Practical pre-launch checklist covering messaging, design, performance, analytics, SEO basics, and trust signals. 10 things every startup website needs before going live.
Before you hit publish on your startup website, check these 10 things.
Number 7 is almost always missed.
This isn't a list of design opinions or aesthetic preferences. Every item here has a direct impact on how the site performs — commercially, technically, and in search.
1. Your headline passes the 5-second test
Land on your homepage as a stranger. In 5 seconds, without scrolling, can you understand what the product does, who it's for, and why it matters?
If the answer requires any interpretation — if someone has to work to figure out what you're selling — the headline needs revision.
Test it on 5 people who have never seen the site. Ask them to tell you what the company does after 5 seconds. Their answers reveal the gap between what you think you're communicating and what's actually landing.
2. Every page has a clear next step
For each page: what do you want the visitor to do next? Is that action obvious, positioned well, and easy to take?
Common failure: a clear CTA at the top of the page, nothing below the fold. Long pages need CTAs at multiple points — where natural decision moments occur in the reading flow.
Also check: are all your CTAs pointing to working destinations? Test every button and link.
3. The mobile experience actually works
Don't just check that it loads on mobile. Check that it works.
- Text readable without zooming
- Buttons large enough to tap reliably
- Forms usable on a phone keyboard
- No horizontal scrolling
- Images not overflowing their containers
- Videos not autoplay-with-sound (this will cost you)
Check on a real device, not just Chrome's device simulation mode.
4. Load speed is under 3 seconds
Run your URL through Google PageSpeed Insights. Check both mobile and desktop scores.
A score under 70 on mobile is worth addressing before launch. Common causes: uncompressed images, render-blocking JavaScript, no lazy loading, oversized video files.
Most PageSpeed issues have straightforward fixes. Doing them before launch is significantly easier than doing them post-launch when traffic is live.
5. Meta titles and descriptions are set on every page
Every page should have a unique meta title (under 60 characters) and meta description (under 155 characters) that accurately describes the page content and includes a relevant keyword phrase.
Default meta titles like "Home | Company Name" don't communicate anything to search engines or users in search results. This is one of the fastest, highest-impact SEO improvements available before launch.
6. Analytics is set up and verified
Google Analytics (or your chosen analytics platform) should be installed, configured, and verified before launch — not after.
Common mistake: installing the code without verifying it's actually recording. Check:
- Is your site appearing in real-time reports?
- Are page views being recorded correctly?
- If you have forms: are submission goals or events set up?
Launching without verified analytics means losing data you can never recover.
7. All old URLs redirect to new equivalents
This is the one that's almost always missed.
If your new site has different URL structures from the old one — which is common — every old URL needs a 301 redirect to the appropriate new page. Without this:
- All the SEO equity built in old URLs disappears
- Links in emails, social posts, and external sites return 404 errors
- Visitors following old links land on error pages
Export your old site's URL list, map each to its new equivalent, and implement redirects before you flip the switch.
8. Social proof is present and specific
At least one section of your homepage should include external validation of your claims.
Specific requirements:
- Named testimonials with role and company (not just "— John D., Marketing")
- Outcome-focused language ("reduced our time-to-hire by 40%" not "great service!")
- Or: client logos from recognisable companies if you have them
- Or: a case study summary with measurable results
Launching without any social proof is launching without trust signals. For a new site, this is particularly costly.
9. There's a clear privacy policy and cookie consent
In Europe: GDPR requires a privacy policy explaining what data you collect and how. If you're using analytics or any third-party scripts that set cookies, you need a cookie consent mechanism.
Beyond legal compliance, visible privacy policy and GDPR-compliant consent signals to enterprise prospects that the business takes data handling seriously. Absent or broken consent flows are red flags during vendor evaluations.
10. Someone outside the team has reviewed the copy for errors
Proofreading your own work is notoriously unreliable. After reading something enough times, your brain autocorrects errors without registering them.
Get someone who hasn't been involved in writing the copy to read every page out loud. Out loud catches things that silent reading misses — awkward phrasing, unclear sentences, typos that spell-check ignores.
Also: check your copy on mobile specifically. Formatting that looks fine on desktop sometimes breaks on smaller screens in ways that create comprehension problems.
The Item That's Almost Always Missed: Redirects
Number 7 deserves emphasis. We've seen well-executed launches lose 40–60% of their organic search traffic in the weeks after launch because redirect mapping was either missed or done incorrectly.
Search engines need time to discover and reindex new URLs. During that period, old URLs with backlinks and existing ranking positions serve as bridges. Without redirects, those bridges don't exist. Organic traffic that should migrate to the new site disappears instead.
This is technical work, but not complex. It requires: exporting old URLs (from Google Search Console or a crawl tool), mapping them to new ones, and implementing 301 redirects in your platform or hosting configuration.
Do it before launch. Not after.