check every page on mobile. Most small business traffic is mobile. Test on a real phone, not just a resized desktop browser, and check menus, buttons and forms.
- Test across browsers. At minimum, check Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
- Confirm images are optimised. Compress large images, use modern formats such as WebP, and give every meaningful image descriptive alt text. Our guide to image optimisation covers the details.
- Add a favicon so your brand shows in browser tabs and bookmarks.
- Create a custom 404 page that points visitors back to your main services and contact page.
- Publish legal pages: privacy policy, cookie notice where required, and terms if you sell online. Our free privacy policy generator is a starting point.
Before Launch: Functionality
- Test every form. Submit each one and confirm the email arrives, goes to the right inbox and does not land in spam. Check the thank-you message or page too.
- Click every link and button. Navigation, footer, calls to action, social icons and phone links (tap-to-call on mobile).
- Test checkout end to end if you sell online, including payment, confirmation emails, tax and shipping rules.
- Check booking, chat and newsletter integrations are connected to the live accounts, not test ones.
- Confirm speed. Run key pages through PageSpeed Insights and fix major issues. See our guide to speeding up a WordPress website.
- Check accessibility basics: colour contrast, keyboard navigation, form labels and heading order. Our accessibility checker flags the common issues.
Before Launch: SEO Essentials
- Unique title and meta description on every page, each with a clear target keyword. Use our SERP preview tool to check how they will look in Google.
- One H1 per page and a logical heading structure underneath it.
- Clean URLs that describe the page, such as
/services/rather than/?page_id=12. - XML sitemap generated by your SEO plugin and only including pages you want indexed.
- Schema markup for your business type (LocalBusiness or Organization) and FAQ content where relevant. See schema markup for small business.
- Internal links between related pages, so visitors and Google can find everything.
Before Launch: Security and Backups
- SSL certificate active and all pages loading over
https://, with http redirecting automatically. - Strong admin passwords and two-factor authentication for every admin account. Remove any test or developer accounts you no longer need.
- Everything updated: WordPress core, theme and plugins on their latest stable versions, and unused plugins deleted.
- Automated off-site backups scheduled, and a full backup taken immediately before launch.
- Security plugin or firewall configured, with login attempt limits.
Our website security checklist goes deeper on each point.
Launch Day Checklist
- Turn off “discourage search engines”. In WordPress, go to Settings > Reading and make sure the box is unticked. This single setting, left on from staging, is one of the most common reasons a new site never appears on Google.
- Check robots.txt is not blocking the whole site with
Disallow: /. - Point your domain to the new hosting (DNS) and confirm both www and non-www versions resolve to one preferred version.
- Set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent if you are replacing an existing site. This protects the rankings you have already earned. Our guide to migrating without losing SEO rankings explains how.
- Replace staging URLs in content, images and settings with the live domain.
- Clear all caches (plugin, server and CDN) and check the live site in a private browser window.
- Retest forms and checkout on the live domain, because email and payment settings often behave differently from staging.
After Launch: The First 30 Days
- Connect Google Search Console and submit your sitemap. Follow our step-by-step guide on how to set up Google Search Console.
- Install analytics and conversion tracking so you know which pages and channels generate enquiries. See Google Analytics for small business.
- Update your Google Business Profile and other listings with the new website address.
- Set up uptime monitoring so you are alerted if the site goes down.
- Watch for 404 errors and fix any broken links or missing redirects you spot.
- Collect feedback from customers and staff, and fix friction points early.
- Plan ongoing maintenance. A website is never really finished. Budget for updates, backups and security from the start, and see our guide to website maintenance cost.
Need a Second Pair of Eyes?
Even experienced teams miss things on launch day. If you want your new site checked before or just after it goes live, our free website health check reviews security, speed, backups and SEO basics, or talk to us about a full launch review.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I check before launching a website?
Before launch, proofread all content, test every form and link, check the site on mobile and across browsers, confirm SEO titles and meta descriptions, enable SSL, update all software, and take a full backup.
Why is my new website not showing on Google after launch?
The most common cause is the WordPress setting that discourages search engines being left on from the staging site. Also check robots.txt, submit your sitemap in Google Search Console, and allow a few days to a few weeks for indexing.
Do I need 301 redirects when launching a new website?
Yes, if you are replacing an existing website and any URLs have changed. 301 redirects send visitors and search engines from old URLs to the new pages and protect the rankings the old pages had earned.
How long does it take to launch a website?
The launch itself can be done in a few hours once the site is finished, but DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate. Plan the switch for a quiet time and keep monitoring for a few days afterwards.
What should I do after launching a website?
Connect Google Search Console and analytics, update your business listings with the new URL, set up uptime monitoring, fix any 404 errors, and put a regular maintenance plan in place.
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