The Ultimate Checklist for Launching a New Website
Most site launches stumble because teams skip steps they assume will handle themselves. Run through this checklist in order and you will catch the problems that actually break launches.
Before you flip the switch
Start with the technical checks that affect every visitor. Test the site on mobile and desktop browsers you actually expect people to use. Check that all forms submit without errors and confirmation emails arrive in under a minute.
- Run a full crawl with a free tool like Screaming Frog to catch broken links and missing titles.
- Confirm your robots.txt allows indexing and your sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console.
- Verify SSL is active and every internal link uses https.
- Set up 301 redirects for any old URLs so search traffic does not vanish.
Next, handle the content and legal side. Replace placeholder text and images. Add a privacy policy and basic contact page. If you collect any user data, make sure the form includes a clear consent checkbox.
Right after the site goes live
Watch what actually happens once real traffic arrives. Check server logs and analytics within the first hour to confirm pages load at expected speeds.
| Item | What to verify | Example consequence if missed |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics events | Pageviews and conversions fire correctly | You lose week-one performance data |
| Payment or booking flow | Test a real transaction end to end | Customers hit an error at checkout |
| Backups | Manual backup runs and restores cleanly | A bad plugin update wipes the site with no recovery |
Monitor email deliverability for the first 48 hours. If contact forms stop sending messages, fix the SMTP settings before the inbox fills with complaints. Once these items pass, the site is stable enough for normal updates.