# Website launch checklist

Use this 24-point preflight before a new website, redesign, domain move, or
hosting cutover. Record an owner and completion date beside every item.

## Ownership and recovery

- [ ] Domain registrar, account owner, renewal method, and recovery contact are documented.
- [ ] DNS provider and every active DNS record are exported or recorded.
- [ ] Hosting, deployment, source repository, and billing owners are documented.
- [ ] At least two authorized people can recover the critical accounts.
- [ ] A current off-platform backup includes website files, content, configuration, and database data.
- [ ] A restore test has been completed in an isolated environment and the result is dated.

## Content and trust

- [ ] Every public page has a named purpose, a useful title, and one clear H1.
- [ ] Placeholder copy, sample testimonials, demo posts, and unused template pages are removed.
- [ ] Contact details work and the person or team responsible for replies is known.
- [ ] Privacy, disclosure, editorial, correction, and terms pages match the site's actual behavior.
- [ ] Prices, claims, dates, citations, and commercial relationships have been rechecked.
- [ ] Important images have useful alternative text; decorative images do not repeat nearby copy.

## Technical quality

- [ ] HTTPS works and every alternate hostname or protocol redirects once to the canonical URL.
- [ ] Canonical URLs, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, and 404 behavior are correct.
- [ ] Internal links, downloads, forms, email links, and outbound actions have been tested.
- [ ] The primary journeys work with a keyboard and at narrow mobile widths.
- [ ] Core pages have been checked for layout shifts, oversized media, and unnecessary third-party scripts.
- [ ] Security headers, dependency updates, access controls, and secret handling have been reviewed.

## Measurement and cutover

- [ ] The analytics and consent approach is documented before any tracking script is enabled.
- [ ] Search Console or the chosen webmaster account is ready under the correct owner.
- [ ] Redirects for valuable changed URLs are mapped individually and tested.
- [ ] A rollback owner, rollback trigger, and rollback procedure are written down.
- [ ] The launch window avoids unrelated DNS, email, billing, or account migrations.
- [ ] After launch, the canonical URL, redirects, forms, email, sitemap, logs, and monitoring are rechecked.

## Launch record

- Site:
- Launch owner:
- Planned launch date:
- Rollback owner:
- Backup location:
- Restore test date:
- Final reviewer:
- Post-launch check completed:

Original template by WebmastersGallery. Adapt it to the risks and obligations
of the specific website.