Pre-launch website checklist:
27 checks before you go live.

This free checklist covers the 27 checks we run before a small business website goes live: content, forms and enquiries, search settings, speed and accessibility, and what to do in launch week. Get the PDF by email to print it or tick it off on screen, or read the list below.

Content

Read every page as a customer would, on a phone first.

• No placeholder text or images. Search the site for “lorem ipsum”, “TBC” and “example.com”.
• Contact details match everywhere. Phone, email, address and hours match on the site, your Google Business Profile and your email signature.
• Every page has one clear next step. Calling, booking or sending an enquiry: a visitor always knows what to do next.
• Legal pages are in place. A privacy policy that names what your forms collect, and a cookie notice if you use non-essential cookies.

Forms and enquiries

A broken form loses enquiries without any warning.

• Submit every form with realistic details. From a phone and from a computer.
• The notification reaches an inbox someone reads. Check the spam folder too.
• The visitor sees a clear thank-you. And an automatic reply, if you send one.
• The record lands in your CRM or sheet. Every field filled in, if the form feeds one.

Search

Small settings that can keep a new site out of Google for weeks.

• The staging noindex is removed. And robots.txt doesn’t block the pages you want found.
• Every page has its own title and description. No “Home” on every page.
• One main heading per page. It says what the page is about.
• The sitemap lists your real pages. Usually at /sitemap.xml, with no test pages.

Speed and accessibility

Checks anyone can run in under an hour.

• Key pages pass PageSpeed Insights on mobile. Google’s targets: content within 2.5 s, taps answered within 200 ms, layout shift 0.1 or less.
• Images are compressed and sized. So pages load fast and don’t jump around.
• You can use every page with the Tab key. Every button reachable, with a visible focus outline.
• Text still works at 200% zoom. Nothing overlaps or gets cut off.

Launch day and week one

Some checks only work on the live address.

• Repeat the form test on the live domain. Email settings sometimes change with the domain.
• HTTPS works everywhere. The padlock shows; http and non-www versions redirect to your main address.
• Add the site to Google Search Console. And submit your sitemap in the Sitemaps report.
• Request indexing for your key pages. Home page and main service pages first.
• Update your listings. Google Business Profile, social profiles and directories link to the new site.
• Check analytics is recording visits. If you use it.

For the reasons behind each check, with sources from Google and the W3C, read our full guide: Website Launch Checklist for Small Businesses.