A website is ready to launch only when its important journeys work, the content is approved, the technical configuration is checked, and the team knows how to respond if something breaks. A launch checklist makes these tasks repeatable and reduces the chance that a small oversight—such as a broken enquiry form or incorrect redirect—undermines the release.
1. Confirm content and business information
Review page titles, headings, service descriptions, contact details, email addresses, phone links, spelling, prices or offers where applicable, and any legal or policy information. Confirm that all claims are accurate and authorized. Remove placeholder copy, sample customer names, staging notes, and draft content that should not appear publicly.
2. Test navigation and links
Open each important page and test primary and secondary navigation, calls to action, footer links, downloads, email links, and phone links. Check for broken internal links and links that point to a development or staging environment. Confirm that external links lead to the intended destination and that important pages are reachable through normal links.
3. Test forms end to end
Submit each form using valid and invalid data. Verify required-field messages, success confirmation, backend delivery, notifications, spam controls, and duplicate-submission behavior. Make sure the team responsible for enquiries can actually receive them. Testing only that a button is clickable is not enough.
4. Test responsive layouts and accessibility
Review common mobile, tablet, and desktop screen sizes. Check text readability, menus, buttons, spacing, images, focus indicators, keyboard access, and horizontal overflow. Ensure important actions are usable with touch and keyboard navigation. Fix visible layout errors before launch.
5. Review performance and assets
Optimize images and avoid loading resources that are not needed. Check page loading, font rendering, console errors, failed network requests, and obvious layout shifts. Remove test assets and confirm that images have appropriate alternative text when the image conveys meaningful information. Do not rely on one score alone as proof of performance quality.
6. Check technical SEO
Give each important page a descriptive title and appropriate meta description. Verify the primary heading and canonical URL where applicable. Check that pages intended for search are not blocked by accidental noindex settings or robots rules. Review sitemap.xml, robots.txt, redirects, favicon, and social sharing metadata as relevant to the site. Submit or inspect URLs through Search Console after the site is available.
7. Verify security and configuration
Check HTTPS, environment configuration, access permissions, secrets handling, authentication flows if present, and the removal of development-only settings. Confirm that administrative routes and private records require authorization. Ensure server secrets are not in the public frontend bundle or repository. Use the appropriate security tests for the website's architecture.
8. Confirm backups and recovery
For sites with databases or important uploads, verify backup configuration and test recovery where practical. Record how to roll back a release and who can perform it. For a static site, retain the known-good build or commit locally and document how to restore the previous version without introducing unreviewed changes.
9. Check analytics and conversion tracking
Where analytics are used, verify that the correct environment is configured and that important events reflect meaningful actions. Avoid sending sensitive personal information to analytics systems. Test that enquiry completion is recorded correctly and distinguish actual submissions from button clicks.
10. Approve the launch and handover
Record the responsible approver, build version, test results, outstanding issues, deployment time, rollback plan, and post-launch checks. Confirm who controls the domain, hosting, source code, and third-party accounts. Share operating instructions and support arrangements with the client. Do not launch with unresolved critical defects or without authorization.
After launch
Run a short smoke test on the live site: open key pages, test navigation and forms, verify HTTPS and redirects, inspect critical integrations, and watch for errors. Record any issues, assign an owner, and communicate material changes to the client. A launch is a controlled release, not the end of maintenance.
Conclusion
A reliable website launch depends on repeatable testing, clear approval, and a recovery plan. Use this checklist as a starting point and adapt it to the technology, data sensitivity, and business importance of the particular project.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be tested before a website goes live?
Test content, links, forms, mobile layouts, accessibility basics, performance, SEO metadata, redirects, HTTPS, integrations, backups where applicable, and authorization.
Should a website launch with known bugs?
Minor issues may be accepted only when their impact is understood and recorded. Critical security, data, payment, or core user-flow defects should block launch until resolved or formally assessed.
What should happen immediately after launch?
Run a smoke test, verify forms and key pages, check monitoring and error logs where available, confirm redirects and HTTPS, and keep a rollback plan ready.
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