A Website Launch Checklist for Small Businesses

01

Read it like a customer

Go through every page and read the words out loud. You'll catch typos your eyes skip over. Compare names, addresses, phone numbers and opening hours against the real ones. Look for leftover placeholder text and sample photos. Make sure each image has a short description, which helps people using screen readers and helps search engines too.

02

Click everything

Every menu item, every button, every link. Then fill in the contact form and check the message turns up in the right inbox. This is the one that gets missed most often, and a form that quietly fails costs you real enquiries without anyone noticing. Also check that phone numbers and email addresses can be tapped on a phone.

03

Try it on a phone

Open the site on at least one phone as well as a computer. Is the text readable without zooming? Are the buttons easy to hit with a thumb? Do the pages load quickly, or is a giant photo holding things up?

04

Security and the legal bits

The site should load with https and the padlock. If you collect any personal data, through a form or through analytics, you'll want a privacy policy, and a cookie choice if you use tracking. The rules differ by country, so check the ones that apply to you.

05

Search and tracking

Give each page a clear title and a short description. Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console, set up analytics so you can see what people actually do, and add your new web address to your Google Business Profile.

06

After you launch

Look at the live site again the next day, with fresh eyes. Put the address in your email signature and on your cards and social profiles. And don't treat launch as the finish line. The first few weeks of real visitors will tell you more than any amount of planning.

Common questions