Table of Contents
60-Item Website Launch Checklist (AI-Audited) for 2026
Quick Answer
Launching a website without a checklist in 2026 = guaranteed regret. This 60-item list covers tech, SEO, content, accessibility, legal, analytics, and day-of-launch protocol. AI can audit 45 of the 60.
- Run the full list on staging BEFORE launch
- DNS switch at off-peak hours
- Rollback plan tested in advance
What Is a Launch Checklist?
A launch checklist is a pre-flight document ensuring every critical item — from SSL certs to meta tags to privacy policy — is in place before traffic hits your new site.
Why This Matters in 2026
| Metric | Without Checklist | With Checklist |
|---|---|---|
| Day-1 critical bugs | 3.4 | 0.4 |
| SEO rank drop after launch | 22% lose rankings | 4% |
| Hours to stabilize | 18 | 2 |
| Support tickets week 1 | 42 | 8 |
Source: Smashing Magazine 2025, Google Search Central.
The 60-Item Checklist
Technical (1–15)
- SSL certificate installed and valid
- HTTP → HTTPS redirect site-wide
- www vs. apex decision made + 301 enforced
- Favicon (ICO + PNG + Apple touch icon)
- robots.txt correctly allows/disallows
- XML sitemap generated + submitted to GSC
- 404 page custom + branded
- 500 page custom + branded
- Server-side caching enabled
- CDN set up + tested
- Server location near primary audience
- Database backups automated (daily)
- DNS TTL lowered to 300s before launch
- Monitoring + uptime alerts wired
- Error logging (Sentry or equivalent) live
Performance (16–22)
- LCP < 2.5s on 4G
- INP < 200ms
- CLS < 0.1
- Images optimized (WebP/AVIF)
- Lazy loading for below-fold media
- Fonts preloaded, no FOIT/FOUT
- JS/CSS minified + split
SEO (23–33)
- Title tags on every page
- Meta descriptions on every page
- Canonical tags correct
- Hreflang (if multilingual)
- Open Graph + Twitter Card tags
- Schema.org JSON-LD for page type
- Internal links all working
- External links set correctly (rel, target)
- Redirects from old URLs (if migrating)
- AEO: Quick Answer + FAQ schema on key pages
- GSC + Bing Webmaster verified
Content (34–40)
- No Lorem ipsum anywhere
- All images have alt text
- Contact page has real email + phone
- About page has team photos + bios
- Blog has 3+ published posts (not empty)
- Typos scanned (spellcheck + AI pass)
- Brand voice consistent across pages
Accessibility (41–47)
- WCAG 2.2 AA contrast on all text
- All interactive elements keyboard-accessible
- Focus indicators visible
- Form labels present + programmatically linked
- Skip-to-content link at top
- ARIA landmarks on nav, main, footer
- prefers-reduced-motion respected
Legal (48–53)
- Privacy Policy published + linked
- Terms of Service published + linked
- Cookie consent banner (EU-compliant)
- GDPR data request flow in place
- CCPA "Do Not Sell" link (if in scope)
- Accessibility statement
Analytics + Launch Day (54–60)
- GA4 or Plausible/Fathom installed + verified
- Goal / event tracking tested
- Heatmap tool (Hotjar, Clarity) optional
- UTM conventions documented
- Social media announce post scheduled
- Email blast to existing list drafted
- On-call engineer + PR contact set for launch day
AI Prompts
Launch scanner
Crawl and output a table of launch-readiness issues across these categories: technical, SEO, accessibility, legal. Rank by severity.
Alt-text gap finder
Scan this page HTML. List every img missing alt attribute, along with src URL. Suggest alt text for each. HTML:
Legal pages check
Review this Privacy Policy for GDPR + CCPA readiness. Flag missing clauses and propose additions. Policy:
Top Tools
| Tool | Use Case | Free Tier | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Indexing, errors | ✅ Yes | Everyone |
| PageSpeed Insights | Core Web Vitals | ✅ Yes | Performance |
| axe DevTools | Accessibility | ✅ Yes | WCAG audits |
| Screaming Frog | Pre-launch crawl | ✅ (500 URLs) | Launch day |
Q: How long before launch do I run the checklist?
A: First pass 2 weeks out. Final pass T-24 hours. Smoke test T-1 hour.
Q: What's the #1 launch mistake?
A: Forgetting 301 redirects from old URLs on a migration. Causes rank collapse.
Q: DNS TTL?
A: Lower to 300s 48 hours before launch. Roll back TTL after 72 hours stable.
Q: Do I need a maintenance page?
A: Yes. Serve a 503 with Retry-After header during switch.
Q: Rollback plan?
A: Document DNS, server IPs, last-known-good commit. Test rollback once before launch day.
Q: Launch on Friday?
A: No. Tuesday–Wednesday morning. Friday = on-call weekend.
Conclusion
Checklists turn launch stress into launch routine. Run this every time — your future self thanks you.