Website Launch: The Checklist Before Going Live

What should really be checked before a website launch?

A launch check is not about perfection. It is about whether visitors find the right information, enquiries arrive and the website starts in a technically and legally clean state. Use a clear order: content, contact paths, legal pages, technology, SEO and measurement.

Do not test only on an office desktop. Open the site on a phone, tablet and a second browser. Many problems appear only on mobile: oversized images, cut-off buttons, unreadable phone numbers or a menu that cannot be closed. One person should own the final checklist so discovered issues are actually fixed.

• open homepage, service pages, contact page and legal pages
• click all buttons, links, phone numbers and email addresses
• send a real test request through every form
• test mobile display on a real smartphone
• give approval only when critical points are fixed

Which content must be ready before go-live?

Not every future idea needs to be finished. The core message must be clear: what you offer, for whom, in which region and how to contact you. Visitors should understand within seconds whether they are in the right place.

Check placeholders, duplicate sections and old sample images. “Lorem ipsum” looks unprofessional, but outdated prices or wrong team names are just as damaging. If prices are shown, they must match the real service. In a website subscription, this final content review is a fixed handover point.

Which legal pages belong to the launch?

For commercial websites in Germany, the Impressum is not optional. Section 5 DDG requires provider information to be easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available. Depending on the legal form, this includes name, address, contact options, register details and additional industry information.

The privacy policy must match the actual website. If forms, hosting, analytics, maps, videos, fonts or booking tools are used, these must be checked and described. Under Section 25 TDDDG, storing or accessing information on a user device generally requires consent unless it is strictly necessary.

• correct Impressum with provider and contact details
• privacy policy matching forms, hosting and tools
• cookie or consent solution only where required
• document image rights, licences and photo permissions
• check additional mandatory information for regulated industries

How do you check technology, SSL and forms?

Technology must be reliable at launch. The website should load via HTTPS without browser warnings and without mixed content. Test versions with and without “www” if both are relevant. During a domain move, DNS settings and redirects are especially important.

Forms deserve a dedicated test. Send at least one real test enquiry and then check whether the email arrives, whether it lands in spam, whether all fields are included and whether the user sees a clear success message. For many businesses, the form is the revenue channel.

Which SEO points matter at launch?

SEO does not start weeks later. Every important page needs a unique title, suitable meta description, clear H1 and readable URL. Google recommends sitemaps to help search engines discover relevant URLs, although a sitemap does not replace a clean structure.

For a relaunch, redirects are critical. Old URLs that are known to Google or linked from other sites should point with a 301 redirect to the best matching new page. Otherwise visibility is lost and visitors hit 404 pages.

• check title and meta description for main pages
• use one clear H1 per page
• review sitemap and robots.txt
• set up 301 redirects for relaunches or domain changes
• use Google Search Console after launch

How do you test speed and mobile display?

Speed is not only technical. If the homepage loads slowly on mobile, prospects may leave before seeing your phone number. Before launch, review large images, unnecessary scripts and embedded services.

Google evaluates user experience partly through Core Web Vitals such as LCP, INP and CLS. You do not need to memorise the terms, but the principle matters: main content should appear quickly, interactions should respond fast and the layout should not jump while loading.

What happens right after go-live?

After switching the domain, the launch is not finished. Check the live domain again: homepage, contact page, form, Impressum, privacy policy and the most important service page. Then verify analytics or privacy-friendly statistics, Search Console and backups.

Plan another short review after 7 to 14 days. Real issues then become visible: 404 errors, Search Console queries, form submissions, loading times and customer feedback. Our subscription packages — Starter €79, Business €149 and Premium €299 per month — treat the launch as the start of stable website care, not the end.