The website looks finished.
The temptation is to connect the domain, announce it on social media and move on.
Before you do, check these ten things.
Small mistakes are far easier to fix before customers start finding them.
1. Check every page on a phone
Do not rely entirely on the preview inside a website builder.
Open the website on an actual mobile phone.
Check:
- Navigation
- Text size
- Buttons
- Forms
- Images
- Spacing
- Pop-ups
- Calls to action
Pay particular attention to the first screen somebody sees.
Can they immediately understand what the business does?
2. Test every contact route
Click the telephone number.
Click the email address.
Submit the enquiry form.
Send a real test message.
If the business has WhatsApp or booking links, test those too.
Never assume that because a button exists it works.
3. Check where form enquiries actually arrive
This deserves its own check.
Submit the form and make sure the message reaches the correct inbox.
Then check:
- Did it arrive?
- Did it go into spam?
- Does the message contain the information you need?
- Does the customer receive an acknowledgement if one is meant to be sent?
A website enquiry that disappears is potentially lost revenue.
4. Check the business details
Compare the website against the information supplied by the client.
Check:
- Business name
- Telephone
- Areas served
- Opening hours
- Prices
- Service descriptions
- Company details where relevant
Do not assume copied text is correct simply because it already existed on the old site.
5. Check all links
Click them.
That includes:
- Menu links
- Footer links
- Social links
- Call-to-action buttons
- Privacy page
- Terms
- Articles
- External links
Also make sure links go to the page you actually intended.
6. Check basic SEO information
Every important page should have:
- A sensible title
- An appropriate meta description
- A clear main heading
- Logical subheadings
- A clean URL
- Appropriate image alt text
Also make sure the website has a sitemap and isn’t accidentally blocking search engines from accessing important pages. (More on this in what foundational SEO includes.)
Google Search Console (opens in a new tab) can then be used to monitor indexing and search performance.
7. Check privacy and cookies
If your site collects personal information, make sure appropriate privacy information is available.
The ICO advises businesses (opens in a new tab) processing personal data to explain clearly what information they use, why they use it, how long it is retained and who it may be shared with.
Also identify which cookies or similar technologies are used.
Do not assume every analytics or embedded service has the same requirements.
If you’re unsure what applies to your business, use current ICO guidance or obtain appropriate professional advice.
8. Check security and the domain
Open the live domain and check HTTPS is working properly.
Also test:
- www.yourbusiness.co.uk
- yourbusiness.co.uk
One should normally redirect cleanly to the preferred version.
If DNS has been changed, make sure existing business email still works.
Email records should be checked before DNS changes, not after somebody discovers their email has stopped arriving.
9. Check how the website looks when shared
Send the website URL to yourself on WhatsApp or paste it into a social platform.
Does it show:
- The correct image?
- The business name?
- A sensible description?
If not, social-sharing metadata may need adjusting.
Also check that the browser tab displays the correct favicon.
10. Ask someone who hasn’t built it to use it
This is one of the most useful tests.
Ask somebody to open the website without explaining anything.
Give them a task such as:
"Find out whether this company provides X and work out how you’d request a quote."
Watch what they do.
If they struggle to find something you thought was obvious, that is useful information.
The website needs to make sense to customers, not just to the people who built it.
Then launch it
No website needs to be perfect forever before it can launch.
It does need to be checked carefully enough that the fundamentals work.
At The Business Workshop, launch testing, technical checks and the relevant elements of The Business Workshop Standard are built into the website process rather than treated as an afterthought.
Want your launch checked properly?
Launch testing, technical checks and post-launch checks are built into every Business Workshop website.