UK Website Launch Checklist

Launching a business website in the UK means more than uploading files and switching DNS. Miss a step and you risk poor search visibility, broken forms, compliance gaps or a launch-day outage. This checklist covers the essentials every UK SME should verify before going live.

1. Domain and hosting

• Confirm domain ownership and renewal dates
• Point DNS to your production host with appropriate TTL
• Verify SSL certificate is active on all pages (HTTPS)
• Set up staging and production environments separately

2. Content and pages

• Proofread all copy, especially contact details and pricing
• Check images are compressed and have descriptive alt text
• Test contact forms, booking links and email notifications
• Confirm privacy policy, cookie notice and refund policy links work

3. Technical SEO

Before launch, run through our technical SEO checklist for UK SMEs and use the meta tag preview tool to check titles and descriptions on key pages.

• Unique title tags and meta descriptions on every indexable page
• XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console and Bing
• robots.txt allows crawling of public pages
• 301 redirects mapped for any changed URLs

4. Performance and mobile

• Test Core Web Vitals on real mobile devices
• Lazy-load below-the-fold images and defer non-critical scripts
• Verify navigation and forms work on small screens

5. Analytics, consent and security

• Install analytics only after GDPR-compliant cookie consent is in place
• Enable two-factor authentication on CMS and hosting accounts
• Confirm backups run automatically and can be restored
• Scan for mixed content warnings (HTTP assets on HTTPS pages)

6. Post-launch monitoring

• Monitor Search Console for crawl errors in the first two weeks
• Check form submissions and transactional emails arrive correctly
• Review server logs for unexpected 404 or 500 errors

When to get professional help

If your launch involves eCommerce, custom integrations, migration from WordPress or legal-sector compliance, a pre-launch audit saves costly fixes later. Our Creative Business Website package includes launch support, or contact us for a bespoke build.