Fast answer
Run twenty checks in five groups — links, forms, metadata, speed, indexing — on a device and network you did not build on. Fix what fails, then repeat the whole list once. Only then point the public domain at it.
Group 1 — Links and navigation
- Every link in the header and footer resolves. No 404s, no surprise home-page redirects.
- Every call-to-action button goes where its label promises.
- No leftover template links to a demo shop, a booking plugin or an external agency.
- Navigation works on a phone, with the menu opened and closed twice.
Group 2 — Forms and email
- Submit each form with a real address. Confirm the email arrives, not just the on-screen thank-you.
- Check the spam folder. If it lands there, add SPF and DKIM before launch, not after.
- Submit an empty form. It must be rejected with a visible message.
- Send a test from the site to support@ and reply to it, confirming the reply arrives.
Group 3 — Metadata and sharing
- Every page has a unique title and description — not the site title repeated.
- Open the site in a share-preview tool. The image, title and description all render.
- Favicon appears in the browser tab.
- One structured-data block validates without errors on the home page.
Group 4 — Speed and mobile
- Load the home page on a phone over mobile data, not office wifi.
- Images are compressed; no single image above roughly 300 KB.
- No layout shift while the page loads — text does not jump when fonts arrive.
- Run the page through a speed test and note the score. Fix only what is red.
Group 5 — Indexing and safety
- Search-engine visibility is enabled, and there is no stray noindex on the home page.
- sitemap.xml loads and lists your real pages.
- robots.txt does not block the whole site.
- A backup exists and one restore has been tested.
After launch
The first week is when indexing and small breakages surface. Check the sitemap is being read, watch for crawl errors, and re-submit after any structural change. Then put a reminder in the calendar for a monthly pass through the five groups — most of them take five minutes once the site is stable.
Checklist for this step
- All header and footer links resolve
- All CTA buttons match their labels
- No leftover template or demo links
- Mobile menu opens and closes cleanly
- Every form submitted and received
- Spam folder checked; SPF and DKIM set
- Empty submission rejected
- Unique title and description per page
- Share preview renders image and text
- Structured data validates
- Phone test on mobile data
- Images compressed
- No layout shift on load
- sitemap.xml lists real pages
- robots.txt does not block the site
- Backup restore tested
Common mistakes
- Testing on the same browser and network you built on. Both are unusually warm and fast.
- Trusting the on-screen thank-you instead of the inbox.
- Running the checklist before content is final. You will redo half of it.
- Launching on a Friday. Small breakages then sit for two days.
L — Launch is a Tuesday morning activity
Do it early in the week, on a day you can watch the site for a few hours afterwards. Nobody has ever regretted waiting two days to launch a website.
Keep the order.
Every step assumes the one before it is finished. Skipping ahead is how sites end up rebuilt twice.