# WEBSITE LAUNCH CHECKLIST

> **Disclaimer — not legal advice.** This template is provided free of charge, as is and with no warranty of any kind, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. It is jurisdiction-neutral: you are responsible for adapting it, for your own legal and tax compliance, and for having a qualified professional in your jurisdiction review it before you rely on it. Full terms: https://trycolo.co/terms-of-use

**Site:** [DOMAIN] | **Client:** [CLIENT NAME] | **Platform:** [PLATFORM] | **Launch date / time:** [DATE, TIME, TIMEZONE]
**Owner:** [YOUR NAME] | **Client approver:** [NAME] | **Rollback plan:** [e.g. restore DNS to old host / restore backup from DATE]

Work through each phase in order. Anything unticked at launch goes in the open items table, with an owner and a date.

---

## Phase 1 — One week before launch

### Content

- [ ] All pages proofread; client has approved final copy in writing on [DATE]
- [ ] Placeholder text, dummy images and test products removed
- [ ] Contact details, prices, opening hours and addresses checked against the client's source
- [ ] Legal pages present and linked: [PRIVACY POLICY / TERMS / COOKIE POLICY / RETURNS] — content supplied by the client
- [ ] Copyright year and business name correct in the footer
- [ ] Favicon and social sharing image set

### Links and navigation

- [ ] Every menu item and footer link tested
- [ ] Internal links point to production URLs, not staging
- [ ] External links open the correct pages
- [ ] Custom 404 page in place and helpful

### Functionality

- [ ] Every form tested: [CONTACT / QUOTE / NEWSLETTER / BOOKING REQUEST]
- [ ] Form notifications go to [CLIENT EMAIL]; autoresponders read correctly
- [ ] Spam protection on forms enabled
- [ ] Checkout tested end to end with a real or test payment: [ ] card [ ] other methods
- [ ] Order and receipt emails checked
- [ ] Site search, filters and integrations working: [LIST]

### Design and devices

- [ ] Tested on mobile, tablet and desktop widths
- [ ] Tested on [CHROME / SAFARI / FIREFOX / EDGE] current versions
- [ ] Images sharp on high-density screens, not stretched or cropped badly
- [ ] Print styles for key pages acceptable (if relevant)

### Performance

- [ ] Images resized and compressed; large images under [N] KB where possible
- [ ] Caching enabled
- [ ] Speed check run on homepage and [2] key pages; results recorded: [SCORES / NOTES]
- [ ] Unused plugins, scripts and fonts removed

### Accessibility basics

- [ ] One H1 per page; headings in logical order
- [ ] Meaningful alt text on informative images; empty alt on decorative ones
- [ ] Text color contrast checked on key templates
- [ ] Site usable with keyboard only: menus, forms, modals
- [ ] Every form field has a visible label
- [ ] Videos have captions where supplied

### SEO basics

- [ ] Unique page titles and meta descriptions on every key page
- [ ] Clean, readable URLs
- [ ] XML sitemap generated
- [ ] Structured data added where relevant: [LOCAL BUSINESS / PRODUCT / ARTICLE]

---

## Phase 2 — The day before

- [ ] **Redirect map** completed: old URL → new URL for every changed page ([N] redirects), set as permanent
- [ ] **Backups:** full backup of the old site and the new site taken and stored at [LOCATION]
- [ ] **DNS plan** written: current records exported; mail records ([MX / SPF / DKIM / DMARC]) copied
- [ ] DNS time-to-live lowered ahead of the change, where possible
- [ ] **Analytics** installed on production; consent banner configured as agreed
- [ ] Search console / webmaster tools access ready for [CLIENT ACCOUNT]
- [ ] Client told the launch time and the expected short disruption, if any

---

## Phase 3 — Launch day

- [ ] Final content freeze confirmed with the client
- [ ] Production site deployed: [METHOD]
- [ ] DNS records updated at [REGISTRAR / DNS PROVIDER] at [TIME]
- [ ] SSL certificate active; site loads on https with and without "www"
- [ ] Non-preferred domain version redirects to the preferred one
- [ ] **Indexing switched on:** robots settings allow search engines on the live domain
- [ ] Sitemap submitted to search console
- [ ] Every form submitted again on the live domain; client confirms receipt
- [ ] Test purchase completed on live (and refunded if real)
- [ ] Redirects tested on [10] sample old URLs
- [ ] Email sending and receiving still works for [CLIENT DOMAIN]
- [ ] Analytics shows live visits
- [ ] Client notified the site is live

---

## Phase 4 — The week after

- [ ] Full crawl for broken links and redirect chains: [DATE]
- [ ] Search console checked for crawl errors on days [2] and [7]
- [ ] Uptime monitoring and automated backups running: [TOOL / HOST FEATURE]
- [ ] Old hosting kept until [DATE], then canceled by [CLIENT / YOU]
- [ ] Speed check repeated on live
- [ ] Client sign-off received on [DATE]
- [ ] Handoff checklist started; final invoice sent

**Launch complete — confirmed by:** ____________________ **Date:** [DATE]

---

## Open items

| # | Item | Owner | Due | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [e.g. Client to supply returns policy text] | [NAME] | [DATE] | [NOTES] |
| 2 | [ITEM] | [NAME] | [DATE] | [NOTES] |

---

### How to use this template

1. Copy it per project and delete lines that do not apply, such as checkout on a brochure site.
2. Start Phase 1 a week out so fixes do not land on launch day.
3. Export mail records before touching DNS, every time.
4. Retest forms and indexing on the live domain, not just staging.
5. Keep the ticked copy with the project records as evidence of what was checked.

*Template provided by Colo (trycolo.co). Not legal advice — review with a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.*