Website Launch Checklist: 50 Things to Check Before Going Live

Launch day should not be the first real test

Most website problems are not discovered by the team that built the site — they are discovered by the first customer who hits a broken link, a form that does not send, or a checkout that fails.

A proper pre-launch checklist catches these before anyone else does. Here are 50 things worth checking before you flip your website live — organised into groups so you can work through them systematically.

Content (1–10)

1. Spelling and grammar checked on every page

2. No placeholder or "lorem ipsum" text left anywhere

3. All images have proper, descriptive alt text

4. Business name, address, and phone number are consistent across every page

5. Pricing information (if shown) is current and accurate

6. Every page has a clear, accurate title

7. Legal pages exist — privacy policy, terms of service, cookie notice if needed

8. Copyright year in the footer is correct

9. Team or staff photos and bios are current

10. All content has been proofread by someone other than the person who wrote it

Functionality (11–20)

11. Every internal link goes to the correct page

12. Every external link opens correctly and points where expected

13. The contact form actually delivers an email — test it yourself, do not assume

14. Any booking or scheduling tool works end-to-end

15. Search functionality (if present) returns relevant results

16. All buttons and calls to action lead where they should

17. Newsletter signup (if present) actually adds subscribers to your list

18. 404 error page exists and is styled, not a blank browser error

19. Redirects are set up for any old URLs that have changed

20. Any third-party integrations (payment, chat, CRM) are fully connected and tested

Mobile and cross-browser (21–28)

21. Site displays correctly on the latest iPhone and Android screen sizes

22. Site displays correctly on tablet-sized screens

23. Text is readable on mobile without needing to zoom

24. Buttons and links are large enough to tap accurately on a touchscreen

25. Site tested in Chrome

26. Site tested in Safari

27. Site tested in Firefox

28. Site tested in Edge

Performance (29–34)

29. Homepage loads in under 3 seconds

30. Images are compressed and appropriately sized, not uploaded at full camera resolution

31. Unnecessary plugins or scripts have been removed

32. Site tested at PageSpeed Insights with an acceptable score

33. Fonts and third-party scripts are not slowing down initial page load

34. Caching is configured correctly on your hosting

SEO (35–42)

35. Every page has a unique title tag under 60 characters

36. Every page has a meta description under 160 characters

37. XML sitemap is generated and submitted to Google Search Console

38. robots.txt file is present and not accidentally blocking the whole site

39. Google Analytics (or equivalent) is installed and tracking correctly

40. Google Search Console is verified and connected

41. Heading structure (H1, H2, H3) is logical on every page

42. Google Business Profile is set up and linked, if you serve a local area

Security (43–46)

43. HTTPS is active across the entire site, with no mixed-content warnings

44. All software, plugins, and dependencies are updated to current versions

45. Strong admin passwords are set, with two-factor authentication enabled where possible

46. A backup system is in place and has been tested by actually restoring from it once

Final checks before going live (47–50)

47. Site has been viewed and approved by someone outside the project team, with fresh eyes

48. Domain and DNS settings are confirmed correct, including any www / non-www redirect

49. A rollback plan exists in case something goes wrong immediately after launch

50. Someone is available and watching closely for the first 24–48 hours after launch

Why this matters more than it seems

Every item on this list takes a few minutes to check. Skipping the list entirely can cost days of lost trust, missed enquiries, or a customer who quietly leaves and never says why.

This is exactly what a structured QA process is for — not a one-time favour before launch, but a repeatable system that catches the same categories of problems every single time.

How AwnOps handles this

We run a version of this exact checklist on every website we build, before it ever goes live for a client. Nothing gets marked "done" until it has actually been tested — not assumed to work.

If you are about to launch a website — whether we built it or not — and want a second set of eyes before you go live, get in touch. We are happy to run through it with you.

Contact AwnOps — we typically respond within one business day.

Related reading: Why Your Website Needs QA Testing · How Long Does It Take to Build a Website?