Most launch problems are not dramatic. A form that silently fails, a page with no title, an old address that now returns a 404, analytics that were never switched on. None of them are hard to fix — they are just easy to miss on the day everyone is focused on how the site looks.
This is the checklist we work through before a site goes live. Run it in order; each group depends on the one before it.
1. Content checks
Content problems are the cheapest to fix before launch and the most embarrassing afterwards.
- No placeholder text anywhere — search the site for "lorem", "TODO" and "coming soon"
- Business name, phone number and email are identical on every page they appear
- Prices, service names and descriptions match what you actually sell today
- Every page has a heading that tells you what page you are on
- Spelling and grammar checked by someone who did not write the copy
2. Device and browser checks
Test on a real phone, not just a resized browser window. Emulators miss touch behaviour, keyboard overlap on form fields, and how heavy a page feels on a mobile connection.
- Small phone (around 360px wide), large phone, tablet, laptop and a wide desktop screen
- Nothing scrolls sideways on any screen — horizontal overflow is the most common mobile fault
- The navigation menu opens, closes and is usable with one thumb
- Buttons and links are large enough to tap without precision
- Text stays readable without zooming
3. The forms actually work
This is the check most worth doing twice, because a broken enquiry form is invisible: nothing looks wrong, the enquiries simply never arrive.
- Submit every form on the site as a real visitor would
- Confirm the message arrives in the inbox that will actually be monitored
- Check the spam folder — new sending domains often land there at first
- Test what happens when required fields are left empty, and when they are filled wrongly
- Confirm the success message is clear enough that nobody submits twice
4. Technical and SEO foundations
These are what decide whether the site can be found at all. They take minutes each and are frequently skipped.
- Every page has a unique title and meta description — not the same one repeated
- One H1 per page, with headings in a logical order beneath it
- Images have descriptive alt text, and decorative images are marked as decorative
- robots.txt does not block the site — development settings are the usual culprit
- An XML sitemap exists, is valid, and lists only canonical, public pages
- HTTPS is active and the site does not load any content over plain HTTP
- A custom 404 page exists and links back into the site
If the site is a rebuild, redirects matter more than anything else on this list. Map every old address to its closest new equivalent before launch, not after — see Website Development for how we handle that, and our article on preparing requirements for what to collect first.
5. Speed
Measure on a mobile connection, because that is what most visitors have. Two or three fixes usually account for most of the difference.
- Images resized to the width they display at and saved in a modern format
- Width and height set on every image so the layout does not jump while loading
- Fonts limited to what the design genuinely uses
- Third-party scripts audited — remove anything nobody reads the output of
6. Measurement
Switch this on before launch. Data from day one is worth far more than data starting whenever someone remembers.
- Analytics installed and confirmed to be recording page views
- Enquiry submissions, calls and WhatsApp clicks tracked as events
- Google Search Console verified and the sitemap submitted
- You have login access to both, in your own account rather than an agency’s
7. Legal and trust pages
If you collect any information through a form, you need to say what happens to it.
- A privacy policy covering what the form collects and how it is used
- Terms covering how you quote, invoice and deliver, if you sell services
- A consent checkbox on forms linking to the privacy policy
- A working, monitored contact address on the site
8. Access and ownership
The single most expensive launch mistake is not owning your own assets. Check this before you pay a final invoice.
- The domain is registered to you or your business, not to a supplier
- You have hosting and DNS access, or know exactly who does
- Analytics and Search Console properties are owned by your account
- You have the source code, or know where it lives
- Auto-renewal is on for the domain, and the renewal contact is an inbox you read
9. Launch day
- Take a backup of whatever is currently live before changing anything
- Point the domain, then confirm the site loads on a device that has never visited it
- Check the padlock and certificate on the live address
- Walk the whole site once as a visitor, clicking every navigation link
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console once the live site resolves
10. The first week after
Launching is not the end of the work, it is the point where you finally get real information.
- Watch Search Console for coverage errors and pages excluded from indexing
- Check analytics for pages with unusually short visits
- Confirm at least one real enquiry has arrived through the form
- Ask two people outside the business to find something specific on the site and watch where they hesitate
If you would like a second pair of eyes on any of this before you go live, get in touch — a review is worth far more before launch than after.
Key takeaways
- Test every form end to end, and re-test a month later
- Redirect old URLs before launch, never after
- Own the domain, analytics and Search Console accounts yourself
- Switch measurement on before launch, not once you remember
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