Website Launch Checklist — 50 Items, Printable
A website launch requires verifying: all links work, forms send email, SSL is active, analytics is tracking, redirects are in place, sitemap submitted, social meta tags correct, and backups configured.
A website launch requires verifying: all links work, forms send email, SSL is active, analytics is tracking, redirects are in place, sitemap submitted, social meta tags correct, and backups configured. This 50-item checklist covers pre-launch, content, technical, design, SEO, security, and post-launch tasks.
Pre-launch preparation
Before you flip the switch, confirm these foundational items are in place.
| # | Item | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domain name registered and pointing to correct nameservers | Critical |
| 2 | Hosting account active and site files uploaded | Critical |
| 3 | SSL certificate installed and valid | Critical |
| 4 | DNS records verified (A, CNAME, MX, TXT) | Critical |
| 5 | Email accounts set up and tested | Important |
| 6 | Backup configured (automated, daily) | Critical |
| 7 | Staging site taken down or password-protected | Important |
| 8 | CDN configured (if used) | Nice to have |
Content verification
Content errors are the most visible launch mistakes. Catch them before your visitors do.
- All pages have accurate, up-to-date content — no placeholder text or lorem ipsum remains anywhere.
- Contact information (address, phone, email) is correct on every page including the footer.
- Business hours are accurate and include any holiday closures.
- Team bios and photos are correct and approved by each team member.
- Pricing pages match your current price list, not the one from last quarter.
- Legal pages (privacy policy, terms, cookie policy) are published and match your actual data practices.
- Images have alt text, are not pixelated, and have the correct file names.
- Downloads (PDFs, brochures, forms) link to the correct files and open properly.
Technical checks
Technical issues are invisible to you but immediately visible to users.
- All internal links work — no 404 errors. Use a crawler tool like Screaming Frog to verify.
- All external links open in a new tab where appropriate and point to live URLs.
- Contact forms send email to the correct address. Test every form on the site.
- Search functionality returns relevant results and handles empty queries gracefully.
- Page load time is under 3 seconds on mobile. Run a Lighthouse test.
- Custom 404 page exists and guides users back to useful content.
- Print stylesheet works if users print any page.
- JavaScript console has no errors. Open DevTools and check.
Design and UX checks
Visual consistency across devices builds trust. Check every page at multiple viewport sizes.
- Mobile layout is fully functional and visually complete at 360px width.
- Tablet layout works at 768px with no overlapping elements.
- Desktop layout looks intentional at 1280px and above.
- Typography is consistent: font sizes, line heights, and heading hierarchy are correct on every page.
- Colours match the brand palette. No orphan colours from the template remain.
- Buttons and CTAs are styled consistently and have hover and focus states.
- Navigation works on all devices. Mobile menu opens and closes smoothly.
- Touch targets are at least 44x44px on mobile. No overlapping tap areas.
SEO checks
Launch is the best time to get SEO right. Fixing issues post-launch means re-crawling and re-indexing.
- XML sitemap generated and submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- robots.txt is correct and does not block important pages.
- Meta titles and descriptions are unique per page, within character limits, and include target keywords.
- Open Graph tags are set for Facebook and LinkedIn sharing.
- Twitter Card tags are set for Twitter sharing.
- Canonical URLs are set on every page to prevent duplicate content issues.
- Redirects from old URLs to new URLs are in place. Test each one.
- Google Analytics (or alternative) is installed and tracking page views correctly.
Security checks
Security is easier to set up before launch than to retrofit after an incident.
- HTTPS enforced — HTTP redirects to HTTPS on every page.
- Admin URLs are not guessable. Change default login paths.
- User roles and permissions are configured correctly. No admin accounts with weak passwords.
- Form submissions are validated on the server side, not just the client side.
- File uploads are restricted to allowed types and scanned for malware.
- Security headers (X-Frame-Options, Content-Security-Policy, HSTS) are configured.
- Plugin and theme updates are current. Remove unused plugins and themes.
- Web application firewall (WAF) is enabled if available from your hosting provider.
Post-launch tasks
The work does not stop when the site goes live. These tasks ensure long-term success.
- Monitor uptime with a service like UptimeRobot or Pingdom for the first week.
- Check analytics daily for the first week to catch tracking issues early.
- Test contact forms weekly for the first month to ensure they still send email.
- Review server error logs for 404s and PHP errors. Fix any that appear.
- Gather feedback from a small group of real users. Their issues are your priority fixes.
- Plan content updates — a launch is the start, not the end. Schedule regular content additions.
Frequently asked questions
The launch itself takes 1 to 2 days if you prepare properly. The pre-launch checklist should be completed over a week before the planned launch date. Last-minute discoveries during launch day are the main cause of delayed launches.
Broken links frustrate users and harm SEO. Google treats a site with many 404s as poorly maintained. Run a crawler before launch and fix every broken link. A single broken main navigation link can reduce conversion rates.
Soft-launch (publishing the site without a marketing push) is safer for most projects. It gives you a week to catch issues with real traffic before the promotional campaign starts. Hard-launch with PR and advertising is better reserved for major e-commerce or product launches.
Yes, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console immediately after launch. Google can take days or weeks to discover your site organically. Submission speeds up indexing significantly. Also submit to Bing Webmaster Tools.
One person should own the checklist and verify every item. That person is typically the project manager or the lead developer. Asking everyone to check their own items creates gaps where nobody takes responsibility for important tasks.