Website and product planning guide
A practical website launch checklist
The technical, content and ownership checks that should happen before a new website goes live.
A launch is more than moving files to a server. The last review should test the real paths visitors use, confirm who owns the systems behind the site and make sure the team can operate it after release.
01
Check the essential visitor paths
Test the site from a phone and a desktop. Follow the main navigation, search or filtering, forms, sign-in and any central workflow from start to finish. Review empty and error states as well as the happy path.
Use real content in this review. Placeholder text can hide awkward titles, missing fields, weak calls to action and unreadable image crops.
- Navigation and calls to action
- Forms and confirmation messages
- Mobile layout and touch targets
- Images, downloads and external links
- Empty, error and permission states
02
Verify the public technical basics
Confirm the domain and HTTPS work as intended, including redirects between preferred hostnames. Add the correct favicon, page titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, XML sitemap and structured data where relevant.
Analytics or search tools should be configured only with the consent and privacy approach appropriate for the business. Verify that key pages can be discovered and that staging pages are not indexed accidentally.
- Domain, SSL and redirects
- Titles, descriptions and canonical links
- XML sitemap and robots rules
- Structured data where appropriate
- Performance and accessibility checks
03
Make ownership visible
The client should know who controls the domain, hosting, repository, CMS accounts, email delivery and third-party services. Document access and responsibilities without putting secrets into a public handoff file.
Backups, updates and incident handling need a named owner. For a custom Django product, deployment and database recovery matter. For WordPress and Wix, editor roles and the update process matter just as much.
- Account and domain ownership
- Backups and recovery path
- Editor instructions
- Support contacts
- Known limitations and next-phase items
04
Schedule a post-launch check
A final visual review is not the end of quality work. Review forms, logs, search visibility and user feedback after real traffic reaches the site. Make small corrections promptly and separate larger improvements into a planned iteration.
A defined support arrangement keeps routine maintenance from competing with new feature work.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Short answers.
When should launch testing begin?+
Testing should run throughout development. The final checklist verifies that the complete release works on the production configuration.
Should every page have different metadata?+
Important public pages should have titles and descriptions that describe their distinct content and search intent.
What happens after the handoff?+
The project should have a documented owner for updates, backups, fixes and planned improvements.
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Website Support & Maintenance
Practical maintenance for Django, WordPress and Wix websites after launch, with a defined scope and accountable support path.
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