Before launching a website, check the words, links, forms, search settings and ownership arrangements as separate tasks. A page can look finished while an enquiry goes nowhere. Give each check an owner, record the result and make sure someone can resolve problems after launch. The checklist should describe evidence, not reassurance.
This is an owner's practical review, not a replacement for the technical work needed for your particular website.
Is the content ready for customers?
Read the important pages without the design conversation in front of you. Can someone tell what you provide, who it is for and how to make contact?
Check service names, prices, contact details and the next-step promises. Confirm that named projects and photographs can be used. Remove drafting notes, demonstration testimonials and claims that have not been verified.
Then follow the site on a phone. Look for headings that break awkwardly, controls that cover text and images that do not load. Make sure information carried by a graphic is also available in words.
Do the links and controls work?
Open the main menu, service links, contact buttons and footer links. Test keyboard navigation as well as the mouse. A dropdown that looks correct is not useful if someone cannot reach its links.
Check the destination, not just the absence of an error. A button can work technically while taking a visitor to the wrong service or an old page.
Record the device, browser, page and problem when reporting a fault. “Contact button goes to the old page on my phone” is actionable; “the website is broken” is not quite there yet.
Does an enquiry reach the right place?
Arrange an authorised test with the people receiving the messages. Use clearly identified test information and follow the agreed cleanup process afterwards.
Check each part of the path:
- The form explains any missing or invalid fields.
- A successful submission gives the visitor a clear confirmation.
- The enquiry reaches the intended recipient or system.
- Any promised acknowledgement arrives.
- The person responsible knows what to do next.
DC Digital's own rebuild treats page checks and enquiry-delivery checks separately. A successful page response does not prove that an email or CRM record was delivered. That distinction belongs in your sign-off too.
What happens to the old website's URLs?
If URLs change, ask for a map from important old pages to their appropriate new destinations. Follow a sample from the old address and confirm where you arrive.
Google's site-move guidance covers URL mapping, redirects and monitoring during a move. Changes should be planned around the actual site, not reduced to sending every old page to the homepage.
Ask whoever owns technical SEO to confirm the production site's indexing settings and sitemap. A staging environment and a public website need different treatment; the launch record should show that the right settings reached the right host.
Who owns the accounts and recovery route?
Confirm who controls the domain, hosting, website administration and relevant analytics accounts. Name the person who can handle an urgent issue. Store recovery information through the agreed secure method.
Ask what is backed up, when the last backup was taken and what restoring it involves. A copy of theme files is different from a database backup. Have the technical owner explain the recovery plan before it is needed.
Keep email changes separate and explicit. Moving a website should not casually alter the records that deliver the business's mail.
What should the launch record contain?
Use a short table with the check, owner, result, evidence and any follow-up. Give unresolved items a clear decision instead of hiding them under “mostly done”.
Agree a post-launch review to revisit important pages, enquiry delivery and the production setup. Keep the original record so later changes can be distinguished from launch problems.
Our website design service treats the build and its checks as connected work. If you are planning a replacement, tell us about the project and the systems it needs to keep working with.