
Launching a new site? It's easy to focus on design and forget the unglamorous stuff that actually keeps a site running smoothly. Here's a quick pre-launch checklist worth running through.

Test every form (contact, signup, checkout) end to end.

Install an SSL certificate and force HTTPS everywhere.

Check mobile responsiveness on at least 2-3 real devices.

Submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console.

Set a proper meta title and description on every page.

Install analytics before launch, not after.

Set up custom 404 and 500 error pages.

Run a broken-link check across the whole site.

Confirm backups are actually running (and test a restore).

Run a speed test and fix anything under a 70 score.

What's the one pre-launch step people forget most often, in your experience?