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20 Website Launch Checklist, Best Practices, and Launch Plan in 2025

on 15 Jan 2025, by Bogdan, in Blog, WordPress, Cloud, Guides

by Bogdan

Do you need a step-by-step website launch checklist to build and launch a brand-new website successfully? If so, you’re in the right place.

A good website launch checklist includes all the initial steps of creating a site to its official launch and management afterward. It ensures that nothing is overlooked at any stage. In addition, it helps you launch confidently, deliver a user experience, and keep your site running smoothly for a long time.

So you can have peace of mind going online from day one, we’ve put together a 20-step website launch checklist to help you create your own. It covers best practices, actionable tips, SEO optimization, security, and user experience.

We have subdivided this checklist into five phases:

Preparation phase
Design and development phase
Pre-launch phase
Website launch phase
Post-launch phase

Ready to get started? We’ll go through each of these phases in our website launch checklist.

Preparation Phase

In the preparation phase, you lay the groundwork for a successful website launch. Each step in this checklist ensures that your website starts on the right track, addressing key aspects like purpose, competition, and technical setup. For those who have their websites already built, it may seem we’re taking you back to the initial stages of site-building. However, this is the chance to confirm if you missed something and rectify it.

Here are some of the things you should check:

#1 Define Your Website’s Purpose and Target Audience

All you have to do here is to consider your business goals and who it’s for. Whether it's a personal blog, an online store, or a portfolio, its purpose should align with the needs of your target audience.

Other things you should consider include:

How do you want to be known by your audience? This will be your business name.

How do you want them to reach you? That's your domain name. You'll want to put some good thought into your domain name as it represents your business and it also supports your SEO objectives and may impact discoverability. It serves your business goals by referencing your product or service. So, choose something unique, and memorable, but also easy to type and containing a main keyword, if possible.

Note: Take your time to understand your target audience as well. Find out their needs and preferences.

#2 Conduct Competitor Research

Your objective in this research is to draw inspiration and insights from competitor websites. What works and what doesn't in your niche? Look at their designs, features, pricing and communication, SEO and advertising strategies to identify trends and potential gaps you can capitalize on.

Generally, competitor research helps you stay relevant and stand out in a crowded online space.

#3 Choose a Website Builder and Hosting Provider

Essentially, a web hosting provider is where your site, files, and other assets will live. Three major things you'll want to look at include:

Uptime reliability. It ensures your site is available 24/7/365 days.
Site speed. People don’t stay on websites that take a long time to load. Slow site speed damages the user experience for visitors. Plus, Google ranks faster sites higher.

Customer service. You'll want to reach out to expert support when your website has issues.

Most web hosts allow you to buy a domain name (then register it) and hosting plan. In addition, the choice of a hosting provider will depend on the website builder platform you select. Platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Brizy.

Let’s take Brizy for example.

Brizy is a no-code website builder with a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and many pre-designed website templates.

You can choose from different products. Brizy for WordPress which you host. You’ll have to select managed WordPress hosting to build your site. We also have our own CMS called Brizy Cloud where you can build websites, landing pages, web stories, etc. These websites are hosted by Brizy. You can also create a website in record time for clients with an AI website builder that only requires you to prove specific business details.

What’s more, we recently released a page builder add-on for Shopify. What does this mean for you as a Shopify user? You can leverage the simplicity and robustness of the Brizy builder to design your Shopify store’s page. All without writing any code.

You can use Brizy’s Shopify Builder to design any type of page on your ecommerce store, including landing pages, homepages, product collections, etc. On top of that, you can also create popups, countdown timers, alert bars, and so on to promote your products.

All of this is mobile-optimized to help you capture mobile shoppers – which is where 77% of retail traffic comes from.

#4 Set Up Your SSL Certificate

Looking at this image is the biggest reason to set up your SSL certificate. An SSL certificate is a digital file that verifies your website and adds an extra layer of security for your visitors. This is what turns your website from an insecure HTTP to a secure HTTPS so users feel more comfortable accessing your site.

Without one, search engines will users their connection isn’t secure. Besides, most search engines will push your site down the search results pages (SERPs).

Here’s how you can implement SSL for clients.

Design and Development Phase

This is the stage where you bring your website to life and turn ideas into visuals and functionality. There are three major things to focus on during this phase.

#5. Optimize Website Templates and Web Designs

Some Brizy templates

Your website’s design is the face of your brand, so it should leave a positive and lasting impression. Here’s how to do it effectively:

For any major CMS, you’ll install a theme close to your desired design, and then customize it to match your brand. Themes built for specific purposes (e.g., education, travel, or artists) save time and effort.

So, choose a theme that fits your purpose.
Use a cohesive color scheme that aligns with your brand
Use whitespace strategically

There’s a lot you can do to customize your template. Most importantly, design with everyone in mind. Website accessibility is quickly becoming a huge concern on the internet.

#6 Add Essential Branding

Branding yourself is important. So, get a logo and favicon. A logo is one of the main ways that customers will recognize your business. If you have a business already, you may have a logo, which makes this easy. If not, you’ll need to get one created. There are a few ways you can do this:

Using AI logo generators like Looka, LogoAI, etc.

You can find designers on freelance platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Dribble. You can post a job here and designers will apply to create your logo. But, if you want a top-notch logo, search for “logo” on Dribbble. Browse the designs that come up, until you find a designer that you love. Contact them and hire them. This is the priciest of all options.

Note: Place the logo prominently and add a favicon to the website that matches your brand theme. Such small details make your website look polished and memorable.

#7 Write Your Website Copy

So far, you have a pretty empty website. Start by getting familiar with your CMS. Then, create basic pages, like the “About Us” page. Next, start filling in your home page with the first message(s) that you want new visitors to see.

If you’re using a website template:

Replace all the placeholder content with unique content and SEO-specific keywords
Tell Brizy AI what to write

Review each page. Go through every page on your website to ensure all placeholder content is removed and replaced.
Change the images, and update the headers, footers, etc.

When you’re done, proofread your content to ensure accuracy. Run through all of your website pages and reread your copy: the headlines, subheadings, buttons, and anything else that has been written for your website to undo any typos and grammatical errors.

Check for broken links as well.

Pre-launch Phase

The pre-launch phase is your opportunity to thoroughly test and refine your website before it is ready for the public. This stage focuses on ensuring functionality, performance, compliance, and user experience so your launch is as smooth and successful as possible.

#8 Optimize for SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures your website is discoverable by search engines. Use Brizy website builder built-in SEO tools to add meta descriptions, titles, and custom URLs for better search visibility. Add schema markup to provide additional context to search engines. Generally, proper SEO setup improves rankings and attracts more organized traffic.

We’ve covered these steps and more in our SEO checklist for ecommerce sites guide.

Even if you’re not an online store, these techniques can still work for you.

#9 Test Website Speed and Load Times

The best way to check website speed is to use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools provide a record of your site’s current page speed performance that lets you compare it with post-performance optimization results and adjust accordingly. They also help lay the groundwork for your speed optimization efforts by identifying specific areas that need specific improvement/attention.

Here are some speed optimization techniques depending on your performance results:

Optimize images
Minimize HTTP requests
Enable browser caching. Add expiration headers to your .htaccess file. These headers tell browsers how long they should cache different types of resources.
Use a content delivery network. Using a CDN enhances your site’s speed and reliability for a global audience.
Optimize your CMS database

Speed test tools like Google PageSpeed Insights will provide suggestions to improve your page load times. But all this is easy to say but you need to know how to do it. With Brizy, most of this work is done in the background for you, so you don’t need to do it manually.

#10 Check mobile compatibility

All Brizy templates are mobile-friendly. But it doesn't hurt to double-check your website on multiple devices and browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Firefox to ensure it appears and works as it should across the board. Ensure all buttons, forms, and interactive features work as intended. Check all internal and external links to prevent broken links that frustrate users. Have a few people navigate the site to provide feedback on usability and flow.

A site that’s easy to navigate on mobile gives visitors a better user experience and keeps them coming back. It also affects your SEO. In fact, user experience is one of Google’s ranking algorithms. Sites with better user experience rank better.

#11 Install Analytics and SEO Tools

While analytics don’t matter right away, you’ll want to start gathering data right away.

So, set up Google Analytics to monitor visitor behavior and link it with Google Search Console for detailed SEO insights. These tools help you track key metrics like traffic, bounce rates, and search performance, giving you the data needed to make informed decisions post-launch.

#12 Create a Privacy Policy

A privacy policy tells visitors how their personal information is collected, used, and protected on your website. For this reason alone, it's important to write one to ensure legal compliance with legal regulations like GDPR or CCPA. These regulations expect you to write a clear and simple privacy policy that explains what data you collect, why you collect it, and how it is used. Include details about cookies, third-party services, and how users can contact you with questions or concerns.

Overall, a good privacy policy doesn't only protect your business but it also encourages trust.

Website launch Phase

The website launch phase is the day your site officially goes live and can be seen by the public. The following are some things you can do to make a strong debut and attract attention.

#13 Create a Robot.txt File and Sitemap

Prepare a robots.txt file to guide search engines on which pages to crawl and index. Pair it with an XML sitemap that lists all your website’s pages in an organized way. Submit the sitemap to tools like Google Search Console so search engines can quickly find and rank your content. These steps improve visibility and ensure your site is indexed correctly.

Note: If Brizy Cloud hosts your site, robots.txt functionality may already be integrated, so you might not need additional configuration. For Brizy WordPress, ensure your hosting provider allows file management for robots.txt.

But you can use a robots.txt file in Brizy's project settings. Simply, go to SEO settings and locate the robots.txt. Then, add the robots.txt file rules in the text editor (e.g., allow or disallow specific pages). Copy the content. Paste the robots.txt content into the designated area for custom settings and save your settings.

#14 Test Call To Action buttons and Landing pages

Creating landing pages should be part of your marketing strategy. These pages allow you to focus on a single goal, such as generating leads, driving sales, or promoting a specific offer. We have already covered detailed landing page optimization best practices to generate as many conversions as possible via this page. Best practices like clear messaging, high-quality visuals, A/B testing, etc.

The call to action, on the other hand, assists customers to take an action. You can help them do so by removing all possible obstacles.

Something direct like this

Note: 84% of customers will bounce off your site if you ask customers to buy after their first encounter with your brand. But, if you offer them a free trial, you can possibly increase conversions by 358%. So focus some energy toward that direction for quality lead generation.

You'll find practical steps to make a CTA button prominent and impactful in our best practices to optimize the CTA button (with examples).

#15 Promote your Website Through Social Media and Email Campaigns

If you want people to find your website, you need to promote it.

One way you can do this is to spread the word about your new site through social media and email campaigns. Share a new website announcement that highlights your site's key features, benefits, and purpose via emails. Include links to drive traffic directly to your site. Email marketing tools like MailChimp, HubSpot, etc. You can use social media to share updates, promote your content, and answer questions. Just be sure to remain active and engaged with your followers.

Other tips you can try to promote websites:

Build and revisit your SEO strategy
Set up a profile on Google Business Profile
Get your business in local directories

By completing these steps, your website will be well-prepared for both search engines and visitors.

Post-launch Phase

The post-launch phase begins after your website goes live. During this phase, you can do the following:

#16 Monitor Website Performance

Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your website’s performance. Analyze traffic, conversions, and user behavior to identify areas for improvement. Focus on key metrics like page views, bounce rates, and time spent on the site. Monitoring performance helps you understand how to optimize your site and drive traffic effectively.

#17 Collect Feedback from Users

Collecting user feedback on a new site lets you know how users are responding to or perceive the site. What do they like? What needs to be improved? It can help you to understand what features to add or what features to get rid of.

Here are some tips to get you started:

The simplest way to gather feedback is to ask for reviews through easy-to-use forms or surveys.
Use email follow-ups to ask new visitors or customers for their thought

Leverage social media platforms to invite opinions and discussions about the site’s functionality and design.
Monitor comments, reviews, and messages across platforms to identify recurring themes or requests.

Make sure to respond to all types of feedback, good or bad, in a timely manner.

#18 Update and Expand Content Regularly

Fresh content keeps your audience engaged and improves SEO rankings.

Publish new blog posts, update outdated information, and add new features or resources to your site. Regular updates signal to search engines that your site is active, boosting online visibility and keeping visitors coming back.

#19 Establish a Security Protocol

Regularly check your site security settings to protect against vulnerabilities. Update software, plugins, and themes promptly. Monitor for unusual activity and perform routine malware scans. Back up your data regularly to prevent loss in case of an issue.

There are some security measures like daily managed backups, malware scans, firewalls, etc., which you’ll have to install a security plugin to handle effectively. For cloud platforms, like Brizy Cloud, you are protected by default.

#20 Plan for Future Growth

Think ahead and plan how your site can evolve.

Identify opportunities for new features, integrations, and expanded content. Use analytics and user feedback to guide your plans. A growth-oriented mindset helps you stay competitive and adapt to your audience's changing needs.

Generally, the overall goal of a successful post-launch phase is to maintain your website's performance and set the stage for long-term success. So, do regular updates and gather feedback to help keep your site fresh and relevant.

Conclusion

Building and launching a brand new website successfully requires a detailed checklist you can follow step by step until you're ready to launch.

This is exactly what we’ve covered in this guide. You can use our website launch checklist as it is or adapt it to suit specific needs. We've covered all the essential steps in the preparation, design and optimization, pre-launch, site launch, and post-launch phases so you don't miss anything important from step 0 to launch.

Most importantly, you have to work with the right tools, like Brizy website builder, to streamline these steps for you and make the process easier and more efficient. Even for upcoming websites on your roaster.

Take full advantage of this 20-step guide to smoothly launch your website in 2025. By following these steps carefully, you'll set your website up for success and create a solid foundation for long-term growth and user engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the most important step in a website launch checklist?

The most important step is testing your website before launch. This includes:

Checking for broken links, errors, and slow load times.
Verifying mobile compatibility and user experience.
Ensuring all SEO elements, such as meta descriptions and schema markup, are in place.

A thorough test prevents issues that could hurt your site’s credibility and performance when it goes live.

How can I announce a new website launch?

There are several ways to announce a new website launch. For example, you can share updates and visuals of your new website on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Similarly, if you have an email list, send an email to your subscribers notifying them of your new website. If possible, do a press release or collaborate with influencers or businesses to spread the word.

What are the common mistakes during website launch?

There are various mistakes site owners overlook during a new website launch. Just to mention a few, some include:

Poor content quality
Skipping testing. For instance, overlooking broken links, slow load times, or mobile compatibility issues.
Ignoring analytics tools. Not integrating with tools like Google Analytics to monitor performance

Weak SEO setup
Failing to announce a brand new site launch across all channels

How soon can I expect traffic to my newly launched website?

Getting traffic to a new website takes time and effort. You might see a small spike in traffic if you promote the site through social media, email campaigns, and ads. But this is often short-term. Building organic traffic takes longer—usually 2–3 months or more. Sustained traffic builds over time with consistent updates, fresh content, and regular promotion.

Success doesn’t happen overnight, but steady work will bring steady growth.

Website Launch Checklist

Preparation phase - Start by researching your purpose, target audience, and competitors to lay the foundation. Then pick a platform for building your website.
Design and development phase - Create your site’s pages and optimize their designs. Add your branding elements and write your copy.

Pre-launch phase - Ensure your website is working as it should by optimizing it for SEO, testing its speed, checking mobile compatibility, and other metrics.
Website launch phase - Take your website live and promote it across other marketing channels.
Post-launch phase - Monitor your website’s performance over time, secure it, and update it when needed. Collect feedback from users on how to improve it further.

Article by Bogdan

Co-founder & Head of Design, Bogdan has a passion for everything that works great and looks awesome. Guilty for most of the UI and UX around this place, you can say "Hi" to him at bogdan at brizy dot io