A checklist of miscellaneous tasks to do before launching a public website.

• Strict usage of domain with or without www
• Correct language set in HTML tag
• Charset is set
• HTML is valid
• 404-page is available

• Pages can be indexed
• Pages have unique page titles (fewer than 70 characters, includes keywords).
• Pages have unique meta descriptions (fewer than 156 characters, includes keywords).
• Pages have keywords (fewer than 10, all words appear in page copy).
• Images use the alt-attribute
• Links use a title-attribute
• A dynamic XML sitemap has been created.
• The XML sitemap has been submitted to search engines.
• H1s used for page titles and only one H1 per page
• HTTPS is used on all pages

• Create Google Analytics account
• Hook up the GA Tracking Code (typically in our analytics_lib.js file)
• Set up relevant Goals and Funnels
• Set up Google Webmaster Tools
• Verify site in Webmaster Tools with DNS TXT record
• Link Webmaster Tools to Google Analytics

• Set up general meta tags

• <meta name=“description”>
• <meta name=“author”>

• Set up Facebook meta tags & validate here

• <meta property=“og:site_name”>
• <meta property=“og:title”>
• <meta property=“og:type”>
• <meta property=“og:description”>
• <meta property=“og:url”>
• <meta property=“og:image”>

• Set up Twitter meta tags & validate here

• <meta name=“twitter:card”>
• <meta name=“twitter:site”>
• <meta name=“twitter:creator”>
• <meta name=“twitter:description”> (note that this needs to be under 200 characters)
• <meta name=“twitter:title”>
• <meta name=“twitter:url”>
• <meta name=“twitter:image:src”>

• Create 2-5 meme images using Canva or a similar tool

Test on various mobile devices:

• Scrolling is easy
• Nav bar works
• Hoverable things are tappable
• Charts/maps look ok

• Run the site through https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
• Run the site through https://tools.pingdom.com/
• Leverage browser Caching https://gtmetrix.com/leverage-browser-caching.html
• Enable gZip compression https://gtmetrix.com/enable-gzip-compression.html
• Minify CSS & JS
• CDN is used for static files
• HTTP/2 is being used

• Viewport Meta Tag is used correctly
• Displays & functions correctly in IE10
• Displays & functions correctly in IE11
• Displays & functions correctly in Microsoft Edge
• Displays & functions correctly in Firefox (Windows)
• Displays & functions correctly in Firefox (Mac)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Windows)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Mac)
• Displays & functions correctly in Safari (Mac)
• Displays & functions correctly in Safari (iOS – Mobile)
• Displays & functions correctly in Safari (iOS – iPad)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (iOS – Mobile)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (iOS – iPad)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Android – Mobile)
• Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Android – Tablet)
• Displays & functions correctly on large resolutions

• Color Contrast is good (WCAG 2.0)
• WAI-ARIA roles are used
• Usage of accessible elements like nav, footer, aside
• URLs are accessible
• Keyboard accessibility is available
• Correct input types are used

• HTTPS is used on all pages
• There is no mixed content on the pages
• External plugins and trackings get loaded via HTTPS
• Robots.txt is in use
• Cross-Site-Scripting is not possible
• HSTS Header is set
• Content-Security-Policy is set and only allows specific hosts and no inline scripts

• https://www.letsvalidate.com

This checklist is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0

• https://github.com/datamade/site-launch-checklist (MIT)
• https://github.com/drublic/checklist
• https://humaan.com/checklist/ (CC-BY-SA 4.0)