Website tool

Website Launch Checker

A practical checklist for catching common website problems before launch.

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Checklist

Website launch checklist0 of 33 checks completed
Content 5 checks
Content checks
Why this matters

A vague or duplicated title is one of the first things visitors and search engines notice.

Why this matters

Wrong phone numbers or a dead support email quietly cost more trust than most bugs.

Why this matters

Draft copy left live reads as unfinished, even briefly.

Why this matters

A form that silently fails to send is worse than no form at all.

Why this matters

Internal and outbound links both — a broken link inside your own navigation is the more damaging one.

SEO 6 checks
SEO checks
Why this matters

Duplicate titles across pages confuse both search engines and anyone with several tabs open.

Why this matters

Without one, search engines pick their own summary — often an awkward mid-sentence fragment.

Why this matters

Prevents duplicate-content issues when the same page is reachable at more than one URL.

Why this matters

Gives search engines a direct list of pages instead of relying on them to find everything by crawling.

Why this matters

Easy to accidentally leave a blanket disallow rule from a staging environment.

Why this matters

Controls how the page looks when shared on social platforms and in chat previews.

Performance 4 checks
Performance checks
Why this matters

Unoptimized images are the single most common cause of a slow-feeling site.

Why this matters

Below-the-fold images and iframes shouldn't compete with the initial page load.

Why this matters

Analytics snippets, chat widgets and A/B test scripts left over from testing add real weight.

Why this matters

Your office wifi is not representative of most visitors.

Security 4 checks
Security checks
Why this matters

Including redirects from the plain http version — mixed enforcement leaves gaps.

Why this matters

An HTTPS page loading one http asset will show a browser warning.

Why this matters

.env, backup archives and admin paths should never be publicly reachable.

Why this matters

Debug mode left on in production can expose stack traces, file paths and environment variables to visitors.

Accessibility 5 checks
Accessibility checks
Why this matters

Screen readers announce a field by its label — an unlabeled input is effectively invisible to them.

Why this matters

Not everyone uses a mouse or touchscreen; tab order should follow the visual layout.

Why this matters

Alt text is how a screen reader — and a broken image icon — describes what should be there.

Why this matters

Light grey text on white looks calm to some, unreadable to many.

Why this matters

If you can't see which element is focused, keyboard navigation becomes guesswork.

Analytics & Tracking 3 checks
Analytics & Tracking checks
Why this matters

Confirm the tracking snippet is on the production domain, not just a staging copy.

Why this matters

It's common to launch and only discover a week later that analytics was pointed at the wrong property.

Why this matters

If a form or purchase event exists, fire it once for real before launch to confirm it fires at all.

Deployment 6 checks
Deployment checks
Why this matters

Database credentials, API keys and cache settings should differ deliberately from your local setup.

Why this matters

Confirm a backup exists and — separately — confirm it can actually be restored.

Why this matters

Without it, the first sign of a production bug is a user telling you about it.

Why this matters

Old URLs from a previous version of the site should redirect, not 404.

Why this matters

A default server error page is a small, avoidable dead end for lost visitors.

Why this matters

Confirm the domain actually resolves to the new server, from a network you don't control.

Checklist complete. That covers the checks this tool knows about — it's not a guarantee the site is problem-free, only that these specific items have been reviewed.

What is a website launch checklist?

A short, structured list of the technical details that are easy to forget in the last week before a website goes live — the things that rarely show up in a design review but cause real problems once visitors arrive.

What should you check before launching a website?

Broadly, seven areas: the content itself, basic SEO signals, performance, security, accessibility, analytics, and the deployment configuration. Each one fails quietly if skipped — nothing crashes, the site just works slightly worse than it should.

The checks people commonly forget

Production debug mode left on. A backup that exists but was never test-restored. A staging robots.txt that blocks every search engine, deployed unchanged to production. None of these announce themselves — they're only found by checking.

Does completing this checklist guarantee a problem-free launch?

No. It catches the common, checkable issues — not every possible bug, and not issues specific to unusual setups. Treat it as a floor, not a guarantee.

Does this tool store or send my data anywhere?

No. Your checked items are saved only in your browser's local storage, on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, and no account is required.

Can I use this for more than one website?

Yes — the checklist state is stored per browser, not per site. For multiple projects, run through it once per launch and reset between them.

What if I disagree with an item, or something's missing?

Write in — corrections and additions are welcome. This list reflects common practical issues, not an exhaustive standard.

Related resource: Website Launch Checklist (printable) →

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