Picture a typical small business in Brisbane that has just finished a new website. The designer sends the link on a Friday afternoon and the owner says go live. By Monday, the contact form has been sending enquiries to an old email address for three days, the phone number in the mobile menu has a typo, and Google is still showing the old site. A simple website launch checklist would have caught all three in under an hour.
This is that checklist. It works whether your site was built by a studio, a freelancer or you on a quiet Sunday.
Why a website launch checklist is worth an hour of your time
Launch day feels like the finish line, but it is the first day customers see the real thing. Mistakes made public cost you enquiries you never knew you lost.
Most launch problems are small and boring: a form that goes nowhere, a page left in draft, a setting that tells Google to stay away. They are also easy to fix when you find them before customers do.
Work through the sections below in order, tick things off as you go, and write down anything that needs fixing rather than fixing it on the spot. You will move faster that way.
Check the content first, because that is where most errors live
Technical gremlins get the attention, but the most common launch mistakes are wording mistakes. Read every page slowly, ideally out loud, and ideally with someone who did not write it.
- Business name, ABN (if you display it), phone number, email and street address are correct on every page, including the footer.
- Opening hours match what you actually do, including public holidays.
- Prices, service areas and starting rates are current. If you show a price range, make sure it reflects today, not 2022.
- No placeholder text, no sample images, no lorem ipsum anywhere.
- Spelling uses Australian English: organisation, colour, enquiry.
- Every page has one clear next step, such as call, book or request a quote.
Common mistake: checking the homepage carefully and skimming the rest. The About page and the footer are where old addresses and wrong names tend to hide.
Test every form, button and phone link like a customer would
Do not just look at your contact form. Fill it in and submit it, then confirm the message arrives in the right inbox and not in spam. Do this with a different email address from the one that receives the enquiries, so you can see what your customer sees as well.
Then work through the rest of the page actions:
Tap every phone number on a mobile. It should open the dialler. Tap every email link. Click every button in the menu and the footer. If you take bookings or payments, make a real test booking and a small real payment, then refund it.
Check what happens after someone submits. Do they see a thank you message that tells them when to expect a reply? A form that goes quiet after the click makes people submit it twice or give up.
Before: the form says Submit and nothing visibly happens. After: it says Thanks, we will reply within one business day, and sends an automatic confirmation email.
Look at the site on a real phone, not just a shrunk browser window
Many of your visitors will arrive on a phone, often while standing in a driveway or waiting in a queue. Pick up your own phone and, if you can, borrow one that is a different brand or a few years older.
Look for these things:
Can you read the text without pinching and zooming? Are buttons big enough to tap with a thumb without hitting the wrong one? Does the menu open and close properly? Does the page jump around while loading? Does the phone number sit somewhere obvious without scrolling?
Try it on mobile data as well as wi-fi. A site that feels quick on your office connection can crawl on one bar of reception. If a page takes a long time to appear, large uncompressed photos are the usual culprit.
Sort the technical basics before you announce anything
This is the part owners tend to leave to the designer, which is fine, as long as someone actually checks. Ask for confirmation on each of these, or check them yourself.
- Secure connection: the address starts with https and the browser shows no security warning on any page.
- Search visibility setting: many website platforms have a setting that discourages search engines while a site is being built. If it is still ticked after launch, your site can stay invisible on Google for weeks.
- Redirects: if your old site had different page addresses, each old address should send visitors to the matching new page. Otherwise old links and search results lead to error pages.
- Page titles and descriptions: each key page has its own title and a short description that mentions what you do and where.
- Analytics and Search Console: both are connected, so you can see visitors and any problems Google finds. Submit your sitemap in Search Console.
- Backups: take a full backup of the finished site and confirm automatic backups are switched on.
Also check the small things that make a site look finished: a favicon (the little icon in the browser tab), a custom 404 page that points people back to your main pages, and a working link from your Google Business Profile.
Cover the trust and legal basics (and know your limits)
Visitors decide quickly whether you look like a real, reliable business. Real photos of your team and work, a visible phone number and an address or service area all help.
On the compliance side, a few points are worth confirming. If you collect names and emails, include a short privacy policy that explains what you do with them. Whether the Privacy Act applies to your business depends on your circumstances, so ask your accountant or adviser if you are unsure. A plain-English policy is good practice either way.
If you plan to send marketing emails, the Spam Act requires consent and a working unsubscribe option. Make sure your sign-up form is clear about what people are agreeing to.
Finally, check that every claim on the site is true and current: licences, years in business, awards, guarantees. This is a practical check, not legal advice, so get proper advice if you operate in a regulated industry.
Things to do this week
You do not need to do everything in one sitting. Here is a sensible order for the week of launch:
- Day before launch: read every page out loud, then submit your contact form and a test booking or payment.
- Launch day: check the search visibility setting, https and redirects, then confirm analytics and Search Console are working.
- Day after: open the site on two different phones, on mobile data, and note anything awkward.
- End of the week: update your Google Business Profile, email signature and social profiles with the new link.
- Seven days in: look at your first week of data and fix the one page that people leave fastest.
Then book a reminder for a month from now to repeat the form test. Forms break quietly, and a quick monthly check is cheap insurance.
If you would rather have someone else run through this with you, our team can walk through your site before it goes live, or you can see how we approach website design for small business and decide whether a chat makes sense.