Launching Your First Website? Here's the Checklist Nobody Gives You

You built a website. It works on your computer. You’re ready to show it to the world. But before you launch, there’s a checklist of things that separate “student project” from “professional website.” Most tutorials skip this part.

Not anymore.

SEO Basics

Title tags on every page. Each page needs a unique, descriptive title under 60 characters. Not “Page 1” or “Untitled.” Your homepage title should include your brand name and what you do.

Meta descriptions. Check them with the meta description checker. Every page needs a unique description under 160 characters. This is your search result sales pitch.

Open Graph tags. When someone shares your link on social media, what shows up? Use the OG tag generator to create proper preview cards with images, titles, and descriptions.

robots.txt. Tell search engines what to crawl and what to skip. Generate one with the robots.txt generator. At minimum, allow all important pages and block admin/private areas.

sitemap.xml. Give search engines a map of your site. Generate one with the sitemap XML generator and submit it to Google Search Console.

Visual Polish

Favicon. That little icon in the browser tab. Create all necessary sizes with the favicon generator. Without it, your site looks unfinished.

Mobile responsive. Test your site on at least 3 screen sizes: phone, tablet, desktop. If anything looks broken on mobile, fix it before launch. Over 60% of web traffic is mobile.

404 page. Someone will visit a broken link. Have a custom 404 page that looks like your site and helps them navigate back.

Security

SSL certificate. Your site must load on HTTPS, not HTTP. Most hosting providers include free SSL. Verify with the SSL certificate checker.

Security headers. Check your headers with the security headers analyzer. At minimum: X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.

Privacy policy. If you collect any data (even analytics), you need a privacy policy. Generate one with the privacy policy generator.

Performance

Page speed. Test with Chrome Lighthouse (DevTools > Lighthouse). Aim for 90+ on all scores. If images are slowing you down, compress them.

Image optimization. No image on your website should exceed 500KB. Most should be under 200KB. Use WebP format where possible.

Loading states. If anything takes more than 1 second to load, show a loading indicator. A blank screen feels broken.

The Pre-Launch Checklist

• Unique title tags on every page
• Meta descriptions on every page
• OG tags for social sharing
• robots.txt configured
• sitemap.xml created and submitted
• Favicon in all sizes
• Mobile responsive on 3+ screen sizes
• Custom 404 page
• SSL certificate active
• Security headers configured
• Privacy policy published
• Lighthouse score 90+
• Images optimized
• All links work (no 404s)
• Forms tested and working
• Analytics installed

Go through this list. Fix everything that’s missing. Then launch with confidence. Your website is ready.