Facts and enquiries
Incorrect claims or prices, a failed form, a broken booking route or a payment problem need attention before visitors are sent to the site.
Before you call it live
Website launch checklist for a small business.
The design can look finished while an enquiry goes nowhere, an old link breaks or a missing page pretends to be the homepage. Use this checklist before launch and again on the live domain. It focuses on what a business owner can verify and what a provider should be able to demonstrate.
Decide what stops the launch
Fix the route to the customer first.
A small wording improvement can wait if necessary. A contact form that loses messages or a domain you cannot control needs fixing before launch. Ask the provider to show you what happens on the live website, so you can see that the important parts work.
- Open the live page
Use the public address on a phone. Follow the same service and contact links a customer would.
- Send a labelled test
Agree it with the receiving team. Complete the actual form and check the message shown.
- Find the saved request
Check the record or receiving inbox. A thank-you screen on its own is not enough.
- Check the reply route
Confirm someone can identify the enquiry, see the supplied details and reply to the test address.
Keep the date, page address and result in the launch record below. Do the same for a booking or payment route where the agreed website includes one.
Domain and old links
For a replacement site, check the domain, business email and the old URLs that people already use. A working homepage does not prove the move is safe.
Search reporting
Check crawl access and the sitemap when the site is live. Search Console can take time to update, so separate a live technical check from a delayed report.
A working launch sheet
Ten checks you can actually run.
Record what you checked, what happened and what needs attention. Keep a copy to review with your website provider. The record stays in this browser where storage is available; downloads do not send it to UpOnUp.
Keep a copy you can share. Use this page or start with a blank file. No sign-up needed.
Your record, ready to keep
Issues and unchecked items come first. These are your recorded observations, not automated test results or approval to launch.
CSV files use a safety prefix for text a spreadsheet could interpret as a formula. The TXT record retains your exact entered text. Downloads do not send this record to UpOnUp.
For a redesign, first list the old pages and where each should lead on the new site. Our redesign checklist goes into that mapping; our provider handover guide covers domain, DNS and email access. If responsibilities have not been agreed, the RFP launch-responsibility sheet helps you name who does and approves each part.
A real issue on this site
The page looked fine. The status was wrong.
When we tested the first UpOnUp deployment, a made-up URL showed the homepage and returned HTTP 200, the status for a successful page. A visitor could be confused, and a search engine would not receive a clear missing-page signal.
We added a designed 404 page and checked that invented and retired addresses now return HTTP 404. We also checked that the real homepage and service pages still return 200. That is a launch check, not a claim that the site has earned a ranking.
What “search ready” should meanBEFORE THE FIX200
Missing URL returned the homepage
AFTER THE FIX404
Missing URL clearly says page not found
Test a URL you know does not exist. The page shown and the HTTP response both matter.
The week after publication
Launch is a handover, not the last test.
Once the website is live, agree who will watch it and report any problems. A brand-new site needs its pages and enquiries checked; a replacement also needs attention to the old links and services people were already using.
Test where visitors arrive.
Open the live domain on a phone and a desktop. Follow a service route, submit the actual enquiry form and check receipt. For a replacement site, open several old links rather than only the homepage.
Read the current signals.
Check Search Console's latest crawl and sitemap dates, review errors, and ask whether enquiries reach the team. A sitemap submission is a discovery hint, not proof that Google has indexed every page.
Improve what people need.
Look for real search questions and real customer questions. Strengthen pages that answer them incompletely. Do not add near-identical pages just to increase a site count.
Google explains that a real missing page should return 404 or 410, a moved page should redirect to a relevant replacement, and a crawl request does not guarantee indexing. Read its crawl error guidance, site move guidance and recrawl guidance.