The Ultimate Checklist Before Launching Your Website

Launch day is a poor time to discover the contact form has been quietly failing. Here is the checklist we work through before any site of ours goes live — worth running whether we built it or not.

Before anything else

• Every form submits, and the notification actually arrives — check the spam folder, then check it from an address on a different provider.
• Phone numbers dial and email addresses open a message on a phone, not just on a desktop.
• Every link works. Broken internal links are the most common launch defect there is.
• The site is reachable at one address only, with the others redirecting to it.

Content

• No placeholder text anywhere, including in page titles and image alt text.
• Prices, dates and opening hours are current.
• Someone who did not write it has proofread it.
• Legal pages exist and describe what the site actually does with data.

Technical

• HTTPS everywhere, with no mixed-content warnings.
• Page titles and descriptions written for every page, not generated from the site name.
• A sensible 404 page that offers a way back.
• Analytics installed and confirmed recording.
• Automatic backups running, and a restore tested at least once.

On real devices

Browser resizing is not device testing. Open the site on an actual phone, in bright light, with one thumb. Tap targets that seemed generous on a desktop often are not.

Accessibility

Navigate the whole site using only the keyboard. If you cannot reach the menu, complete the form and see where the focus is at all times, neither can a significant number of your visitors — and in many markets that is now a legal exposure, not only a courtesy.

After launch

Check the analytics and the form inbox on day two and day seven. Most launch problems are invisible on the day and obvious within a week.