What should I check before launching my website?
Functionality and Content
Test every page and feature on your site. Click all links, submit forms, and try the search function if you have one. Make sure images load and text is free of typos.
Check your site on different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and devices (desktop, tablet, phone). What looks fine on your computer might break on a phone.
If you have an e-commerce site, test the entire checkout process with a real transaction (then refund it) to catch payment gateway issues.
- Broken links (use a free link checker tool)
- Forms: contact, signup, checkout — do they send emails?
- 404 page: does it exist and guide users back?
- Favicon: does your site show a small icon in the browser tab?
- Spelling and grammar: read everything aloud or use a tool
Performance and SEO
Page speed matters for user experience and search rankings. Aim for a load time under 3 seconds. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to find issues.
Ensure your site is mobile-friendly. Google uses mobile-first indexing, so your mobile version is what gets ranked.
Set up basic SEO: title tags, meta descriptions, and a sitemap. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Compress images (use WebP format where possible)
- Enable caching and a CDN if available
- Check for duplicate content issues
- Set up HTTPS (SSL certificate) — many hosts offer free Let's Encrypt
- Create a robots.txt file if needed
Technical and Legal Setup
Verify your domain name is pointed correctly and your hosting is active. Set up email accounts if you need them (e.g., contact@yourdomain.com).
Install analytics (like Google Analytics) to track visitors from day one. Also set up a backup system so you can restore if something goes wrong.
Include legal pages: privacy policy, terms of service, and cookie consent if you collect any data (required in many regions like the EU).
- Domain and hosting renewal dates
- SSL certificate installed and working (https://)
- Analytics tracking code installed
- Backup solution in place
- Privacy policy and terms pages published
Common mistakes
- Assuming it looks good on your computer means it looks good everywhere — always test on real devices.
- Forgetting to set up analytics before launch, so you miss early traffic data.
- Skipping legal pages like privacy policy, which can lead to fines or lost trust.
