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

Source: Smashing Magazine 2025, Google Search Central.

The 60-Item Checklist

Technical (1–15)

1. SSL certificate installed and valid
2. HTTP → HTTPS redirect site-wide
3. www vs. apex decision made + 301 enforced
4. Favicon (ICO + PNG + Apple touch icon)
5. robots.txt correctly allows/disallows
6. XML sitemap generated + submitted to GSC
7. 404 page custom + branded
8. 500 page custom + branded
9. Server-side caching enabled
10. CDN set up + tested
11. Server location near primary audience
12. Database backups automated (daily)
13. DNS TTL lowered to 300s before launch
14. Monitoring + uptime alerts wired
15. Error logging (Sentry or equivalent) live

Performance (16–22)

16. LCP < 2.5s on 4G
17. INP < 200ms
18. CLS < 0.1
19. Images optimized (WebP/AVIF)
20. Lazy loading for below-fold media
21. Fonts preloaded, no FOIT/FOUT
22. JS/CSS minified + split

SEO (23–33)

23. Title tags on every page
24. Meta descriptions on every page
25. Canonical tags correct
26. Hreflang (if multilingual)
27. Open Graph + Twitter Card tags
28. Schema.org JSON-LD for page type
29. Internal links all working
30. External links set correctly (rel, target)
31. Redirects from old URLs (if migrating)
32. AEO: Quick Answer + FAQ schema on key pages
33. GSC + Bing Webmaster verified

Content (34–40)

34. No Lorem ipsum anywhere
35. All images have alt text
36. Contact page has real email + phone
37. About page has team photos + bios
38. Blog has 3+ published posts (not empty)
39. Typos scanned (spellcheck + AI pass)
40. Brand voice consistent across pages

Accessibility (41–47)

41. WCAG 2.2 AA contrast on all text
42. All interactive elements keyboard-accessible
43. Focus indicators visible
44. Form labels present + programmatically linked
45. Skip-to-content link at top
46. ARIA landmarks on nav, main, footer
47. prefers-reduced-motion respected

Legal (48–53)

48. Privacy Policy published + linked
49. Terms of Service published + linked
50. Cookie consent banner (EU-compliant)
51. GDPR data request flow in place
52. CCPA "Do Not Sell" link (if in scope)
53. Accessibility statement

Analytics + Launch Day (54–60)

54. GA4 or Plausible/Fathom installed + verified
55. Goal / event tracking tested
56. Heatmap tool (Hotjar, Clarity) optional
57. UTM conventions documented
58. Social media announce post scheduled
59. Email blast to existing list drafted
60. 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

FAQs

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.

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