Website launch checklist: 10 things to verify before your site goes live

You've built your website. It looks great. But before you hit publish and share the link with the world, there's a checklist of things to verify — some of which, if missed, can mean Google ignores your site for months or visitors can't contact you. This is what we run through on every site we launch.

Technical checks

• SSL certificate is active (HTTPS) — Your URL should start with https:// not http://. Without it, browsers show a "Not Secure" warning that kills trust immediately. Most hosts offer free SSL via Let's Encrypt.
• Mobile test passed — Open your site on your own phone. Does it look intentional — or broken? Check on both iOS and Android if possible. Test every page, not just the homepage.
• PageSpeed score above 70 on mobile — Test at pagespeed.web.dev. A score below 70 means slow loading, which hurts both user experience and Google rankings.
• No noindex tags on live pages — In your page source (right-click > View Page Source), search for "noindex". If you find it on any page meant to be public, remove it before launch.
• All links work — Click every button, every navigation link, every CTA. Broken links frustrate visitors and signal poor quality to Google.
• Every page has a unique title tag — The title tag appears in Google results. It should be under 60 characters, include your main keyword and your city. Not "Home" — "Web Designer Tacoma WA | AVENiD".
• Every page has a meta description — Under 155 characters, describes what the page is about. This is what people read before clicking your link in Google. Write it like a mini ad.
• Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console — Go to search.google.com/search-console, verify your domain, and submit your sitemap (usually /sitemap.xml). This tells Google to start indexing your site.
• Google Business Profile is live and linked — Your GBP should list the same URL as your website. Inconsistency between your site and GBP confuses Google about your location.
• Contact form actually sends emails — Fill out your own contact form and verify the message arrives. Test from a different email address than the one receiving it. This fails more often than you'd think.
• Phone number is clickable on mobile — Phone numbers on mobile should launch the dialer when tapped. If someone has to manually copy and paste your number, most won't bother.
• Every page has a visible CTA — What do you want visitors to do? Make sure there's a button or link telling them — on every page, above the fold if possible.

SEO checks

Contact and conversion checks