Website launch checklist - Zephyra Studio

A site that looks finished on a developer's screen often hides problems that only surface once real visitors start arriving: a broken contact form, a slow mobile experience, or a page Google cannot index. Before you launch, check these 32 items across five groups: technical basics, content, SEO, legal, and analytics. Most take a few minutes each, but any one missed item can cost you visitors or enquiries in the first weeks, when the first impression matters most.

Technical basics

These are the things that, if broken, make the entire site useless regardless of how good the design is. Check these first, before anything else.

• SSL certificate active and the site loads over https:// with no insecure-connection warning
• The site works correctly on the most common browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) and on both iOS and Android
• Every form (contact, calculator, newsletter signup) actually submits data and you receive it
• No broken internal links - every link on the site goes to a real page, not a 404
• A 404 error page exists and links back to the homepage, not a blank screen
• The site loads at a reasonable speed on mobile data, not only on fast office Wi-Fi
• A favicon (the browser tab icon) is set, not the default blank icon
• The domain is exactly what you want (www or non-www, consistent across the whole site, not mixed)

Content

A technically flawless site with weak or unfinished content still loses visitors. This group checks whether what a visitor actually sees is genuinely ready for the public.

• No "Lorem ipsum" or "[PLACEHOLDER]" text accidentally left on a public page
• Contact information (phone, e-mail, address) is accurate and current on every page it appears on
• Every image has alt text, not just for accessibility but because Google uses it to understand the image
• Prices, if mentioned, are accurate on launch day - an outdated price is a worse impression than no price shown at all
• Spelling and grammar have been checked by at least one reader who did not write the text
• Every page has a clear call to action - the visitor knows what to do next

SEO basics

A site Google cannot properly read and index loses organic traffic before it even starts, regardless of content quality.

• Every page has a unique title tag (50-60 characters) describing that specific page, not the same title copied everywhere
• Every page has a meta description (120-158 characters) that encourages a click from the search results
• Every page has exactly one H1, matching that page's content
• An XML sitemap exists and contains only the pages that should be indexed, not test/development pages
• robots.txt does not accidentally block important sections (check that development settings were not left active)
• Google Search Console is connected and the sitemap submitted before launch, not after
• Baseline schema markup (Organization, LocalBusiness where relevant) is added and valid
• The site was not accidentally left set to "noindex" from the development phase

Legal and compliance

These items do not affect how good the site looks, but their absence can create real legal exposure, especially if the site collects any visitor data.

• A privacy policy exists and accurately describes what data the site collects and why
• The cookie consent banner appears before non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising) load, not after
• Terms of service are available, especially if the site has a store or charges for services
• Contact forms clearly state what happens to the data submitted
• If the site targets the EU market, GDPR basics (right to erasure, consent) are covered, not just a formal "I accept" button

Analytics and tracking

Without this, the first weeks after launch, often the most valuable for early insight, pass with zero data on how the site is actually used.

• Google Analytics (or equivalent) is connected and tested before launch, not after the first week
• Conversion tracking is set up on every meaningful action (form submission, phone click, add to cart)
• Search Console is verified, not just added
• There is agreement on who reviews this data and how often after launch - a tool nobody looks at is useless

Source

Related guides

Key takeaways

• Check technical basics first - a broken form or a slow mobile experience makes everything else moot.
• Placeholder text and outdated prices are a common, easily avoidable mistake that sends a bad first impression.
• SEO basics (title, meta description, sitemap, Search Console) should be done BEFORE launch, not added later.
• The cookie banner must block non-essential scripts BEFORE consent, not after - this is both a legal and technical requirement.
• Analytics connected from day one means the early weeks after launch are not lost without data.

Conclusion

This list covers the most commonly missed items at launch, but every site has its own specifics depending on whether it has a store, a booking system, or multiple languages. If you are not sure whether your site is ready to launch, or you are planning a new build and want this checklist built into the process from the start, take a look at our website development service - pre-launch testing is a standard part of the process, not an afterthought.