Why this checklist exists
Most small business websites launch with at least 3-5 critical things missing. Sometimes it's accessibility compliance. Sometimes it's GDPR-required cookie banners. Sometimes it's basic security like SSL or proper backups. Sometimes it's SEO foundations that mean Google never finds the site at all.
The problem isn't agencies cutting corners (mostly). It's that there are roughly 50 things that need to be right at launch, and small business owners don't know what they don't know.
This checklist fixes that. Print it, share it with your developer, and tick off every item before you go live.
If you're reading this because you've decided it's time for a new site, make sure you also read our 12 signs your business needs a website redesign — some of those signs aren't fixable with a relaunch alone.
Phase 1: Pre-Launch Foundations
Domain & Email
- Domain purchased in your business name (not your developer's)
- Auto-renewal enabled (a lapsed domain takes weeks to recover)
- DNS records documented somewhere only you can access
- Professional email addresses set up (yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk, not Gmail)
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records configured (prevents your emails from being marked as spam)
Hosting
- UK-based hosting selected (better speed for UK customers, simpler GDPR)
- SSL certificate installed (https:// with the padlock — Let's Encrypt is free)
- Daily automatic backups configured
- Backups stored OFFSITE (not just on the same server)
- You have direct access to your hosting account, not just your developer
If you haven't chosen hosting yet, or you're on something slow/unreliable, read our honest guide to the best UK web hosts for small businesses before committing. The wrong host will undo half the things on this checklist.
Legal Requirements (UK)
- Privacy Policy written and published
- Terms & Conditions published
- Cookie Policy published
- Cookie consent banner installed (GDPR/PECR requirement)
- Company registration number on website if Limited Company
- VAT number on website if VAT-registered
- Registered office address on website if Limited Company
UK GDPR is non-negotiable and the ICO actively enforces it. Our GDPR compliance guide for UK business websites covers exactly what each of these items needs to contain — the difference between a compliant Privacy Policy and a template copy-paste one is significant, and the ICO specifically flags vague policies.
Phase 2: Design & Content
Branding
- Logo in correct format (SVG ideal, PNG with transparent background as fallback)
- Favicon created and uploaded (the small icon in browser tabs)
- Apple touch icon (for when people save your site to phone home screens)
- Brand colours defined and applied consistently
- Brand fonts loaded properly (web-safe fallbacks set if using custom fonts)
Content
- All page content proofread (twice — by different people)
- No "lorem ipsum" placeholder text anywhere
- All "[CLIENT NAME]" placeholders replaced
- Phone number, email, and address consistent across every page
- Real photos used where possible (not just stock photos)
- All images compressed for web (under 200KB each ideally)
- All images have descriptive alt text (accessibility + SEO)
- Contact information visible on every page (header or footer)
Pages You Probably Need
- Homepage
- About page
- Services or Products pages
- Contact page with multiple contact methods
- Privacy Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Cookie Policy
- Thank you / confirmation pages for forms
Phase 3: Functionality
Forms
- Every form tested and confirmed to deliver to a real, monitored inbox
- Spam protection (reCAPTCHA, honeypot, or Cloudflare Turnstile)
- Confirmation message after submission ("Thank you, we'll respond within 24 hours")
- Email notification sent to admin
- Auto-responder confirmation sent to customer (optional but professional)
- Required fields marked clearly
- Mobile-friendly input types used (email keyboard for emails, etc.)
Navigation
- Main menu works on desktop
- Main menu works on mobile (hamburger menu)
- Footer menu present with key links
- All navigation links tested — no broken links
- Logo links back to homepage
- Phone number is click-to-call on mobile (
<a href="tel:...">) - Email is click-to-email (
<a href="mailto:...">)
Interactive Elements
- All buttons go where they should
- All accordions, sliders, modals, tabs tested on mobile
- Any video content has captions or transcripts (accessibility)
- Embedded maps load correctly
- Social media icons link to your actual profiles (not placeholder #)
Phase 4: SEO Foundations
On-Page SEO
- Every page has a unique meta title (50-60 characters)
- Every page has a unique meta description (140-160 characters)
- Every page has a clear H1 heading
- Heading hierarchy correct (H1 > H2 > H3, no skipping levels)
- All images have descriptive alt text including target keywords where relevant
- URL structure clean and readable (
/about-usnot/page?id=23) - Internal linking between related pages
Technical SEO
- XML sitemap generated and accessible at
/sitemap.xml - robots.txt file present and not accidentally blocking the whole site
- Canonical tags set correctly (prevents duplicate content)
- Schema.org structured data added (LocalBusiness minimum)
- Open Graph tags set for social sharing
- Twitter Card tags set
- 404 page customised (not the default ugly one)
- 301 redirects configured if migrating from old site
Search Console
- Google Search Console verified
- Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
- Bing Webmaster Tools verified
- Sitemap submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools
Phase 5: Performance & Accessibility
Speed
- PageSpeed Insights score above 80 on mobile
- PageSpeed Insights score above 90 on desktop
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) under 2.5 seconds
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) under 0.1
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint) under 200ms
- All images lazy-loaded below the fold
- CSS and JS minified
- Browser caching configured
These speed metrics aren't optional — Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. If any of the above scores are failing, read our Core Web Vitals guide for UK small businesses which covers exactly what to fix and in what order.
Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA — UK legal requirement for many businesses)
- All text has sufficient colour contrast (use WebAIM contrast checker)
- Site fully navigable by keyboard (Tab through every page)
- All interactive elements have visible focus states
- Form inputs have associated labels
- No images of text (use real text styled with CSS)
- Skip-to-content link for screen reader users
Mobile
- Looks correct on iPhone (Safari)
- Looks correct on Android (Chrome)
- Looks correct on iPad
- All buttons are at least 44x44 pixels (Apple's recommended tap target size)
- No horizontal scrolling on any device
- Forms are easy to complete on mobile
Phase 6: Tracking & Analytics
- Google Analytics 4 installed and tested
- Cookie consent properly delays Analytics until consent given
- Google Tag Manager installed (if needed)
- Conversion tracking configured for forms and key actions
- Microsoft Clarity or Hotjar installed for behavioural analytics (optional)
- UTM parameters used in your marketing campaigns
Phase 7: Cross-Browser Testing
Test the entire site on:
- Chrome (most common)
- Safari (iOS users)
- Firefox (some technical users)
- Edge (Windows default)
Ideally test on:
- Latest iOS (iPhone)
- Latest Android
- iPad / large tablet
- Older browser versions (some customers still use these)
Phase 8: Pre-Launch Final Checks
24 Hours Before Launch
- Final content review by business owner
- Test all forms one more time, deliver to correct inbox
- Test all phone numbers, email links, social links
- Take a final backup of your old site (if migrating)
- Document old URLs that need 301 redirects to new pages
Launch Day
- Update DNS records to point to new hosting
- Verify SSL certificate active on live domain
- Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console
- Test the site again on the live domain (not staging)
- Submit homepage URL for indexing in Search Console
First Week After Launch
- Monitor Search Console for errors
- Check Google Analytics is collecting data
- Check forms are still being delivered
- Monitor server uptime
- Watch for any 404 errors and fix them
Phase 9: Marketing & Promotion
- Update your email signature with the new website
- Update your business cards with the new URL
- Announce launch on social media
- Email your existing customer list about the new site
- Update your Google Business Profile with the new website URL
- Update all directory listings with the new URL
- Update your LinkedIn company page
Once the site is live, the real work begins — ranking. For service businesses and tradesmen, our local SEO guide for Derby businesses walks through the ranking playbook step by step.
Phase 10: Ongoing Maintenance Setup
- WordPress / Shopify auto-updates enabled (or scheduled monthly check)
- Plugin auto-updates enabled (or scheduled monthly check)
- SSL certificate auto-renewal verified
- Domain auto-renewal verified
- Backup verification scheduled (test that a backup actually restores)
- Monthly performance check scheduled
- Quarterly accessibility audit scheduled
- Annual SEO audit scheduled
What happens if you skip the checklist?
We've taken on dozens of "rescue" projects from UK businesses whose previous launches missed critical items. The most common consequences:
- Forms silently failing for 6+ months — leads going to a dead inbox, no idea why business is slow
- GDPR fines — up to 4% of annual turnover for serious breaches
- Site hacked — average UK SME spends £8,460 recovering from a successful cyberattack
- Google never indexed the site — invisible in search for months
- Lost rankings during migration — old site ranked #1, new site nowhere to be found
A proper launch isn't optional. It's the difference between a website that works and an expensive liability.
Need help launching properly?
Webgenix has been launching websites for UK businesses since 2020. Every project we deliver follows a launch checklist similar to this one — every box ticked before we go live, with written confirmation provided.
Want to know what a project like yours will cost? Try our free website cost calculator or read our honest Derby web design pricing guide.
Or request a free written quote and we'll come back within 24 hours.
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