Free Pre-Launch Checker
Check the site before it goes live.
Catches the launch mistakes that slip through: search engines still blocked, staging links, placeholder text, a broken phone layout, accessibility errors and dead links. Get a report with your own logo to send your client.
Built and maintained by Abhinav Saxena at Kodinav · Last checked
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The checklist
The 33-point website launch checklist
Everything to check before a website goes live, and why each one matters. Points marked checked by the tool are tested automatically by the checker above; the rest need a person.
01Before you switch the domain
Take a full backup of the old site (files and database) and keep it off the server
If anything goes wrong on launch day, you can put the old site back in minutes.
Map every old page address to its new address with 301 redirects
Old addresses carry the site's Google rankings and the links other sites point to. Without redirects they become 404s and the rankings go with them.
Lower the DNS TTL a day before the switch
A short TTL (300 seconds) means the new site reaches everyone within minutes, not hours.
Confirm who controls the domain, DNS and hosting logins, and that the client has them
Launches stall when nobody can log in to the registrar.
Check email (MX) records won't change when DNS moves
Moving DNS without copying MX records stops the client's email.
02Search engines
Search engines are allowed in: no noindex tag, and WordPress's "Discourage search engines" box untickedchecked by the tool
The most common launch mistake. The site goes live and disappears from Google.
robots.txt doesn't block the site and lists the sitemapchecked by the tool
A staging robots.txt (Disallow: /) stops Google crawling anything.
Every key page has a unique title and meta descriptionchecked by the tool
These are what searchers see in Google's results.
Canonical tags and internal links use the live domain, not stagingchecked by the tool
Leftover staging addresses send Google and visitors to the wrong site.
XML sitemap submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
Tells search engines the new pages exist on day one.
A made-up address shows the 404 page with status 404checked by the tool
Pages that pretend to exist ("soft 404s") waste Google's crawl and can get junk indexed.
03Content
No lorem ipsum, template text, sample posts or placeholder phone numberschecked by the tool
The client notices these before anything else.
Spelling and names checked by someone who didn't write the copy
Fresh eyes catch what the writer reads past.
Contact details, opening hours and addresses match the client's Google Business Profile
Mismatched details confuse customers and weaken local search.
Legal pages published: privacy policy, cookie notice where needed, termschecked by the tool
Required wherever the site runs analytics, ads or collects personal data.
Copyright year and company name in the footer are right
A small detail that makes a new site look old on day one.
04Forms, email and tracking
Every form submitted once, and the email arrived in the client's inbox (not spam)
Forms that silently fail are the most expensive launch bug: the client loses enquiries and nobody knows.
The site sends mail through SMTP or a mail service, not the server's PHP mail
Server mail is often rejected or lands in spam.
Thank-you pages and confirmation emails read correctly
They're the first thing a new lead sees after contacting the client.
Analytics records a visit, and key actions (form sends, calls, purchases) are tracked as conversionschecked by the tool
Without it, nobody can show the new site is working better than the old one.
Cookie consent works, and tags only fire after consent where the law requires it
A consent banner that doesn't actually block tags is a compliance problem, not a fix.
05Phones, browsers and accessibility
No sideways scrolling, text is readable, and buttons are easy to tap on a phonechecked by the tool
Most visitors arrive on a phone, and Google ranks the phone version.
Clicked through on real Safari (iPhone), Chrome (Android) and a desktop browser
Emulators miss real-device bugs, especially iOS Safari menus and forms.
Images have alt text, colours have enough contrast, and form fields have labelschecked by the tool
These lead ADA website complaints in the US, and they're cheap to fix before launch.
The whole site can be used with a keyboard alone, with a visible focus outline
Keyboard access can't be checked automatically, and it's part of WCAG.
No broken links or imageschecked by the tool
Broken links look careless and leak visitors.
06Speed, security and handover
HTTPS works everywhere and http redirects to httpschecked by the tool
Browsers mark plain http sites "Not secure".
Caching on, images compressed and sized, nothing heavy loading that isn't used
Speed shapes first impressions and rankings.
Admin users reviewed: no shared logins, no leftover developer accounts, strong passwords and 2FA
Most hacked small-business sites are entered through a weak or forgotten login.
CMS, theme and plugins updated, unused plugins deleted
Outdated plugins are the main way small WordPress sites get hacked.
Automatic backups and uptime monitoring set up
So the first problem after launch is caught by you, not the client's customers.
Favicon and share image in placechecked by the tool
Tabs, bookmarks and shared links look finished.
Client handed logins, a short how-to and who to call
A clear handover is what clients remember and refer you for.
Launch day, in order
- Back up the old site and freeze content changes.
- Point the domain (DNS) at the new site, keeping the email (MX) records as they were.
- Turn on HTTPS and the http → https redirect.
- Untick "Discourage search engines", remove any noindex, and fix robots.txt.
- Search-replace the staging address with the live domain across the database, then clear every cache.
- Switch on the 301 redirects from the old addresses.
- Run the pre-launch checker above on the main templates.
- Submit every form and confirm the emails arrive.
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Check analytics records the first real visits, then watch Search Console for errors over the next two weeks.
Moving an existing site? Read how to redesign a website without losing your Google rankings. Need more hands before a launch? Kodinav builds and fixes sites for design studios, under your name.
Want it done for you?
This tool is free forever. When you want the underlying work done properly, that's the studio's website maintenance & support service.
Design studio or agency? I fix these on your clients' sites, under your name.
More free tools
- Broken Link CheckerEvery link on a page tested; the dead ones named with their anchor text.
- Free Website AuditSpeed, mobile, SEO, inquiries and trust in one scan, plus Google's own Lighthouse scores, in plain language.
- Mobile-Friendly TestGoogle retired its mobile test; this one carries on the job.
- Website Accessibility Checker (ADA / WCAG)Tests the rendered page with axe-core: contrast, alt text, labels and more, each with a plain-English fix.
FAQ
Fair questions.
Four things on the page you enter, run at the same time. Launch settings: whether search engines are blocked (a noindex tag, a noindex header or a robots.txt that disallows everything), whether the canonical tag or any link still points to a staging or preview address, placeholder text, the page title and description, the share image, favicon, HTTPS, whether the www and non-www addresses both work, whether a missing page returns a real 404, analytics and a privacy policy link. On a phone: Google's PageSpeed service loads the page on an emulated phone and we report sideways scrolling, zoom, tap targets, speed and layout shifts. Accessibility: WCAG checks such as alt text, labels, headings and link names. Links and images: every one on the page is requested and the broken ones are listed.
Yes. Open "Put your studio's name and logo on the report", add your studio name, your client's name and your logo, then press "Save as PDF". The report carries your branding only: no Kodinav logo, link or "powered by" line. Your logo is kept in your browser and never uploaded, and the browser remembers it for your next check.
It checks any public address. A staging site behind a password or an IP allow-list can't be reached from outside, so run it on the live domain right after the switch, or briefly open staging. Staging sites are usually set to noindex on purpose, so expect that check to fail there; the point is to make sure it passes on the live site.
The phone and accessibility tests load a real page, which takes time, so the report covers one page in depth. Run it on each template that matters (home, a service or product page, a blog post, the contact page). To find broken links across up to 25 pages, use the broken link checker.
Leaving search engines blocked. Staging sites are hidden from Google with a noindex tag or WordPress's "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" box, and the setting gets copied to the live site. The site looks perfect and quietly drops out of Google. It's the first thing the checker tests.
It's free, with no sign-up and no email. There's a limit of a few runs every ten minutes per visitor so the phone test (which uses Google's service) stays available for everyone.
No automated check can say that. It covers 13 of the 33 points on the checklist below. The rest, such as submitting every form and checking the email arrives, 301 redirects from the old site, keyboard use and the client handover, need a person. They're in the report as tick boxes so they print with it.
Final note
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