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Website Launch Checklist
The launch date is Thursday, and the list of 'just one more thing' keeps growing. This five-step checklist gets a site live without the 2am surprises: a content freeze, a real stakeholder review, and a rollback you never have to improvise.
Use it on this page, copy it as Markdown, or import the .docx into Google Docs or Notion.
Free checklist · 5 steps · Works with any stack
Website launch checklist
- 1
Freeze scope and finish content
A launch date without a content freeze is a suggestion.
- Goal
- Every page that ships has final content, and nothing new joins the launch.
- Owner
- Project lead
- Set the launch date and work back from it: content freeze, review round, go/no-go call.
- Replace every piece of placeholder text and imagery. Search the build for 'lorem' to be sure.
- Click every link and submit every form, including the 404 page and the form error states.
- Freeze scope: new ideas go on a post-launch list, not into the launch.
Critical: Put the go/no-go call at least 48 hours before launch, not on launch morning. The launch-morning version has only one possible answer, and it is the one that ships broken.
Done when: A frozen build where every page, link, and form works with final content.
- 2
SEO, analytics, and redirects
Launch day is the wrong day to discover noindex.
- Goal
- The site can be found, indexed, and measured from day one.
- Owner
- Developer or SEO lead
- Remove the noindex tag and the staging robots.txt rules from the production build.
- Check every page has a unique title and meta description, and set canonical URLs.
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console and confirm analytics fires on the production domain.
- Map a 301 redirect for every old URL that had traffic or backlinks.
Critical: The two classic launch killers are the noindex tag that stays and the redirects that never come. One hides the new site, the other throws away the rankings the old site earned. Check both twice.
Done when: Indexed pages, firing analytics, and a redirect map covering every old URL.
- 3
Performance, mobile, and accessibility
Nobody meets your new site through a 12-second load.
- Goal
- The site is fast and usable on the devices your visitors actually hold.
- Owner
- Developer
- Run Lighthouse or PageSpeed on the key pages. Fix images first, they usually are the problem.
- Walk the main flows on a real phone, not a resized browser window.
- Cover the accessibility basics: alt text, contrast, focus states, form labels.
- Test the top three browsers your analytics say your audience uses.
Done when: Key pages load fast on mobile, and the main flows work on real devices.
- 4
Stakeholder review on staging
The last round before launch, on the real build.
- Goal
- Every sign-off stakeholder has seen the launch build, and every comment is resolved.
- Owner
- Project lead
- Share the staging build with every sign-off stakeholder, with a deadline 48 to 72 hours out.
- State the silence rule: no comment by the deadline counts as approval.
- Collect feedback as anchored comments on the staging site, one comment per issue, each with a status.
- Resolve every comment: fixed, or answered with a reason. Zero open comments at go/no-go.
Critical: Get sign-off on the build, not on screenshots. The stakeholder who approved a PDF mockup owes you nothing when the live page renders differently on their laptop.
Recommended toolSimple Commenter
Stakeholders comment on the staging site from an invite link, with no accounts and no browser extension, and it works behind basic auth and on preview deploys. Any tool works here as long as comments are anchored and trackable.
Running this round in detail? Use the staging site client review checklist.
Done when: A written go from every stakeholder, and zero open comments.
- 5
Launch and the first 48 hours
The launch is not the deploy, it is the 48 hours after.
- Goal
- The site is live, monitored, and rollback is one decision away.
- Owner
- Developer
- Deploy, then re-run the link and form pass on the production domain.
- Verify DNS and SSL, and that www and non-www resolve to one canonical domain.
- Watch analytics, Search Console, and error logs for the first 48 hours.
- Keep the old site restorable until the new one has survived a full week.
Critical: Decide the rollback steps before you deploy. The teams that restore in ten minutes wrote those steps before launch night, not during it.
Done when: A live site with clean logs, watched for 48 hours, and a written rollback path.
The checklist is tool-agnostic on purpose. Step four recommends Simple Commenter because that is the step we build for, and it starts free.
The checklist is process guidance, not legal advice.
The launch week, on a calendar
Every step in the checklist has a place in the week. Work backwards from the launch date and the deadlines set themselves.
T-7 days
Content freeze
Final text and imagery in, scope locked. New ideas start the post-launch list.
T-5 days
Review round opens
Stakeholders get the staging link with a 48 to 72 hour deadline and the silence rule.
T-2 days
Go/no-go call
Zero open comments, SEO checks green, rollback steps written. Only then is it a go.
T-0
Launch
Deploy, re-run the link and form pass on production, verify DNS, SSL, and analytics.
T+48 hours
Watch
Analytics, Search Console, and error logs stay open. The old site stays restorable.
The stakeholder round without the email chaos
The riskiest step in any launch is the one that runs through inboxes. Feedback arrives as screenshots, half of it describes the wrong page, and the approval lives in a reply somewhere. Collecting comments on the staging site itself closes all three gaps: every comment is anchored to the element it means, carries a status, and the final go is written down.
The full round has its own walkthrough in the staging site client review checklist, and the client side of the flow is covered at client feedback without logins.
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@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Simple. Effective. Game Changer
@Dsouldiva
Finally, a feedback tool my clients actually enjoy
@craigfenton
A Game-Changer for Web Feedback – Worth Every Penny!
@ryanbarilla
The tool I've been searching for
@alexs89
Simple, yet ingenious
@koen.kerkvliet
Great feedback app and so easy to use!
@iamvictor
Hidden Gem
@greg319
Fantastic tool for working with clients
@devdbydesign
An Essential Tool for Enhancing Communication with Clients
@Fiorenzomi
Great product!
@gramir
Very useful product and excellent support
@Ulrich86098
Simple Commenter has changed the way I work
@Jim Langman
Deserves +1000 tacos
@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Frequently asked questions
Launch the next site with the checklist
Grab the checklist above, and when the stakeholder round comes, Simple Commenter starts free. Reviewers comment on the staging site from a link, you track every comment to done.
No credit card required.
Related reading: the staging site review checklist, client feedback without logins, or the website feedback tool.