Launching a new website? Here’s a practical pre-launch checklist covering forms, mobile, speed, SEO, analytics, security, backups and redirects.
Launching a new website is exciting — but it is also the point where small mistakes can become very visible.
Broken forms, missing tracking, slow pages, poor mobile layouts, and forgotten redirects can all cause problems after launch. A proper pre-launch checklist helps catch those issues before customers do.
Before putting a new website live, these are the key areas I recommend checking.
Contact forms are one of the most important parts of a business website. If they do not work, you can lose leads without even realising.
A website can look perfect on desktop but feel awkward on mobile. Since many users visit from phones, mobile testing is essential.
Do not only check individual pages. Test the actual journey a visitor would take.
The goal is to make sure visitors can understand what you do and take action without confusion.
A slow website can hurt enquiries, user experience, and SEO. Before launch, test the most important pages.
Common speed issues include oversized images, too many scripts, heavy themes, unnecessary plugins, and poor hosting.
Every important page should have the basic SEO foundations in place before launch.
SEO does not need to be overcomplicated at launch, but the basics should not be skipped.
If you are replacing an existing website, redirects are very important. Old URLs should send users and search engines to the correct new pages.
Skipping redirects can cause broken links, lost traffic, and SEO drops.
If you want to understand how the website performs, tracking should be set up before launch.
A website should not launch with weak security settings. Basic checks can prevent a lot of avoidable problems.
Before launch, make sure backups are working. A backup is only useful if it can actually be restored.
Website emails are often forgotten until something breaks. Check that important messages are being delivered properly.
If form emails are going to spam, an SMTP setup is usually the first thing to check.
Depending on the business, you may need certain pages or information visible before launch.
Before launch, read through the site properly. It is easy to miss placeholder text, old phone numbers, broken links, or unfinished sections.
A good website launch is not just about pressing publish. It is about making sure the site works properly, can be found, can be measured, and can be maintained after it goes live.
Spending time on these checks before launch can prevent lost leads, broken pages, tracking issues, and stressful fixes later.
If you are launching a new website and want it checked properly before it goes live, send me a message ↗.
Send the issue, URL or rough idea. I’ll tell you what I think the sensible next step is.
