Launch day for a new website is exciting, and it is also when small problems slip through. A contact form that emails the wrong address, a page still showing placeholder text, or old links that now lead nowhere. None of these are hard to fix, but they are much better caught before customers find them.
This checklist covers what to check before your new website goes live, and in the first week after. It suits a brand-new site or a redesign of an existing one.
Content
- No placeholder text or images. Search the site for “lorem ipsum”, “sample” and “test”.
- Contact details are correct everywhere: phone, email, address, opening hours and ABN.
- Prices, services and offers are current.
- Spelling and grammar checked, ideally by someone who didn’t write the content.
- Legal pages are in place, such as your privacy policy and terms. See our guide to website privacy policies.
- Images are your own or properly licensed.
Forms and enquiries
This is the part that matters most, and the part most often missed.
- Submit every form on the site, from desktop and mobile.
- Confirm the enquiry arrives in the right inbox, not in spam.
- Check the thank-you message or page appears.
- Tap every phone number and email link on your phone.
- If you take bookings or payments, complete a real test transaction.
If form emails land in spam, your email authentication may need attention. Our guide to professional business email explains SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
Mobile and browsers
- View every main page on a phone and a tablet.
- Check menus open and close properly and buttons are easy to tap.
- Test in more than one browser, such as Chrome, Safari and Edge.
- Make sure pop-ups and cookie banners can be closed and don’t cover important content.
Our article on mobile-first design covers what good mobile experience looks like.
Speed
- Compress and resize large images.
- Remove plugins and scripts you don’t need.
- Test key pages with a speed tool and fix the biggest issues first. See why websites feel slow.
Search engines
- Make sure the site isn’t blocking search engines. Many websites are built with indexing turned off while in development. It is easy to forget to switch it back on at launch.
- Each page has a clear, unique title and meta description.
- Submit your XML sitemap in Google Search Console. Our Search Console guide explains how.
- If you’re replacing an old site, set up 301 redirects from old page addresses to the matching new pages. Without them, visitors and search engines hit “page not found” errors and you can lose search visibility you have built up.
Tracking
- Google Analytics is installed and recording visits.
- Form submissions, calls and other key actions are tracked as key events.
- Advertising pixels are installed if you run ads.
Our guide to what to track on your website explains which numbers matter.
Security and access
- The site loads on HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, and there are no “not secure” warnings.
- Admin accounts use strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
- Remove test accounts and unused plugins or themes.
- Automatic backups are running.
- You have login details for your domain, hosting and website, in your business’s name.
Accessibility basics
- Images have descriptive alt text.
- Text has enough contrast against its background.
- The site can be navigated with a keyboard.
Our article on WCAG 2.2 has more detail.
After launch: the first week
- Update your Google Business Profile, social media profiles and email signature with the new website link.
- Check Search Console for crawl errors and pages not found.
- Test forms again a few days after launch.
- Watch analytics for unusual drops in traffic or enquiries.
- Tell regular customers about the new site.
Want a launch you don’t have to worry about?
Madexify builds and launches websites for small businesses across Pakenham, Officer, Beaconsfield, Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Clyde and Bunyip, including redirects, tracking and a full pre-launch check. See our web design and development services, or contact us to plan your website launch.
This article is part of our Small Business Website Guide. Browse all our guides on the guides page.
