The Website Launch Checklist: 12 Things to Check Before You Go Live

Before you hit publish

Launch day always feels bigger than it is. The good news: almost every real launch problem falls into one of four categories, and all of them are checkable in an afternoon.

Content and SEO

1. Every page has a title and meta description. Not placeholders — the real thing, written for that specific page.

2. Contact information is correct everywhere. Phone number, email, and address should match exactly across the site, Google Business Profile, and social bios. Mismatches quietly hurt local search.

3. Spelling and pricing are double-checked. Obvious, but the most commonly skipped step under launch-day pressure — get a second person to read every page.

4. Images have alt text. Helps both accessibility and search visibility, and takes minutes to add if it's not already there.

Technical

5. The site works on mobile. Not just "doesn't look broken" — actually tap every button and fill every form on an actual phone.

6. Forms actually send. Test every form on the live site, including the contact form, and confirm the notification email arrives.

7. Site speed is checked. A quick check with a free speed-testing tool catches oversized images or slow-loading elements before customers do.

8. All links work. Broken links are one of the fastest ways to lose a visitor's trust — click through the whole nav, footer, and any buttons.

Trust and legal

9. Privacy policy and terms are in place. Even a simple site collecting contact form submissions should have a basic privacy policy.

10. SSL is active (the padlock, not "not secure"). Nearly all hosting includes this by default now, but it's worth confirming before launch, not after.

Marketing readiness

11. Analytics and Search Console are connected. Set these up before launch, not weeks after — you want data from day one, not a gap in your history.

12. Social links and sharing previews look right. Share the homepage link in a WhatsApp chat to yourself and check the preview image and text look correct — a broken preview undercuts every link you share afterward.

Run through these twelve, in order, the day before launch. None of them take long individually — but skipping any one of them is exactly the kind of thing that turns a smooth launch into a stressful first week.