Website launch checklist.

Most new websites go live with at least one invisible problem: a contact form that submits to a dead address, a mobile layout that breaks at a specific screen size, a page title that just says "Home," or a Google Business Profile that still lists the old address from three years ago. None of these show up when you preview the site on your own laptop. They show up when a potential customer tries to contact you and can't.

This checklist covers the 10 categories that account for 90% of launch-day problems. Work through them before you send the link to anyone.

§ 01 — Does every contact form actually work?

Submit every form on the site using a real email address you can check. Verify that the submission goes through, the confirmation message appears on screen, and you receive the notification at the right inbox. Then check your spam folder — a misconfigured form mailer often lands there.

A broken contact form is the most expensive launch problem because it is invisible. Your analytics will show traffic. Your calendar will stay empty. You will spend weeks wondering why no one is calling before you discover the form has been sending to an address that no longer exists.

§ 02 — Does the site look right on a real phone?

Open the site on an actual mobile device — not a browser resize or a developer tools simulation. Navigate to every main page: home, services or about, contact. Look for text that runs off the edge, images that overflow their containers, buttons that are too small to tap, and menus that do not open or close correctly.

More than half of local service business searches happen on a phone. A site that looks fine on your desktop and breaks on mobile is not ready to launch.

§ 03 — Is your primary call to action visible without scrolling on mobile?

On a phone, open your homepage and do not scroll. Can a visitor immediately see what you offer and how to contact you? If your call to action is buried below the fold on mobile, most visitors will leave before they reach it.

The fix is usually moving your phone number or contact button higher on the page, or making your mobile header include a direct contact link. A visitor who has to scroll three screens to find your phone number is already less confident you are easy to work with.

§ 04 — Does the site load in under 3 seconds on mobile?

Go to PageSpeed Insights and enter your homepage URL. Check the mobile score. A score below 70 indicates a problem worth fixing before launch. Common causes: uncompressed images, too many third-party scripts loading on page load, or a large CSS file blocking render.

A slow site not only loses visitors — it actively hurts your search rankings. Google uses page speed as a ranking signal, and mobile page speed specifically influences how well you rank in local mobile searches.

§ 05 — Are your page titles and meta descriptions set correctly?

Open each page in a browser and check the tab label. It should describe what the page is about, not just say "Home" or your business name. For a service business, your homepage title should include your service type and city — for example, "Custom Website Design — Seattle, WA | JalenBuilds."

Meta descriptions do not directly affect rankings, but they control what appears in Google search results below your link. A blank or auto-generated meta description is a missed opportunity to tell a potential customer why they should click your result instead of the one above or below it.

§ 06 — Is your business name, phone number, and city in the footer?

Scroll to the bottom of your homepage. Your business name, phone number, and city and state should appear in text — not buried in an image, not hidden behind a "contact us" link. This gives Google a consistent local signal on every page of your site, and it gives mobile visitors an immediate way to call you from any page.

If your footer has a copyright notice and nothing else, you are missing one of the simplest local SEO signals available. Five lines of text in the footer costs nothing and helps search engines confirm where your business is located.

§ 07 — Is Google Search Console set up and your sitemap submitted?

Before you launch, go to Google Search Console, add your website as a property, and verify ownership. Then submit your sitemap URL — typically yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. This tells Google your site exists and where to find all your pages.

Without Search Console, you are flying blind after launch. You will not know whether Google can find your pages, which search queries are sending people to your site, or whether any pages have indexing errors. Setting it up before launch means data starts accumulating from day one.

§ 08 — Does every link on the site go somewhere?

Click every link in your main navigation, your footer, and any call-to-action buttons. Check that they open the correct page, not a 404 error or a draft page that was not meant to go live. Pay particular attention to links you copied from an old version of the site.

A dead link in the main navigation tells visitors your site is not maintained. A 404 on a service page tells Google that page is gone. Neither is the message you want to send on day one.

§ 09 — Is your Google Business Profile updated to match the new site?

If your website URL, phone number, or address changed as part of this launch, update your Google Business Profile immediately. Google uses the match between your website and your Business Profile as a local trust signal. Inconsistencies — different phone numbers, old website URL, different city spelling — can delay your local search visibility after launch.

Also check that your business hours, service category, and description are current. A Business Profile that says you are only open Monday to Thursday when you now take calls seven days a week is costing you leads from people who check hours before calling.

§ 10 — Do you have a plan for what you will check in the first 30 days?

Most launch checklists stop at go-live. The problems that actually cost you revenue often appear in the first few weeks: a form that worked during testing but breaks under real traffic, a mobile layout that only fails on a specific Android browser, a blog post that got indexed before you finished editing it.

Set a 30-day reminder to check: Google Search Console for indexing errors, your form inbox for missed submissions, your Google Business Profile for new reviews that need a response, and your site speed score to confirm nothing changed. A launch is not done when the site goes live — it is done when the monitoring loop is in place.

How to score your results

Count the checks that revealed a gap:

• 0–2 gaps: Your site is ready to launch. The most important next step is getting your first real visitor as fast as possible — tell your existing customers, share the link, and start building awareness. The data you collect in the first 30 days is more valuable than any additional pre-launch polish.
• 3–5 gaps: Fix checks 1 (forms), 2 (mobile layout), and 6 (footer contact info) before you send the link anywhere. The rest can ship with you — they affect your long-term search visibility more than your launch-day conversion rate.
• 6+ gaps: The site needs another pass before it goes live. Prioritize anything that stops a visitor from contacting you — broken forms, missing phone number, no call to action above the fold. Those are the gaps that cost you money immediately. SEO gaps cost you money over months.

Common questions

When is a website ready to launch?

A website is ready to launch when every contact form submits and sends a confirmation, every page loads under 3 seconds on mobile, your business name and phone number appear in the footer, your page titles describe what you do and where you do it, and Google Search Console is set up to receive your sitemap. A site that misses any of these is live but not ready to generate leads.

What should I check before going live with my website?

Before going live, check: all contact forms submit and send a confirmation email; mobile layout renders correctly on a real phone; page speed is above 70 on Google PageSpeed Insights; your primary call to action is visible without scrolling on mobile; your business name, phone number, and city appear in the footer; your page titles include your service type and location; and Google Search Console is connected with your sitemap submitted.

How do I submit my new website to Google?

Go to search.google.com/search-console and add your website as a property. Verify ownership using the HTML file method or a DNS TXT record — your domain registrar can walk you through the DNS method. Once verified, go to the Sitemaps section and submit your sitemap URL, typically yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Google will begin crawling your site within a few days.

Do I need Google Analytics before launch?

Google Search Console is more important than Analytics before launch. Search Console tells you whether Google can find and index your pages, which is the foundation for any future traffic. If you want simple traffic data without GA4's complexity, tools like Plausible or Fathom install in under 5 minutes and show you the numbers that actually matter — pageviews, top pages, and referral sources.

What is a self-footprint audit and why does it matter after launch?

A self-footprint audit reviews how your business appears across all public discovery surfaces: your website, Google Business Profile, local directories, review platforms, and social profiles. After a launch — especially if your address, phone number, or website URL changed — it matters because inconsistencies between your new site and your Google Business Profile or directory listings undercut the local search signals your new site is trying to build.