Website launch checklist: 20 checks before you go live

Before you hit „publish", check these 20 points: the site opens fast on a phone, has an SSL certificate (the green padlock), every form delivers messages to a real address, the copy has no typos, and Google can find you. A site launched right brings you clients in the first week; a rushed one loses visitors before they get a chance to call.

We built the checklist below in the exact order that we at MPO Web Studio check every project before handover. Tick everything off. If a single point stays red, postpone launch by a day — it costs less than fixing it after your first visitors have already seen it.

Mobile and speed (checks 1–5)

Most of your visitors open you on a phone. If it looks bad or loads slowly there, nothing else matters.

• 1. Open the site on your own phone, not just your laptop. Are the buttons easy to tap? Is the text readable without zooming?
• 2. Nothing spills off the screen. Make sure there's no horizontal scroll bar on mobile (a classic sign of a broken layout).
• 3. Images are optimized. A background photo shouldn't weigh 8 MB. Compress them before uploading.
• 4. The homepage loads in a few seconds. Test with a free tool like Google's PageSpeed Insights and fix whatever is red.
• 5. The menu works on mobile. Open the hamburger, tap every link, confirm it takes you where it should.

SSL and security (checks 6–8)

Without the green padlock, the browser shows „Not secure" — and you lose the person instantly.

• 6. The SSL certificate is active. The address starts with https:// and the padlock appears. On a new site with modern hosting it's usually automatic — but check.
• 7. Everything loads over https. No old images or scripts on http (they trigger a „mixed content" warning).
• 8. The admin panel has a strong password. Change any default password and turn on two-step authentication if the platform allows it.

Content and SEO (checks 9–13)

This is where it's decided whether Google shows you and whether the visitor trusts you.

• 9. Zero spelling mistakes. Read every page out loud once. Typos erode trust more than you'd think.
• 10. Every page has a title and description (meta title & meta description). They're what people see in Google before they click.
• 11. Images have alt text. It helps accessibility and SEO.
• 12. One single H1 per page and a logical heading structure (H2, H3). It helps both the reader and search engines.
• 13. Internal links point where they should. If you have local content, link it to useful guides — for example local SEO, how to get Google reviews, what a Google Business Profile is and how much a website costs.

Tested forms (checks 14–16)

A form that doesn't deliver is a hole your clients leak through. It happens more often than you'd imagine.

• 14. Send a test message through every form. Fill it out like a real client and hit „send".
• 15. Confirm the message arrives. Check the inbox — and the spam folder. If it doesn't arrive, no one will tell you.
• 16. The person gets a confirmation. After sending, do they see a „thank you" message or receive an email? Otherwise they'll assume it failed and leave.

Google Business Profile and Analytics (checks 17–18)

For a local business, this is where most new clients are won.

• 17. Google Business Profile is connected and correct. Name, address, phone and website link — identical to the ones on the site. Details in our guide on what a Google Business Profile is.
• 18. You have an analytics tool installed (for example Google Analytics). Without it you don't know how many people visit or where they come from — so you don't know what to improve.

Legal pages (checks 19–20)

They're not glamorous, but their absence can cost you. In Romania they're expected by both visitors and the law.

• 19. A privacy policy and cookie policy exist and are linked in the footer. If you collect data through a form, you need them (GDPR).
• 20. Contact details are visible. Phone, email and, where relevant, the company address — easy to find on every page.

Table: priority of the checks

If you're in a hurry, handle the „critical" ones first.

What it costs to launch right

If you'd rather not go through the list on your own, we'll do it. Here are our price ranges, transparently:

We hand over each site only after all 20 points are ticked. No empty promises, no „number 1 on Google" — just a site that loads fast, looks good on a phone and brings real messages to your inbox.

Got a site that's almost ready and want a second pair of eyes before launch? Message us on WhatsApp: wa.me/40750257140. We'll go through the checklist together.