Website launch checklist: what to check before and after you go live

Why you need a website launch checklist

A new website or redesign is the riskiest week in your site's life. Rankings built up over years can drop overnight, and enquiries can quietly stop, usually because of something small: a setting left on from development, a page that moved without a redirect, or a contact form connected to an old inbox.

This website launch checklist is split into three stages: before launch, launch day, and the first 30 days. It works for a brand new site and for a redesign or platform move. Where a check only applies to a redesign, it says so.

Print it, copy it into a spreadsheet, or share it with your developer or agency so everyone is working from the same list.

Before launch: content and pages

• Every page has final copy. No lorem ipsum, "[insert]" placeholders or test pages.
• Spelling, names, phone numbers and addresses checked on every page, especially in the header and footer, where one mistake repeats everywhere.
• Each service has its own page, with a clear title, heading and call to action.
• Images are optimised: sensible file sizes, descriptive file names and alt text.
• Legal pages are in place: privacy policy, cookie policy and terms if you need them. See does my website need a privacy policy.
• A custom 404 page that links to your main sections.
• Favicon and social sharing images (Open Graph) set.

Before launch: SEO

• Title tags and meta descriptions written for every key page. See title tags and meta descriptions.
• One H1 per page, with a logical heading order underneath.
• XML sitemap generated and only listing pages you want indexed.
• robots.txt ready for the live site. Staging sites often block everything with Disallow: /; the live file shouldn't.
• Canonical tags point to the live domain, not the staging domain.
• Structured data added where it helps (Organization on the homepage, for example) and tested.

Redesigns: map and redirect every old URL

This is the step that protects your rankings. Google treats a moved page as a new page unless you tell it otherwise.

1. List every URL on the current site. Use a crawler, your current sitemap, and Search Console's Performance report (which shows pages that get search traffic, including ones you'd forgotten).
2. Map each old URL to its closest new equivalent in a spreadsheet: old URL, new URL.
3. Set up permanent (301) redirects for every URL that changes. One hop each, straight to the final page.
4. Don't redirect everything to the homepage. Send each old page to the page that best replaces it.
5. Keep the redirects permanently. Links from other sites and bookmarks will keep using the old addresses for years.

If you're also changing domain, follow Google's site move guidance as well, including the Change of Address tool in Search Console.

Before launch: forms, tracking and integrations

• Submit a test enquiry through every form. Confirm it arrives in the right inbox or CRM, and that the person filling it in sees a confirmation.
• Form emails don't go to spam. Send from your own domain with SPF and DKIM set up.
• Spam protection is on (such as reCAPTCHA or a honeypot field).
• Google Analytics (GA4) installed on every page, with form submissions and phone clicks set up as key events. See how to use Google Analytics.
• Google Tag Manager, CRM tracking and chat scripts carried over from the old site, if you used them.
• Cookie consent banner blocks analytics and marketing tags until people agree, where your jurisdiction requires it. See cookie consent banner.
• Phone numbers and email addresses are tappable links on mobile.
• Newsletter sign-ups and other integrations connected and tested.

Before launch: speed, devices and accessibility

• Tested on real devices: at least one iPhone, one Android phone, a tablet and a laptop. See cross-browser testing.
• Tested in the main browsers: Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.
• PageSpeed Insights run on the homepage and a service page. Fix anything flagged as a major issue. See Core Web Vitals.
• Accessibility basics: colour contrast, keyboard navigation, form labels and alt text. See the website accessibility checklist.
• Navigation works on mobile, including dropdowns.

Before launch: security and hosting

• SSL certificate installed and every page loads over HTTPS with no mixed content warnings. See site not secure.
• http and non-www versions redirect to your preferred version.
• CMS, theme and plugins up to date; unused ones removed.
• Admin accounts: development and test users removed, strong passwords, two-factor authentication on.
• Backups scheduled and stored off the server.
• DNS records ready, and the TTL lowered a day or two ahead if you're moving hosts, so the switch spreads faster.

Launch day

Go live early in the week and early in the day, when people are around to fix problems. Avoid Friday afternoons.

1. Point the domain at the new site, or publish.
2. Turn off "discourage search engines" (WordPress: Settings, Reading) or your builder's equivalent, and remove any staging noindex or password protection.
3. Check robots.txt on the live domain.
4. Test redirects: try a sample of old URLs, including your most important pages, and confirm each lands on the right new page in one hop.
5. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console. See how to submit a sitemap to Google.
6. Request indexing for the homepage and main service pages with URL Inspection.
7. Submit a real test enquiry on the live site.
8. Check GA4 Realtime to confirm visits and key events are being recorded.
9. Crawl the live site for broken links and missing pages.

The first 30 days after launch

Some movement in rankings after a redesign is normal while Google processes the changes. A sharp, lasting drop usually means missing redirects, pages blocked from indexing, or important content that didn't make it to the new site. Check those three first.

If you're not ranking at all after launch

Check, in this order: the "discourage search engines" setting, robots.txt, noindex tags in page source, and the sitemap in Search Console. Our guide to getting your website on Google covers each.