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The launch-week checklist for a small-business website

Most launch problems aren't hard to fix. They're just easy to miss. Go through this the day the site goes live, then again a week later.

Last checked October 15, 2026 · about 6 minutes to read · drafted and checked with AI help, here's how

A new website usually goes live in a rush. The designer is done, the owner is busy, and everyone is glad it's finished. That's exactly when small things slip through: a contact form that emails the designer instead of you, a phone number you can't tap, a setting that still tells Google to stay away.

Most of what follows needs no technical skill, and the rest is a quick job for whoever built your site. You need a computer, a phone, about an hour, and the logins for your domain and your site. Where a step has more to it, there's a link to the guide that covers it.

Before you tell anyone about it

Every version of your address should land in the same place

Type your address four ways: with and without www, and with http:// and https:// in front. All four should end up on the same page, and the address bar should settle on one version. If one of them shows an error or a parking page from your domain company, your host or designer can set up a redirect (an automatic forward to the right address).

The padlock is there

Your address should start with https:// and show a padlock. Since 2018 (Chrome 68), Chrome has labeled every plain http:// page "Not secure" right in the address bar. That's not a label you want next to your business name. The padlock comes from a security certificate, and most hosts and site builders include one free now. If yours doesn't, ask about it before launch day, not after.

Nothing is left over from the building stage

Click through every page and look for template leftovers: "Lorem ipsum" filler, "Your Company Name", sample blog posts, stock testimonials that came with the theme, and links that point to a test address. The sample testimonials matter most. On a live business site they're fake reviews, which the FTC's rule bans (more in the first-visitors guide).

Search engines aren't being told to stay away

While a site is being built, it's common to hide it from search engines. It's also common to forget to undo that. Check two places:

  • Your site builder's settings. WordPress, for example, has a box under Settings → Reading called "Discourage search engines from indexing this site". It should be unchecked. Other builders have a similar "hide from search" switch.
  • Your robots.txt file. This small file tells search engines which parts of your site to skip. Open yoursite.com/robots.txt in a browser. If you see Disallow: / under User-agent: *, every search engine is being asked not to crawl anything.

You can also open any page, view its source (right-click, then "View page source") and search for noindex. That word in a robots meta tag tells Google to leave the page out of its results.

What a customer will try in the first minute

Do these from your phone, not your desk. Most of your visitors will.

  • Tap the phone number. It should offer to call. Then actually call it from someone else's phone and make sure it rings where you expect.
  • Send yourself a message through every form. Then check that it arrived, and check your spam folder if it didn't. Forms are often set up to email whoever built the site.
  • Email the address on the site. If it's a new address at your domain, a test message tells you whether it works at all. The email guide covers the settings that keep your replies out of spam.
  • Read your hours, address and service area out loud. They should match what you'll put on your Google Business Profile, word for word.
  • Click every menu item and every button. Anything that leads to an error page needs fixing or removing.
  • Look for sideways scrolling. If you can drag the page left and right on a phone, something is wider than the screen. The speed and phones guide has a short list of what to check.

Search setup on launch day

These take a few minutes each, and they're how search engines hear about a new site sooner than they would on their own.

Small search details

Each page has its own title

The title is the text in the browser tab, set by the page's <title> tag. Google says each page should have one that's distinct, descriptive and concise. A site where every page is titled "Home" or just the business name gives Google and searchers nothing to go on. Something like "Furnace repair in Duluth | Northland Heating" tells both of them what the page is about. Google may still write its own title link for search results, but a good title gives it the right material.

The little icon is set

That small icon in the browser tab, the favicon, can also show next to your site in Google's results. Google's rules: it has to be square, at least 8×8 pixels (Google recommends bigger than 48×48), in a supported format such as PNG or ICO, and linked from your home page. Most site builders have a "site icon" upload that takes care of all of that. Upload a square version of your logo there.

Missing pages say they're missing

Type a made-up address on your site, like yoursite.com/zzz. You should get a "page not found" page. Behind the scenes, that page should also send a "not found" code (a 404) to browsers and search engines. If it shows a "not found" message but sends a success code instead, Google calls that a "soft 404", and it can confuse what gets indexed. Your host or designer can check the code for you in a minute.

The housekeeping nobody sees

The domain renews on its own

Losing a domain because a renewal notice went to an old email address is a painful and common way for a small business to go offline. Log in to your domain company, turn on auto-renew, and make sure the account's email address is one you actually read. For .com, .net, .org and other generic domains, domain companies (also called registrars) must send at least two reminders, about a month and about a week before expiry. Country domains like .us follow their own rules. Either way, reminders only help if they reach you.

The logins belong to the business

Make a list of every account the site depends on: the domain company, the host or site builder, email, Search Console and your Business Profile. Each one should be in the business's name, with an email address the business controls. If a designer set them up under their own account, ask them to add you as an owner now, while everyone is on good terms. Turn on two-step verification wherever it's offered.

You know where the backups are

Ask your host or builder two questions: does it keep backups of the site, and how do you restore one? Some include this; some sell it as an add-on. Find out before you need it.

The privacy page matches what the site does

If your site has a form, analytics, ads or a chat widget, it collects information, and you need a privacy page that says so honestly. The pages guide covers when it's required and what goes in it.

One week later

  • Open Search Console. The Page indexing report (listed as "Pages" in the menu) shows which pages Google has indexed and why others aren't yet. "Discovered – currently not indexed" just means Google knows about the page and hasn't visited it yet. That's normal for a new site.
  • Search for your business name. If nothing comes up yet, that's also normal in the first week or two. Google says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
  • Test the forms again. Updates, plugins and spam filters change. A form that worked on launch day can quietly stop.
  • Ask two people who've never seen the site to find your phone number and your prices on their phones while you watch. Where they hesitate is your next fix.

Sources

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