Website Launch Pre-Go-Live Checklist: 30 Essential Points
Why You Need a Pre-Launch Checklist
Every website launch carries risk. A broken contact form, a missing meta tag, or a forgotten 301 redirect can cost you rankings, leads, or revenue. This checklist covers every critical area — technical SEO, performance, security, content, and analytics — so you go live with confidence.
Content & Copy
- All placeholder text (Lorem Ipsum) replaced with real content
- All pages spell-checked in every language
- Contact information correct on all pages
- Privacy policy and legal notices up to date
- 404 error page customized with navigation links
Technical SEO
- Unique meta title and meta description on every page (50-60 chars / 150-160 chars)
- Canonical tags correctly set, no self-referencing issues
- XML sitemap generated and validated at /sitemap.xml
- Robots.txt configured correctly — no important pages blocked
- Hreflang tags correct for multilingual sites
- Structured data (JSON-LD) validated with Google Rich Results Test
- No broken internal links (use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs)
- 301 redirects configured from old URLs to new ones
Performance
- Google PageSpeed Insights score above 80 (mobile and desktop)
- All images compressed and served as WebP
- CSS and JavaScript minified and combined where possible
- Browser caching headers configured (Cache-Control)
- CDN enabled if traffic is international
- LCP under 2.5 seconds, CLS under 0.1, FID/INP under 200ms
Security
- SSL certificate installed and all pages load over HTTPS
- HTTP to HTTPS redirect configured (301)
- Admin passwords changed from defaults
- CMS and all plugins updated to latest version
- Backup system configured and tested
- Security headers set: Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, HSTS
Analytics & Tracking
- Google Analytics 4 installed and receiving data
- Google Search Console property verified and sitemap submitted
- Conversion events tracking correctly (form submissions, calls, purchases)
- Cookie consent banner working and compliant with GDPR
Cross-Browser & Device Testing
- Tested on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
- Tested on iOS Safari and Android Chrome
- All forms submit correctly and send notification emails
- All payment gateways tested in production mode (small test transaction)
Need Help With Your Website Launch?
Amine Aziz offers professional website audit and pre-launch review services for businesses in Morocco and internationally. Contact us for a complete technical review before you go live.
