When it comes to launch day, most issues aren’t as dramatic as you might think. It’s often just something like a contact form that silently fails to send or a menu that won’t open on a specific phone. These problems are usually quick fixes, but they can easily slip through to deployment after you’ve familiarised yourself with the same site for weeks.
Here’s a useful list of checks you should do before your website goes live. While these won’t catch every issue, they’re a great starting point, and I’ll highlight where a simple checklist like this might not be enough.
1. Test every form from start to finish
Just making sure the form submits is not enough. You need to check what happens next as well. Does the message actually land in your inbox? Is there a clear confirmation for the visitor? And do the error messages make sense?
Forms are often the most important part of a site, it is where you get not only leads but feedback too, and they can fail in ways you might not expect. This is especially apparent with real-world input that you might not have tested. So, test yours thoroughly, more than once and on different devices.
2. Walk through the main journey as a stranger
You know your site inside and out, but a new visitor doesn’t. Think about what your site is designed for (like inquiring, booking, or buying) and try to complete the main task starting from the homepage without any assistance.
Take note of moments where you hesitate or feel unsure about what a button does. Those are the moments that can cause actual visitors to leave.
3. Check it on a real phone
While resizing your desktop browser window can be helpful, it doesn’t fully replicate the experience of using a real device. Look for buttons that are too small to tap or menus that won’t open or close. If possible, test on both an iPhone and an Android phone for a wider range of testing.
4. Click every link and button
Make sure to go through the menu, footer, body text, and every button, including phone number and email links. Then, visit a page that doesn’t exist to ensure you get a helpful 404 page instead of a blank screen or an error.
5. Read it like a customer
Take your time to read through every page, and if possible, out loud. Look out for typos, any leftover placeholder text, incorrect prices, outdated business names, and missing contact information. Don’t forget to check that your privacy policy and terms are present and properly linked. If you can, try to get someone who hasn’t visited your site before to read through it, they may be able to spot things you’ve missed (more on this in a bit).
The checks that need more than a checklist
There are certain areas where a quick glance just won’t cut it. Properly assessing these aspects requires the right tools, and a bit of experience.
- Checkout and payments. If you’re selling anything, every step from the shopping cart to the confirmation email needs to function seamlessly on all devices, without actually processing real transactions. Testing this safely requires some planning.
- Different browsers. Not everyone is using Chrome, so not all experiences will be the same. For example, Safari, particularly on iPhones, can reveal differences that other browsers might hide.
- The SEO leftovers. One of the priciest blunders is a setting carried over from staging that tells Google to ignore the live site. This can be hidden in various spots, and it’s easy to miss since the site may function as expected.
- Speed on a real connection. A fast result on your home or office Wi-Fi doesn’t tell you much about how a first-time visitor on a mobile device will experience your site.
- Accessibility basics. Elements like keyboard navigation and screen-reader use are often overlooked, but they can significantly impact real users.
- Tracking. If your analytics and conversion tracking are failing without you knowing, you could end up with months of missing data.
If you’d prefer to focus on other things during launch week, I can handle these checks for you.
Want me to do it for you?
That’s exactly what I do at AssureUX. A real person (without previous experience on your site) will test your site on physical devices and provide you with a clear report: every issue will come with an explanation, a severity rating, its impact on your business, and a suggested fix, so you or your developer can address it without needing to ask follow-up questions. Packages start at £39, and smaller ones are usually delivered within 24 to 48 hours.
In my first five Essential Audits, every site had at least 12 issues. You can view the sample report to see exactly what you’d get, or compare the packages.
If you build sites for clients, take a look at how I work with agencies and freelance developers. If you run a shop or a small business, see testing for online stores. And if you’re not sure what you need, you can book a free consultation.