Launch day problems are almost always preventable. A broken contact form, a missing redirect, a staging site that Google indexed — each one is a five-minute fix beforehand and a painful week afterwards. Here's the checklist we use on every project. Copy it, adapt it, and tick it off.
Content (1–6)
- Every page has final copy — no "lorem ipsum" or "coming soon" left anywhere.
- Spelling and grammar checked by someone who didn't write it.
- Phone numbers, emails and addresses are correct and clickable on mobile.
- Images are compressed and have descriptive alt text.
- Legal pages are live: privacy policy, cookie policy, terms.
- A custom 404 page that helps people find their way back.
SEO (7–13)
- Every page has a unique title tag and meta description.
- One clear H1 per page.
- 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent. This is the single most important step when replacing an existing site.
- An XML sitemap is generated and submitted to Google Search Console.
- robots.txt allows indexing (staging sites often block it — and teams forget to switch it back).
- Structured data for your business type (LocalBusiness, Product, Article).
- Open Graph images so links look good when shared on social and messaging apps.
For more quick wins, see 10 SEO quick wins any business can implement.
Performance (14–18)
- Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds on a mid-range phone.
- Caching and a CDN are switched on.
- Unused plugins, scripts and tracking tags are removed.
- Fonts are self-hosted or preloaded.
- Tested on a real 4G connection, not just office Wi-Fi.
Why this matters: slow sites lose customers — over half of mobile visitors leave if a page takes more than three seconds.
Functionality (19–23)
- Every form submits, sends a confirmation, and arrives in the right inbox.
- Checkout completes with a real payment (then refund it).
- Every link works — run a crawler, don't just click around.
- The site works in Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on iOS and Android.
- Keyboard navigation and screen-reader labels work on key pages.
Security and Reliability (24–27)
- SSL certificate is active and HTTP redirects to HTTPS.
- Admin accounts use strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
- Automated daily backups are running — and you've tested restoring one.
- Uptime monitoring is set up so you hear about downtime before your customers do.
Analytics and Tracking (28–30)
- Google Analytics 4 is installed and receiving data.
- Key conversions (form submissions, purchases, calls) are tracked as events.
- Google Search Console and Google Business Profile are connected and verified.
After Launch: The First Two Weeks
Launch isn't the finish line. For the first fortnight, check Search Console daily for crawl errors, watch analytics for pages with unusually high bounce rates, and keep a list of small fixes. Every Quadcydle project includes post-launch monitoring for exactly this reason.
Already launched and not sure everything was done? A website audit checks all thirty points (and more) and gives you a prioritised fix list. Or if you're planning a new site, tell us about it — this checklist comes free with every build.