A developer and a non-developer notice different things. Familiarity with the build makes a single reviewer skip over problems a fresh pair of eyes will see.

When should I run it?

Run it on staging before launch, and rerun the live-only checks (redirects, sitemap, analytics, SSL) immediately after the site goes live.

Is it suitable for a redesign of an existing site?

Yes. A redesign adds redirects and indexing to the risks, so the SEO section deserves extra time.

ChecklistWeb Dev

80-Point Website Pre-Launch QA Checklist

Website launches fail in predictable ways: broken forms, missing redirects, unoptimised images, wrong analytics configuration, or pages accidentally left out of the sitemap. This checklist is built from real post-launch incident reviews to prevent the issues that come up most often.

It's structured across eight sections. Design and Responsiveness checks that every template renders correctly on mobile, tablet, and desktop. Content and Copy checks for placeholder text, broken image alt attributes, and consistent tone. Functionality tests every form, CTA, navigation link, and search feature. Performance checks image formats, lazy loading, and caching headers. SEO verifies title tags, meta descriptions, canonical tags, robots.txt, XML sitemap, and structured data. Security checks HTTPS, SSL validity, and contact form spam protection. Analytics confirms Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and conversion tracking are all firing. Legal covers privacy policy, cookie consent, and terms pages.

Each item has a pass/fail checkbox and a notes field. The checklist is designed to be completed by two people — a developer and a non-developer — to catch issues that a single reviewer's familiarity would cause them to miss.

What you get

Pass/fail QA items across design, content, functionality, performance, SEO, security, analytics and legal
A notes field on every item
A two-reviewer workflow
Provided on request through the contact form

Who it's for: Web developers, project managers, and agencies managing website launches.

What this checklist covers

Website launches tend to fail in predictable ways: forms that do not send, missing redirects, unoptimised images, analytics set up wrongly, or pages left out of the sitemap. The Website Pre-Launch QA Checklist turns those into a pass/fail list you can complete before going live, with a notes field on every item.

The eight sections

Design and responsiveness checks that every template renders correctly on mobile, tablet and desktop.

Content and copy looks for placeholder text, missing image alt text and an inconsistent tone.

Functionality tests every form, call to action, navigation link and search feature.

Performance reviews image formats, lazy loading and caching headers.

SEO verifies title tags, meta descriptions, canonicals, robots.txt, the XML sitemap and structured data.

Security checks HTTPS, certificate validity and spam protection on contact forms.

Analytics confirms Google Analytics 4, Search Console and conversion tracking are all firing.

Legal covers the privacy policy, cookie consent and terms pages.

How to use it

Have two people complete it: a developer and someone who is not a developer. The developer sees what the code does, while the other person sees what a visitor sees, and between them they catch problems that one reviewer's familiarity hides. Do the review on the staging site first and repeat the SEO, analytics and security sections on the live site, since settings often differ. After launch, keep watching for the first 48 hours for errors, form failures and missing tracking.

Who it is for

Web developers, project managers and agencies who manage launches, and business owners who want to check the work they have been handed.

The file is provided on request. Would you rather have this done for you? Fill out the form on our contact page, tell us about the business, and we will come back with a quote.

Frequently asked questions

Why two reviewers?: A developer and a non-developer notice different things. Familiarity with the build makes a single reviewer skip over problems a fresh pair of eyes will see.
When should I run it?: Run it on staging before launch, and rerun the live-only checks (redirects, sitemap, analytics, SSL) immediately after the site goes live.
Is it suitable for a redesign of an existing site?: Yes. A redesign adds redirects and indexing to the risks, so the SEO section deserves extra time.

Want this Checklist?

Free to use. Tell us what you need on our contact page and we'll send it by email.

Request this Checklist

Related Services

Website Development

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