For a completely new website, these issues can slow down growth. For an established website being redesigned or migrated, they can also put existing rankings, traffic and backlinks at risk.
At Lilo, our web design, development and SEO teams treat launch as part of the wider project rather than the final task before a site goes live.
This website launch checklist covers the essential SEO, tracking, performance and conversion checks to make before launch, immediately afterwards and during the first 30 days.
Table of Contents
- Website Launch Checklist at a Glance
- Before Launch: Protect What You Already Have
- Launch Day SEO Checks
- Analytics and Tracking
- SEO and Website Quality
- Performance and Mobile
- Conversion and Lead Generation
- Cookies, Privacy and Consent
- Post-Launch Checks
- New Website vs Website Redesign
- eCommerce Website Launches
- Biggest Website Launch Mistakes
- Planning a New Website?
Website Launch Checklist at a Glance
Before launch
- Benchmark current performance
- Crawl the existing website
- Create a redirect map
- Protect valuable pages and content
- Check the staging environment
Technical SEO
- Remove accidental noindex directives
- Check robots.txt
- Review canonical URLs
- Check the XML sitemap
- Submit the sitemap to Search Console
- Inspect important URLs
- Test redirects
- Check HTTPS
Tracking
- Verify GA4
- Test conversion events
- Check Google Tag Manager
- Test advertising tracking
Website quality
- Crawl the new website
- Review titles and descriptions
- Check heading structure
- Validate structured data
- Test Core Web Vitals
- Test mobile usability
Leads and compliance
- Test forms
- Test calls to action
- Check cookies and privacy
Before Launch: Protect What You Already Have
If you’re replacing an established website, the work you do before launch can be just as important as what happens afterwards.
1. Benchmark Existing Performance
Record your current:
- Organic traffic
- Keyword rankings
- Top landing pages
- Conversions
- Indexed pages
- Important backlinks
This gives you a baseline for comparing performance after launch.
If SEO contributes meaningful traffic or leads, involve your SEO team before development is complete rather than after the new website has already gone live.
2. Crawl the Existing Website
Create a full crawl of the old website before replacing it.
Record URLs, page titles, headings, status codes, canonicals and internal links. This gives you a reference if anything disappears during the migration.
3. Create a Redirect Map
If URLs are changing, map old pages to their most relevant new equivalents.
Avoid redirecting every removed page to the homepage.
Give particular attention to URLs with existing traffic, rankings or backlinks.
This becomes especially important during larger WordPress website redesigns and eCommerce migrations.
4. Protect Valuable Content
Before rewriting or removing an established page, check whether it currently generates rankings, traffic or backlinks.
A cleaner design shouldn’t come at the expense of content that is already performing.
That’s why Lilo approaches SEO-friendly WordPress design as a combination of design, development and search performance.
5. Check Your Staging Website
Staging sites shouldn’t normally appear in search results.
Make sure the development environment hasn’t accidentally been indexed and, just as importantly, make sure restrictions used on staging aren’t carried across to the live website.
Launch Day SEO Checks
6. Remove Accidental Noindex Tags
A leftover noindex directive can prevent an important page from appearing in Google.
Crawl the whole site rather than checking only the homepage.
Google provides guidance on controlling indexing.
7. Check Robots.txt
Check:
yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt
Look for staging rules that may accidentally block crawling.
For example:
User-agent: * Disallow: /
would ask compliant search crawlers not to crawl the site.
See Google’s guidance on robots.txt.
8. Review Canonical URLs
Check that canonical tags:
- Use the live domain
- Use HTTPS
- Point to the correct page
- Don’t reference staging URLs
- Don’t point important pages elsewhere
9. Check the XML Sitemap
Your sitemap should contain canonical, indexable live URLs.
Remove:
- 404 pages
- Redirects
- Staging URLs
- Noindexed pages
See Google’s XML sitemap guidance.
10. Submit the Sitemap to Search Console
Submit the final XML sitemap through Google Search Console.
Then check that Google can process it successfully.
11. Inspect Important URLs
Use Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to check several priority pages, such as:
- Homepage
- Main services
- Important product or category pages
- High-traffic organic pages
Don’t assume a successfully submitted sitemap means every URL is fine.
12. Test Your Redirects
Crawl the old URL list and check for:
- 404 errors
- Incorrect destinations
- Redirect chains
- Redirect loops
Where possible, an old URL should redirect directly to its most relevant replacement.
13. Check HTTPS
Confirm that:
- HTTP redirects to HTTPS
- SSL certificates work
- Internal links use HTTPS
- Images and scripts aren’t loading over insecure connections
Analytics and Tracking
14. Verify Google Analytics 4
Don’t just confirm that GA4 has been installed.
Visit the site and make sure visits are actually being recorded.
15. Test Conversion Events
Test the actions that matter to the business, including:
- Contact forms
- Quote requests
- Phone clicks
- Purchases
- Downloads
- Bookings
Perform the actions yourself and confirm they’re recorded.
16. Check Google Tag Manager
If GTM is used, verify that the correct production container is published and that important tags fire on the intended pages.
17. Test Advertising Tracking
If paid campaigns are running, check Google Ads and other advertising conversion tags before sending significant paid traffic to the new site.
For online stores, this should also include transaction and revenue tracking.
SEO and Website Quality
18. Crawl the New Website
Run a complete crawl after launch.
Look for:
- Broken links
- 404 errors
- Redirected internal links
- Missing titles
- Duplicate titles
- Missing headings
- Incorrect canonicals
- Unexpected noindex pages
- Orphaned pages
The purpose isn’t to achieve a completely warning-free crawl. It’s to understand whether anything important needs fixing.
19. Check Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Important pages should have relevant, unique titles and descriptions.
Pay particular attention to staging titles, duplicated templates and metadata accidentally carried across from the old website.
20. Review Heading Structure
Check that H1, H2 and H3 headings create a logical content structure.
Don’t force keywords into every heading. A useful heading should primarily help the reader understand the section beneath it.
21. Validate Structured Data
Depending on the website, this might include:
- Organisation
- Breadcrumb
- Article
- Product
- LocalBusiness
Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check your implementation.
Performance and Mobile
22. Test Core Web Vitals
Test more than just the homepage.
Include representative service, product, category and article pages.
The main Core Web Vitals are:
- LCP: loading performance
- INP: responsiveness
- CLS: visual stability
You can test individual pages using PageSpeed Insights.
23. Test on Real Mobile Devices
A responsive design isn’t automatically a usable mobile website.
Check:
- Navigation
- Buttons
- Forms
- Dropdowns
- Pop-ups
- Cookie banners
- Checkout
- Interactive elements
Mobile testing should form part of the wider web design process, not simply a last-minute check.
Conversion and Lead Generation
24. Submit Every Important Form
Don’t just check that a form appears.
Submit it.
Then confirm:
- The visitor sees a success message
- The enquiry reaches the correct inbox
- The CRM receives it where applicable
- The conversion event fires
- Any confirmation email arrives
Test important forms on both desktop and mobile.
25. Test Every Important CTA
Follow your key user journeys from beginning to end.
Check buttons such as:
- Get a Quote
- Contact Us
- Book a Consultation
- Buy Now
- Add to Basket
- Download
A broken CTA on a high-traffic page can cost considerably more than a minor technical SEO warning.
Check Cookies, Privacy and Consent
For UK websites, cookie consent and privacy shouldn’t be left until after launch.
Check:
- Cookie consent functionality
- Cookie policy
- Privacy policy
- Whether optional tracking waits for consent
- Whether users can change their preferences
Refer to the ICO’s guidance on cookies and similar technologies for current requirements.
Your Website Launch Isn’t Finished on Launch Day
This is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of a website launch checklist.
Once the site is live, you can finally see how search engines and real visitors interact with it.
We recommend reviewing performance after 24–48 hours, seven days and 30 days.
After 24–48 Hours
- GA4 traffic
- Conversions
- Contact forms
- Search Console
- Important redirects
- 404 errors
- Paid campaign tracking
If you’re running an online shop, also confirm that orders, payments and transaction tracking work correctly.
After 7 Days
- Indexing
- Search impressions
- Organic landing pages
- Crawl errors
- Ranking trends
- Analytics
- Conversions
Look for patterns rather than worrying about small movements in individual keyword rankings.
After 30 Days
Compare the new website against your pre-launch benchmark.
- Organic traffic
- Search clicks and impressions
- Rankings
- Leads
- Revenue
- Conversion rate
- Top landing pages
- Indexing issues
A redesign doesn’t have to outperform the old website immediately, but significant or sustained losses should be investigated.
New Website vs Website Redesign
There is an important difference between launching a brand-new site and replacing an established one.
A New Website
Your priority is building strong foundations:
- Crawlability
- Indexability
- Useful content
- Analytics
- Conversion tracking
- Technical SEO
- Clear site architecture
A Website Redesign or Migration
You also need to protect what already exists.
That includes:
- Rankings
- Backlinks
- Organic landing pages
- Indexed content
- Existing authority
This is why migration planning should happen before launch, not after traffic starts falling.
Our WordPress development team works alongside designers and SEO specialists so technical implementation, usability and organic performance are considered together.
What About eCommerce Website Launches?
An eCommerce launch needs additional checks.
Alongside everything above, test:
- Products and categories
- Filters and search
- Prices and stock
- Promotional codes
- Basket functionality
- Checkout
- Payments
- Delivery calculations
- Customer accounts
- Transaction emails
- Product structured data
- Revenue tracking
Lilo designs and develops eCommerce websites across platforms including WooCommerce, Shopify and Magento.
Launching or rebuilding an online shop? Explore our eCommerce development services or speak to the Lilo team.
The Biggest Website Launch Mistakes
Leaving Noindex on the Live Site
The website looks perfect, but Google is being told not to index it.
Forgetting Redirects
Old URLs disappear along with the traffic, links and authority pointing towards them.
Removing Content Without Checking Its SEO Value
A redesign replaces a high-performing page without anyone checking why it ranked.
Installing Analytics Without Testing It
Having tracking code and having working tracking are not the same thing.
Only Testing the Homepage
The homepage can work perfectly while service pages, products or forms are broken.
Treating Launch Day as the Finish Line
Some issues only become visible once Google and real users start interacting with the site.
A Good Website Launch Is About Removing Surprises
A website launch doesn’t need to be flawless.
It does need to be controlled.
You should know where old URLs are going, whether Google can crawl the new site, whether analytics is collecting data and whether enquiries are reaching the right people.
And if you’re replacing an existing website, you should know what performance looked like beforehand so you can quickly identify anything that has gone wrong.
That’s the difference between simply putting a website online and launching it properly.
Planning a New Website?
At Lilo, we bring together web design, WordPress development, eCommerce and SEO so launch isn’t treated as an isolated technical task.
If you’re planning a new website, redesign or migration, get in touch with Lilo.
We’ll help you launch with the right foundations — and make sure the site is ready to perform afterwards.
