Website QA Checklist Before Launch

Launch day is the worst time to find out the contact form sends emails to nobody, or that the whole site is hidden from Google. Most launch problems are not hard to fix. They just were not checked.

This website QA checklist, which you can also use as a website launch checklist, covers everything you should test before a site goes live. Work through it with your team, mark each item as done and fix anything that fails before you launch.

How to use this checklist

• Run it on the staging site first, then again on the live site right after launch

• Split sections between team members so the work goes faster

• Record every problem in one place with the page, the screen size and what went wrong

• Do not launch with any "must fix" items still open

The easiest way to record problems is to use website review software that lets you pin comments right on the page. With Commento, your team can comment on the live or staging site and every comment includes the browser, device and screen size automatically.

1. Content

• All placeholder text such as "lorem ipsum" has been replaced

• All test content, test products and test blog posts have been removed

• Spelling and grammar have been checked on every page

• Names, prices, phone numbers, emails and addresses are correct

• Dates and years are current, including the copyright year in the footer

• Every image is the final version and is the right size

• Legal pages are in place: privacy policy, terms and cookie policy if needed

2. Design and layout

This is where most web design feedback from clients comes in, so check it early and check it on real screens.

• Pages match the approved design

• Fonts, colors and spacing are consistent across all pages

• No elements overlap or look cut off

• Hover, focus and active states work on buttons and links

• The favicon shows in the browser tab

• The 404 page is designed and helps people find their way back

3. Links and navigation

• Every menu link goes to the right page

• No broken links, internal or external (use a link checker to crawl the site)

• The logo links to the homepage

• External links open where you want them to

• Phone numbers and email addresses are clickable on mobile

• Old URLs redirect to new ones with 301 redirects if this is a redesign

4. Forms

• Every form submits successfully

• Form emails arrive at the right inbox and do not land in spam

• Confirmation messages or thank you pages appear after submitting

• Required fields and error messages work and are easy to understand

• Spam protection is turned on

• Any connected tools, such as your CRM or email list, receive the data

5. Mobile and responsive layout

• Every key page works on small phones, large phones, tablets and desktops

• No sideways scrolling on mobile

• The mobile menu opens, closes and works on tap

• Buttons are big enough to tap easily

• Tested on at least one real iPhone and one real Android phone

For a full walkthrough, see our guide to responsive website review.

6. Browsers

• Tested in the latest Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge

• Tested in Safari on iPhone, since it often behaves differently

• No errors in the browser console on key pages

7. Speed and performance

• Run key pages through Google PageSpeed Insights

• Check Core Web Vitals. Google's "good" targets are a Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1

• Images are compressed and served in modern formats like WebP or AVIF

• Images below the first screen load lazily

• Unused scripts and plugins have been removed

• Caching is set up on the server or CDN

8. SEO basics

• Every page has a unique title tag and meta description

• Each page has one clear H1 heading

• The "noindex" setting from staging has been removed

• robots.txt does not block pages you want in Google

• An XML sitemap exists and has been submitted to Google Search Console

• Canonical tags point to the right URLs

• Images have descriptive file names and alt text

• Open Graph tags are set so links look right when shared on social media

• Structured data is added where it makes sense, such as for articles or products

Blocked crawling is one of the most common launch mistakes. Always open yourdomain.com/robots.txt on the live site and read it before you announce anything.

9. Accessibility

• You can use the whole site with only a keyboard

• Focus outlines are visible when tabbing through the page

• Text has enough contrast against its background

• Images have meaningful alt text

• Form fields have labels

• Headings follow a logical order

Our website accessibility review checklist goes through each of these in more detail.

10. Security

• HTTPS works on every page and HTTP redirects to HTTPS

• The SSL certificate is valid and set to renew

• Admin and staging areas are protected or removed from public access

• Default passwords and test accounts have been removed

• Backups are set up and you know how to restore one

• All plugins, themes and packages are up to date

11. Analytics and tracking

• Analytics is installed and recording visits

• Key events are tracked, such as form submissions, signups and purchases

• Test visits and internal traffic are filtered out

• The cookie banner works and respects the visitor's choice where the law requires it

• Google Search Console is set up for the live domain

12. After launch

• Open the live site in a private window and click through the main pages

• Submit every form one more time on the live site

• Check that analytics shows your own test visit

• Check Search Console over the next few days for crawl errors

• Keep a way for visitors and your team to report problems

How to run website QA as a team

Website testing only works if problems are reported clearly. When a check fails, the report should include the page, the screen size, the browser, what happened and what should have happened. For bugs, our guide to visual bug reporting shows the details developers need, and our free bug report template gives you a ready format.

It also helps to decide who has the final say. One person should confirm that all must fix items are closed before the launch goes ahead.

For a wider look at gathering and sorting feedback during a project, read our complete guide to website feedback.

Final thoughts

A good website QA checklist turns launch day from stressful to boring, and boring is exactly what you want. Test content, links, forms, mobile, speed, SEO, accessibility, security and tracking, and fix what fails before you go live.

To make QA faster, use Commento so your team can pin issues on the page with the technical details already attached.