A website redesign is one of the most impactful investments a business can make - and one of the easiest to botch at the finish line. This checklist covers 25 essential items to verify before you hit publish, organized from strategy through technical QA.
Strategy & Content
- 1. Define success metrics - What KPIs will you track? Conversion rate, bounce rate, time on page, form submissions? Decide before launch so you have a baseline
- 2. Finalize all copy - No Lorem Ipsum on launch day. Every page, button, error message, and footer link should contain final, proofread copy
- 3. Verify CTAs - Every page should have a clear call-to-action. Test that all CTA buttons link to the correct destination
- 4. Map redirects - If URLs are changing, set up 301 redirects from every old URL to its new equivalent. Missing redirects = lost SEO equity and broken bookmarks
- 5. Check legal pages - Privacy policy, terms of service, cookie consent. Updated and compliant with current regulations (GDPR, CCPA)
SEO
- 6. Unique title tags - Every page needs a unique, descriptive title tag (50-60 characters)
- 7. Meta descriptions - Compelling descriptions on every page (150-160 characters). These are your search ad copy
- 8. Heading hierarchy - One H1 per page. Logical H2/H3 structure. No skipped heading levels
- 9. Image alt text - All informative images have descriptive alt attributes
- 10. XML sitemap - Generated and submitted to Google Search Console
- 11. Canonical tags - Set on every page to prevent duplicate content issues
- 12. Structured data - Implement relevant schema markup (Organization, FAQPage, Article, Product)
Performance
- 13. Page speed - Test with Google PageSpeed Insights. Aim for 90+ on mobile
- 14. Image optimization - Compress all images. Use WebP format. Implement lazy loading for below-the-fold images
- 15. Minify assets - CSS and JavaScript should be minified in production
- 16. Enable caching - Set appropriate cache headers for static assets (images, fonts, CSS, JS)
- 17. CDN - Consider a CDN for global performance if you serve international audiences
Functionality
- 18. Test all forms - Submit every form. Verify emails are received, confirmation messages display, and error handling works
- 19. Cross-browser testing - Test on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge at minimum
- 20. Mobile responsiveness - Test on real devices, not just browser DevTools. Check phones and tablets in both orientations
- 21. Broken links - Run a link checker tool. Fix or redirect every 404
Accessibility
- 22. Keyboard navigation - Navigate the entire site using only Tab, Enter, and Escape keys
- 23. Contrast ratios - All text meets WCAG 2.1 AA contrast requirements (4.5:1 minimum)
- 24. Screen reader testing - Test critical flows with VoiceOver (Mac) or NVDA (Windows)
Analytics & Monitoring
- 25. Analytics setup - Install and verify Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and any other tracking tools. Set up conversion goals and event tracking before launch, not after
Pro Tip: Soft Launch First
Consider a soft launch to a small audience (existing customers, team members) 48-72 hours before the public launch. This catches issues that testing alone can't - real users always find things you missed.
Conclusion
A website launch is a beginning, not an ending. But starting from a strong, thoroughly tested foundation means you can focus post-launch energy on optimization and growth rather than firefighting bugs. Print this checklist, work through it methodically, and launch with confidence.