Website Launch Checklist: 15 Things to Do Before You Go Live

Before you hit “publish,” run through this practical checklist. It prevents nasty surprises, improves SEO, and makes your first visitors happy.

1) Performance & Core Web Vitals

• Image formats: Use WebP/AVIF; size to display dimensions.
• Lazy-load: Add loading="lazy" to below-the-fold images.
• Minify: Ship minified CSS/JS; remove unused libraries.
• Critical CSS: Inline above-the-fold styles on key pages.
• Fonts: Use font-display: swap; limit to 2–3 weights.

2) SEO Basics

• Unique titles: Each page has a unique, keyword-focused <title>.
• Meta descriptions: Compelling, ~150–160 chars per page.
• Headings: One <h1> per page; logical h2/h3 structure.
• Alt text: Descriptive alt on images with relevant terms.
• Canonical: Add <link rel="canonical" …> to avoid duplicates.

3) Sitemap & Robots

• Sitemap: Ensure /sitemap.xml lists all public pages (home, services, blog posts).
• robots.txt: Allow crawling of pages/assets you want indexed. Block admin pages.
• Search Console: Submit sitemap to Google; fix coverage issues.

4) Analytics & Tracking

• Install analytics (GA4, Plausible, or similar) with cookie consent if needed.
• Set up goals: form submits, button clicks, phone/email link clicks.
• Enable event tracking for key CTAs (“Get a quote”, “Contact”).

5) Accessibility

• Color contrast meets WCAG (check buttons and small text).
• Keyboard navigable; visible focus states on links/inputs.
• ARIA labels for icons and interactive elements.

6) Security & Privacy

• Force HTTPS; redirect HTTP → HTTPS.
• Remove test routes, debug info, placeholder content.
• Use strong spam protection on forms (honeypot or time-based check).
• Publish Privacy Policy and Terms pages; add company contact details.

7) Content & UX Polish

• Double-check copy: value prop, services, pricing, phone/email.
• Compress hero imagery (< 200 KB if possible).
• Consistent spacing, button styles, and link hovers.
• Favicon, Open Graph image (1200×630), and social previews validated.

8) Technical QA

• No 404s: crawl site and fix broken links.
• Metadata complete: OG tags, Twitter tags, JSON-LD (Organization/Article).
• Set caching headers for static assets (CSS/JS/images).
• Check mobile menus, forms, and sticky headers on real devices.

Quick Launch Table

Sample .htaccess Snippets (optional)

# Force HTTPS
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]

# Cache static assets
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresByType image/webp "access plus 6 months"
  ExpiresByType text/css   "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>

Need help launching with confidence? Contact Daanbi Services — we’ll optimize, QA, and deploy with clean SEO and fast performance.