Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before You Launch Your New Website
The final stages of a website project are exciting. The design is approved, the content is in place, and you’re ready to share your new digital home with the world. But in the rush to click "publish," it's incredibly easy to overlook small but critical details that can lead to post-launch headaches, a poor user experience, and a bad first impression.
A successful launch isn’t about flipping a switch; it's about a final, thorough quality check.
This pre-launch checklist will guide you through the 10 essential checks to ensure your new website launches smoothly, impresses visitors, and starts delivering results from day one.
Your Essential Pre-Launch Checklist
Work through this list item by item. Ticking every box will give you the confidence that your website is truly ready for its debut.
1. Proofread Every Single Word. Twice.
Why It's Critical: Typos and grammatical errors are the fastest way to appear unprofessional and damage your brand's credibility before a visitor has even read your services.
How to Check It:
Read all headlines, body text, and button text out loud.
Use a grammar tool like Grammarly as a first pass.
Ask a fresh pair of eyes—a colleague or friend—to read through the entire site. They will spot errors you've become blind to.
2. Test Every Single Link
Why It's Critical: A broken link ("404 Not Found" error) is a dead end for your visitors and a negative signal to search engines.
How to Check It:
Manually click on every link in your main navigation, footer, and within your page content.
Don't forget links to your social media profiles and any links to external websites.
3. Check and Test All of Your Forms
Why It's Critical: If your contact form is broken, you are literally turning away new business without even knowing it. This is one of the most common and costly launch-day mistakes.
How to Check It:
Fill out and submit every form on your website (contact form, quote request, newsletter signup, etc.).
Confirm that you receive the submission notification in your email inbox immediately.
Check that the "thank you" message or redirect page appears correctly after submission.
4. Review on Multiple Devices and Browsers
Why It's Critical: Your website may look perfect on your designer's Mac, but look broken on an Android phone or in a different web browser. A huge portion of your audience is on mobile, so their experience is paramount.
How to Check It:
Load your site on a real iPhone and a real Android phone.
Navigate the site on a tablet, like an iPad.
Check it on the latest versions of major browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
5. Confirm Your SEO Basics Are in Place
Why It's Critical: You want search engines to understand and start ranking your new site from day one. Basic on-page SEO is the foundation for this.
How to Check It:
Does every page have a unique and descriptive Title Tag (the text that shows up in the browser tab)?
Does every page have a compelling Meta Description (the short summary that appears under the title in search results)?
Does every image have descriptive Alt Text for accessibility and SEO?
6. Verify All Contact Information
Why It's Critical: Simple human error can lead to a wrong phone number or a typo in an email address, making it impossible for customers to reach you.
How to Check It:
Double-check that the phone number, email address, and physical address listed in your header, footer, and on the contact page are 100% correct.
If you have a clickable phone number, test it on a mobile device to ensure it initiates a call.
7. Check for Image Optimization
Why It's Critical: High-quality images are essential, but oversized image files are the #1 cause of slow-loading websites. A slow site frustrates users and hurts your SEO.
How to Check It:
Click through your website. Do all images load quickly and look crisp?
Are there any blurry, pixelated, or distorted images?
Confirm that all placeholder images from the design process have been replaced with final imagery.
8. Ensure Google Analytics is Installed and Working
Why It's Critical: If you don't have analytics installed, you will have zero data on how many people are visiting your site, where they're coming from, and what they're doing. You need this data from day one.
How to Check It:
Ask your developer to confirm the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking code is installed on every page of the site.
You can use Google's free "Tag Assistant" Chrome extension to verify it yourself.
9. Have a 301 Redirect Plan (for Website Redesigns)
Why It's Critical: If you are replacing an old website, you can't just delete the old pages. You need to tell search engines where those pages have moved. Failing to do this can destroy your existing SEO rankings.
How to Check It:
A 301 redirect is a permanent forward from an old URL to a new one.
Ensure you or your developer has created a map of all old page links and redirected them to the most relevant new page.
10. Test Your Favicon and Social Sharing Image
Why It's Critical: These small details make your brand look professional and polished. The favicon is the small icon in the browser tab, and the social sharing image (or OG image) is what appears when you share a link on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook.
How to Check It:
Check that your favicon is visible and correct in your browser tab.
Copy and paste your homepage URL into a social media post (you don't have to publish it) to see a preview of the title, description, and image that will appear.
Final Thoughts: Ready To Publsih
A smooth website launch is the result of careful and deliberate preparation. By running through this checklist, you are catching potential problems before your customers do. You’re not just launching a collection of pages; you’re launching a professional, reliable, and effective marketing tool for your business.
If you found this information helpful and want your questions answered with out all the jargon and tech-talk, click here to send us a message.