Small Business Website Pre-Launch Checklist (37 Items)
The exact 37-point checklist we run on every client site before launch — covering SEO, security, legal, conversion, and analytics.
Why this checklist exists
Half of new small business websites launch with at least one of these missing: working contact form, mobile-friendly layout, Google Analytics, SSL certificate, or a custom 404 page. Each is a silent revenue leak. Run this 37-point check before you tell anyone the site is live.
SEO essentials (1–10)
1. Unique title tag under 60 chars on every page. 2. Unique meta description under 160 chars on every page. 3. One H1 per page. 4. Alt text on every image. 5. sitemap.xml exists at /sitemap.xml. 6. robots.txt doesn't block important pages. 7. Site verified in Google Search Console. 8. Sitemap submitted. 9. Canonical URL set on every page. 10. Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:image) for social sharing.
Performance & mobile (11–17)
11. Mobile-friendly layout passes Google's mobile-friendly test. 12. PageSpeed Insights score above 70 on mobile. 13. Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds. 14. Images compressed and served as WebP. 15. No broken links (run a free crawler like Screaming Frog). 16. No render-blocking scripts in the head. 17. Lazy loading on below-the-fold images.
Security & legal (18–24)
18. SSL active — site loads on https with green padlock. 19. http redirects to https automatically. 20. Privacy Policy published and linked in footer. 21. Terms of Service linked in footer. 22. Cookie consent banner if you serve EU traffic. 23. Contact form has spam protection (honeypot or hCaptcha). 24. Admin login uses 2-factor authentication.
Conversion essentials (25–31)
25. Phone number is clickable on mobile (tel: link). 26. Email address is clickable (mailto: link). 27. Contact form delivers to your real inbox (test it). 28. Clear primary CTA on every page. 29. Real photo of you/team on About page (no stock handshake photos). 30. At least 3 reviews or testimonials visible on homepage. 31. Hours, address, and phone match Google Business Profile exactly.
Analytics & tracking (32–37)
32. Google Analytics 4 installed and firing. 33. Goal/conversion tracking set up for form submissions. 34. Phone calls tracked (CallRail or similar) if calls matter. 35. Search Console linked to GA4. 36. Bing Webmaster Tools verified (it powers ChatGPT search). 37. Heatmap tool installed (Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity — Clarity is free) so you can see what visitors actually do.
The 5-minute pre-launch test
Open the site on your phone (not desktop). Time how long it takes to load. Submit the contact form. Call the phone number — does it ring you? Tap the email link — does it open your mail app with the right address? Pinch-to-zoom — is anything cut off? Most launches fail this test in under 2 minutes.