Launching a site without proper preparation costs you months of rankings. Clients often think "launch the site" means pressing one button. The reality is that between "almost ready" and "actually ready" sit dozens of technical, editorial and organisational details. Miss one and you get a broken link on the homepage, a favicon that does not show on iOS, or a form that never reaches the manager.

We at SUDUS·TEAM have launched 250+ sites since 2015. This checklist is real practice, corrected after dozens of "small" mistakes: 67 points in 10 categories. Work through every one before the final launch and you get a site that works properly from day one, with no "we will finish it later".

Category 1: Content (7 points)

  1. Every piece of text is final — no "Lorem ipsum" in a far corner, no {client name} placeholders left in.
  2. Spelling and punctuation checked on every page, by tool or by hand.
  3. All images replaced with the final ones — no stock placeholders, no test shots.
  4. Alt text on every image, describing it properly. It matters for both SEO and accessibility.
  5. Logo in every format needed: SVG for scaling, PNG for social, favicon (.ico plus apple-touch-icon 180×180).
  6. Contact details current — phone, email, address, opening hours — in the footer on every page.
  7. 404 and 500 errors have custom pages that offer a way back to the homepage.

Category 2: Design and UX (7 points)

  1. Responsive layout tested on iPhone, Android, tablet, laptop and a 4K monitor, at minimum.
  2. Cross-browser compatibility: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — on desktop and mobile.
  3. Every button is pressable with a thumb on mobile (a target of at least 44×44 pixels).
  4. Text reads with no horizontal scrolling on mobile, down to 320 pixels wide.
  5. Text and background contrast meets WCAG AA — at least 4.5:1 for body text.
  6. Animations do not block interaction — the user can click a button while something is animating.
  7. Dark mode checked if present, or its absence does not break the page.

Category 3: Technical SEO (10 points)

  1. Title tags unique on every page — up to 65 characters, with the main query and the brand.
  2. Meta descriptions unique — up to 160 characters, with a benefit and a call to action.
  3. One H1 per page, and only one. H2–H6 in a logical hierarchy.
  4. Canonical tags on every page — critical where duplicates arise through pagination and filters.
  5. Sitemap.xml generated and submitted in Google Search Console, with correct lastmod dates.
  6. Robots.txt configured properly — not blocking important pages, blocking the admin area and staging.
  7. Schema.org markup: Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, Product, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList — whichever fit the site.
  8. Open Graph and Twitter Cards — the preview looks right when the page is shared.
  9. Hreflang tags on multilingual sites, pointing correctly at the alternate language versions.
  10. Redirect from www to non-www (or the reverse), so the index holds no duplicates.

More on technical SEO on our SEO service page.

Category 4: Performance (8 points)

  1. PageSpeed Insights 90 or above on mobile — Google's own ranking standard.
  2. LCP under 2.5 seconds — how fast the main content appears.
  3. INP under 200 ms — how fast the site responds to an interaction.
  4. CLS under 0.1 — how stable the layout is while loading.
  5. Images in WebP with a JPG/PNG fallback for older browsers.
  6. Lazy loading for images below the fold (loading="lazy").
  7. CSS and JS minified, and the server sends gzip or brotli.
  8. A CDN configured, so static files come from the nearest edge.

Category 5: Security (7 points)

  1. SSL certificate installed (HTTPS) — Let's Encrypt is enough.
  2. HTTP to HTTPS redirect configured, preferably with an HSTS header.
  3. Security headers: X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Content-Security-Policy.
  4. Admin area protected — two-factor authentication, a strong password, IP restrictions where possible.
  5. SQL injection closed off — every form validates its input.
  6. XSS protection — dynamic content is escaped.
  7. Regular security updates — CMS, plugins and framework on the latest stable versions.

Category 6: Forms and integrations (7 points)

  1. Every form tested — the enquiry genuinely arrives by email, in the CRM, in the messenger.
  2. Form validation — fields are checked (email, phone) and errors are shown to the user.
  3. Confirmation after submitting — the user can see the enquiry was received.
  4. CRM integration (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho or a custom system) — enquiries land in the pipeline.
  5. Payment provider works — a test purchase goes through, for e-commerce.
  6. Transactional email configured — order confirmations, status notifications.
  7. A notification channel for the manager, so enquiries do not get lost in an inbox.

Category 7: Analytics (6 points)

  1. Google Analytics 4 installed and sending data — check Realtime.
  2. Events configured: form_submit, phone_click, email_click, scroll_depth, video_play.
  3. Google Tag Manager, so scripts can be managed without code changes.
  4. Meta Pixel and Conversions API if you plan to run Meta ads.
  5. Google Ads conversion tracking if you plan to run Google Ads.
  6. Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity for heatmaps and session recording in the first 30 days — critical for UX optimisation.

Category 8: Local SEO and business listings (6 points)

  1. Google Business Profile created and verified — it is a separate asset that ranks in Maps.
  2. The profile filled in completely: categories, opening hours including exceptions, at least 20 photos, services, description.
  3. NAP consistency — name, address and phone identical on the site, the profile and every directory.
  4. Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, for fuller coverage.
  5. Listed in at least five relevant directories for your country and industry.
  6. Google Search Console set up, sitemap submitted, no indexing errors outstanding.

Category 9: Legal (5 points)

  1. Privacy policy — mandatory under GDPR, UK GDPR and most equivalent regimes.
  2. Cookie consent banner — with a genuine option to decline non-essential cookies.
  3. Consent to data processing in forms — a checkbox, never pre-ticked.
  4. Terms of service, or public offer terms for e-commerce.
  5. Company details: legal name, registration number, registered address — in the footer or on their own page.

Category 10: Backups and monitoring (4 points)

  1. Automatic backup configured — daily at minimum for active sites, files plus database.
  2. The backup tested by restoring it. This is critical: a backup you have never tested does not exist.
  3. Uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot, Pingdom, StatusCake) with alerts by email or messenger if the site goes down.
  4. Logs available and being collected, for diagnosing problems after launch.

What to do with this checklist

Sixty-seven points is a lot. Do not try to cover them in one day. Break it into stages.

Two weeks before the planned launch

  • Category 1 (content) — final text and photo corrections
  • Category 2 (design and UX) — device testing
  • Category 4 (performance) — speed optimisation, which usually takes the longest
  • Category 6 (forms) — testing every form in every scenario

One week before

  • Category 3 (technical SEO) — meta, schema, sitemap
  • Category 5 (security) — SSL, headers, updates
  • Category 7 (analytics) — install and verify
  • Category 9 (legal) — prepare the documents

One or two days before

  • Category 8 (local SEO) — create and verify the business profile
  • Category 10 (backups and monitoring) — configure monitoring
  • A final pass over all 67 points

Launch day

  • Move to your domain (DNS changes)
  • Check indexing — sitemap in Search Console
  • Send a test enquiry through the main form; does it actually arrive?
  • Check GA4 Realtime shows traffic
  • Check the business profile status is published

The first week after launch

  • Check uptime and errors daily
  • Watch the heatmaps and session recordings — where do people stall?
  • Start collecting the first reviews
  • Check Search Console for indexing errors

The five most common launch mistakes

1. Launching with staging URLs

The site was built on a staging domain and when it moved to production nobody changed the internal links and canonical tags. Google indexes both as duplicates and penalises both.

Fix: replace every URL in content and settings before launch, and close staging with robots.txt plus HTTP basic auth.

2. Launching with no backup

"The site works, why would we need a backup?" A week later a plugin update conflicts and the site goes down. With no backup, you rebuild from scratch.

Fix: automatic daily backups with at least seven days of retention.

3. Launching with no business profile

The site is live, the ads are running, and nobody created the Google Business Profile. For a local business that is 40%+ of the potential traffic from Maps and local search.

Fix: create it at least two weeks before launch, because verification takes time.

4. Launching a slow site

PageSpeed in the 50s, and the owner says "we will optimise later". The first month or two is when Google forms its view of a site. Launch slow and you will be fighting for positions for years.

Fix: 80+ on mobile from day one, aiming for 90+.

5. Launching with no analytics

"Let's launch first and add the tracking later." A month on, the first customers arrive and you have no idea where from, which pages work, or where people drop out. A month of data gone.

Fix: GA4 and a session-recording tool working from day one. It is 30 minutes of setup.

Tools for checking

Technical SEO

  • Google Search Console — mandatory, free
  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider — full site crawler, free up to 500 URLs
  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools — free for site owners
  • Semrush Site Audit — comprehensive, paid

Performance

  • PageSpeed Insights — Google's own tool
  • WebPageTest — detailed diagnostics from different regions
  • GTmetrix — readable reporting
  • Lighthouse — built into Chrome DevTools

Accessibility

  • WAVE Web Accessibility Tool — free
  • Lighthouse accessibility audit — built in
  • axe DevTools — Chrome extension

Cross-browser testing

  • BrowserStack — real devices, paid
  • LambdaTest — alternative, has a free tier
  • Chrome DevTools device toolbar — emulation, free

Security

  • securityheaders.com — HTTP header check
  • SSL Labs — SSL certificate quality
  • Mozilla Observatory — overall security check

Frequently asked questions

How long does working through all 67 points take?

Doing it for the first time yourself, three to five working days. With an established workflow, one or two. Most of the time goes on category 4 (performance) and category 6 (testing forms in every scenario).

Should we launch if we have not cleared all 67?

It depends which ones. Critical, cannot launch without: SSL, mobile layout, working forms, backup. Important, better not to launch without: GA4, business profile, sitemap in Search Console, basic schema. Can be finished after launch: custom 404, dark mode, some security headers.

Can the checking be automated?

Partly. A Lighthouse audit automates performance, accessibility and basic SEO. Screaming Frog covers structural checks. But forms, business listings and legal pages are always a manual check.

What do we do if PageSpeed is below 90?

Optimise in order: images to WebP with lazy loading; fonts with preload and font-display: swap; JS deferred, code-split, tree-shaken; critical CSS inline and the rest async; correct Cache-Control headers; then a CDN.

Do we need a Google Business Profile for an online business with no office?

If the business is entirely online — SaaS, remote services with no premises — a profile gives you less. But if you have a registered address and see clients even occasionally, it helps. The alternative for an online business is a presence on Clutch, GoodFirms and a LinkedIn company page.

How often should backups run?

For a static business-card site, weekly. For a blog with regular content, daily. For e-commerce, hourly database backups plus a daily full one. For a CRM holding critical data, incremental backups every 15 minutes.

In short: the pre-launch check is not a formality

Launching a site is not pressing a button. It is a systematic process of 60+ checks, each of which can save you weeks and a significant sum after launch.

The common client misconception is "let's launch faster and finish it later". The reality is that "later" rarely arrives. Whatever is not done at the start stays a problem for years.

Ready to discuss your own launch? In our process all 67 points are part of the work rather than an extra. Write to us — on the first call we will audit an existing site free of charge and tell you what needs fixing. Our approach by type of project is set out on the landing page, corporate website and online store pages, and the timeline for each is in how long it takes to build a website.