Website launch checklist: 50 things to check before you go live

The new website looks great, management has approved it, and it goes live on Monday morning. On Wednesday a customer calls to ask why the contact form never replies. On Friday the marketing manager discovers that traffic from Google has halved, because all the old addresses now show an error page. None of these mistakes were hard to avoid. They simply were not on anyone’s list. That list is what you get here.

The checklist has 50 points across seven areas. It is written so you can copy it straight into a spreadsheet or an email to your agency and put a name and date on every point. After it comes a plan for launch day itself, a worked example and an overview of what to watch in the first 30 days.

What should you check before launching a website?

Checklist 1: Content and design (8 points)

• All copy has been proofread by someone other than the writer.
• Prices, opening hours, addresses and phone numbers are current and consistent everywhere.
• All placeholder text and test images have been removed.
• Every image has a descriptive alt text and is compressed.
• All internal links work, and none point to the staging site.
• Favicon, logo and social sharing images are in place.
• There is a helpful 404 page with search or links onwards.
• Contact details and a clear call to action appear on every key page.

Checklist 2: SEO and redirects (10 points)

This is the area where most launches go wrong and where mistakes cost the most. If the new site has different addresses from the old one, and it almost always does, every old address must send visitors and Google on to the new one with a permanent 301 redirect. Otherwise you lose the rankings the old pages built up over years. We go into depth in our guide to website migration without losing SEO.

• A complete list of old addresses has been compiled from the sitemap, Search Console and analytics.
• Every old address has a 301 redirect to the most relevant new page.
• The search engine block from the staging site (noindex or robots.txt) has been removed.
• Every page has a unique title of roughly 60 characters at most and a meta description.
• Every page has one H1, and the headings follow a logical structure.
• Canonical tags point to the correct, final address.
• An XML sitemap has been generated and submitted in Google Search Console.
• If the site has several languages, hreflang is set correctly between versions.
• Structured data such as organisation, FAQ or products has been added and tested.
• The domain has one version: with or without www, always https, with redirects from the others.

Checklist 3: Speed and Core Web Vitals (6 points)

Google measures user experience with three numbers, the Core Web Vitals. The “good” thresholds are that the largest element loads within 2.5 seconds (LCP), the page responds to a click within 200 milliseconds (INP), and the layout barely shifts (CLS of 0.1 or less). Measure them on mobile, since that is where most visitors are. Read more in our guide to website speed.

• LCP is under 2.5 seconds on the key pages, measured on mobile.
• INP is under 200 milliseconds, and buttons and menus respond immediately.
• CLS is under 0.1, with no jumps as images and fonts load.
• Images are served in modern formats and at the size they are displayed.
• Third-party scripts such as chat, maps and pixels have been reviewed and unnecessary ones removed.
• Caching and a CDN are set up so the site is fast for visitors everywhere.

Checklist 4: Cookies, GDPR and accessibility (7 points)

Legal is the area where “the old site did that too” is the most dangerous sentence. The rules have tightened in recent years, and a new site is the natural moment to put things right. The points here are practical checks. If you are unsure of the specific requirements for your business, speak to a lawyer or the relevant authority. We have in-depth guides on cookie banner rules and the Accessibility Act.

• No non-essential cookies are set before the visitor has given consent.
• Rejecting cookies is as easy as accepting them.
• The privacy policy describes which data you collect, why and how long it is kept.
• There are data processing agreements with hosting, form tools, newsletter and analytics providers.
• Company details such as name, address, email and CVR number are easy to find.
• Terms of sale and the right of withdrawal are in place if you sell online.
• The site has been tested against WCAG 2.1 AA: contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text and form labels.

Since 28 June 2025, the Danish implementation of the European Accessibility Act has applied to webshops and other consumer-facing digital services, among others. Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and a turnover or balance sheet of no more than EUR 2 million are exempt from the service requirements, but WCAG 2.1 AA is a sensible target for everyone. It makes the site better for all users and often for Google too. Read more about GDPR for websites and apps.

Checklist 5: Analytics, tracking and forms (7 points)

• The analytics tool is installed on every page and respects consent.
• Key actions such as forms, calls and purchases are tracked as conversions.
• Ad pixels and conversion tracking have been carried over and tested.
• Google Search Console is set up for the final domain, and you have access.
• Every form has been tested with a real submission, and the message arrives.
• Confirmation emails land in the inbox and avoid spam (SPF, DKIM and DMARC are configured).
• Integrations with CRM, newsletter or finance system have been tested with real data.

Checklist 6: Tech, security and backups (8 points)

• The SSL certificate is active, and every page runs over https without warnings.
• Password protection and test access from development have been removed or closed.
• Admin accounts are personal, have strong passwords and preferably two-factor authentication.
• Backups run automatically, and a restore has been tested at least once.
• Monitoring sends an alert if the site goes down.
• DNS changes are planned, and TTL was lowered the day before so the switch is quick.
• Domain and hosting are in your name, and you have access to both.
• There is a plan to roll back to the old site if something goes badly wrong.

The domain and hosting point is the one most people overlook. If the domain is in the agency’s name or a former employee’s, changing supplier can become both expensive and slow. We have written a full guide on who owns the code and the accounts that go with it.

Checklist 7: Mobile and browsers (4 points)

• The site has been tested on a real iPhone and a real Android phone as well as in a simulator.
• The site has been tested in the latest Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.
• Menus, forms and buttons can be used with a thumb on a small screen.
• Tables, images and video adapt to the screen without horizontal scrolling.

How does launch day itself work?

Worked example: a new website for a 15-person company

Picture a consultancy with 15 employees moving from an older WordPress site with 140 pages and blog posts to a new 12-page site plus a new blog. The figures are an example. The redirect list gets 140 rows: 30 old pages are sent to the new service pages, 95 blog posts move with the same content to new addresses, and 15 outdated pages are sent to the closest relevant page. The work takes a couple of days, but it protects the rankings the blog posts in particular have built over several years. Launch happens on a Tuesday, and after 30 days Google traffic is level with before, while enquiries have risen because the new site is faster and has clearer ways to get in touch.

What should you watch in the first 30 days after launch?

When we launch a website, we go through the same points with you, and after launch the monthly price covers hosting, maintenance, updates, support, security and backups, from DKK 600 a month. If a new site is ahead of you, start with our guide to a new website step by step, or describe the project here and get a written fixed-price proposal within 24 hours.