The website checklist to complete before you launch

You’re about to hit publish. Before you do, run through this. The difference between a site that quietly works and one that quietly leaks customers is usually a handful of small misses caught, or not caught, before launch.

Before launching a website, confirm six things: it works on mobile, it loads fast, it has an SSL certificate, contact is obvious, the legal pages exist, and basic SEO plus analytics are in place. A good pre-launch check takes an hour and saves you from the silent problems, broken links, missing page titles, no tracking, that you’d otherwise discover months too late.

Here’s the full checklist, grouped so you can work through it in order.

Does it work on every device?

Over 60% of web traffic is now mobile, so test your site on a real phone before anything else. Tap every button. Fill in the contact form. Check the text isn’t tiny and nothing spills off the edge of the screen.

• Loads and reads cleanly on a phone
• Buttons and links are easy to tap
• Forms work with a thumb, not just a mouse
• No horizontal scrolling or cut-off content

Mobile-first design explains why this comes first, not last.

Is it fast and secure?

Speed and security are non-negotiable. Roughly 53% of mobile visitors abandon a page that takes more than three seconds to load (industry data), and browsers now flag any site without SSL as “Not secure”, which scares people off instantly.

• Pages load in under three seconds
• Images are compressed, not full-resolution monsters
• SSL certificate active (the padlock and https://)
• No “Not secure” warning in the address bar

What an SSL certificate is covers why that padlock matters more than it looks.

Can people actually contact you?

This sounds obvious. It’s the most commonly fumbled part of a launch. A visitor decides to get in touch, then can’t find how. Make every route to you visible from any page.

• Phone number clickable on mobile
• Contact form tested and emailing the right inbox
• Email address and/or WhatsApp shown
• Address and opening hours if you’re local
• A clear call-to-action on every page

Will anyone find it?

A site nobody can find brings in nothing. You don’t need full SEO before launch, but the basics should be in place so search engines can read and list your pages properly.

• Every page has a unique title tag and meta description
• Headings are structured (one H1 per page)
• Images have descriptive alt text
• A sitemap exists and Google can crawl the site
• It’s submitted to Google Search Console

On-page SEO basics walks through these in plain terms.

Does it read clearly in five seconds?

A visitor decides whether to stay or leave in about the time it takes to read this sentence. Before launch, open your homepage as if you’ve never seen it and ask: is it instantly obvious what you do, where, who for, and what to do next?

• Your main heading says what you do in plain words, not a slogan
• Location is clear if you’re a local business
• The main action (call, book, enquire) stands out
• No jargon or “bespoke synergistic solutions” filler
• Photos are real and relevant, not random stock

A clever tagline that leaves people guessing is worse than a boring sentence that’s clear. “We fix boilers in Bristol, usually same day” beats “Reimagining home comfort” every time, both for visitors and for search.

The legal and trust essentials

Skipping these can land you in trouble and dents trust. Most don’t take long.

• Privacy policy and (where relevant) terms
• Cookie banner if you use analytics or tracking
• Business name and contact details visible
• Copyright year correct in the footer

The final sweep

Last pass before you go live. Click everything.

• All links work, no 404s
• No “lorem ipsum” or placeholder text left
• Spelling and contact details correct
• Analytics installed and firing
• A test purchase or enquiry completes end to end

The misses that hurt most after launch

Some checklist items are minor. A few, if skipped, cost real money for months before you spot them. These are the ones worth double-checking.

• A broken contact form. The customer tried to reach you and couldn’t. You never even know it happened. Test it for real, from a phone and a computer.
• No analytics. You launch blind and lose your first months of data for good. It can’t be backfilled later.
• A slow homepage. Half your mobile visitors leave before it loads. An uncompressed hero image is often the culprit.
• No SSL. The “Not secure” warning frightens people off before they read a word.
• Inconsistent contact details. A phone number that differs between your site and your Google listing confuses customers and search engines alike.

Notice the theme: none of these are dramatic, and none throw an error. They fail silently, which is exactly why they’re so easy to miss and so expensive to leave. An hour of checking now is cheaper than a quarter of wondering why the phone’s quiet.

When you’d rather not do this yourself

A pre-launch checklist is manageable for one site, once. Doing it right, then keeping the site fast, secure and findable for years after, is the harder part most owners underestimate.

If you’d rather the build, launch and ongoing upkeep were handled by one team, that’s our model, see the pricing page. Either way, don’t launch without running this list. An hour now beats months of wondering why the site’s quiet.