You’ve spent weeks (maybe months) writing copy, approving designs, and waiting for development to finish. The site looks great, and you are ready to click “Publish” and share it with the world.
Stop.
Launching a website without a pre-flight check is the fastest way to ruin your SEO, frustrate early visitors, and look unprofessional. Before you announce your new digital storefront, you must ensure the underlying mechanics actually work.
We’ve built an interactive Website Launch Checklist Tool that you can use to track your progress. Below, we explain the most critical phases of that checklist.
1. The Functionality Check
A beautiful website is useless if customers can’t actually contact you.
- Test All Forms: Fill out your own contact form. Did it submit successfully? Did it land in your inbox, or did it go to spam?
- Click Every Link: Broken links (404 errors) immediately signal to users that your site is unprofessional. Click every button in your header and footer.
- Mobile Testing: Open the site on an iPhone and an Android device. Does the menu work? Is the text readable without pinching to zoom?
2. The SEO Check
Google needs to be able to understand your new site immediately.
- Unblock Search Engines: If you built the site on a staging server or WordPress, make sure you uncheck the box that says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
- Meta Tags: Ensure every page has a unique title and description. Use our Free Meta Checker to ensure they fit Google’s limits.
- XML Sitemap: Generate a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console so Google knows exactly what pages exist. (Our SEO Services handle this for you).
3. The Security & Legal Check
Protect your business and your users.
- SSL Certificate: Your URL must start with
https://with a padlock icon. If it says “Not Secure,” visitors will leave immediately. - Privacy Policy: Required by law in many states (like California’s CCPA) if you collect any user data—even just a contact form.
- Backups: Configure an automated daily backup system so you never lose your hard work. (Included in our Website Maintenance plans).
4. The Speed Check
Your site must be fast. Period.
- Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights.
- Ensure all large images are compressed.
- If your site is sluggish, read our guide on Why Your Website is Slow or check out our Website Speed Optimization service.
Ready to Launch?
Don’t guess. Head over to our free interactive Website Launch Checklist to check off these items one by one as you prepare for your big day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I launch on a Friday?
Never. If something breaks over the weekend, getting support from your web host or developer is much harder. We always recommend launching on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
Do I need to submit my site to Google?
Technically no, Google's crawlers will eventually find it. However, submitting an XML sitemap through Google Search Console speeds up the process from weeks to days.