Brad Farleigh

Look, I’ve launched more websites than I can count, and here’s the truth – most website launch checklists out there are missing crucial steps that can make or break your launch day. After years of managing launches for everything from small business sites to enterprise platforms across Australia, I’ve developed a bulletproof checklist that actually works in the real world.

The Problem with Most Website Launches

Ever stayed up until 3 AM trying to figure out why your DNS isn’t propagating? Or had that sinking feeling when you realise your Google Analytics isn’t tracking properly on launch day? Or worse – discovered that hundreds of your old URLs are returning 404 errors because nobody mapped out the redirects properly? Yeah, we’ve all been there.

The thing is, launching a website isn’t just about pushing code to production anymore. It’s a complex dance of technical checks, analytics setup, proper URL mapping, and making sure everything’s properly organised from day one. Miss any of these steps, and you’re not just leaving money on the table – you’re potentially killing your SEO rankings.

Why You Need a Launch Checklist (And Why Most Fail)

Here’s the kicker – about 70% of website launches I’ve seen have missed at least one critical step. Usually, it’s something that seems minor but comes back to bite you later. Like not setting up your event tracking properly in GA4, or forgetting to check those legacy subdomains that nobody mentioned in the handover.

The Complete Website Launch Checklist for 2025

Right, let’s break this down into manageable chunks. I’ll walk you through exactly what you need to check, and why each step matters.

1. Pre-Launch Technical Setup: The Foundation

First things first – let’s get the technical basics sorted:

• Remember that time I found an old subdomain running a forgotten WordPress site? Yeah, that’s why we always start with a complete DNS audit using Google’s DNS lookup tool.
• Pro tip: Check for those legacy MX records. You’d be surprised how many times email goes down during a launch because somebody forgot about them.
• Make sure your .au domain registration matches your ABN details
• Get your SSL sorted early. Nothing worse than those “not secure” warnings on launch day.
• Set up your security headers properly. I’ve got a separate guide for that which I’ll link below.

Pre-Migration Planning: The Critical First Step

Before we dive into the technical checklist, let’s talk about migration planning. This is crucial whether you’re:

• Moving to a new CMS
• Changing your domain structure
• Consolidating multiple websites
• Replatforming your ecommerce site
• Launching a complete website redesign

A successful migration starts with solid planning. Here’s what you need to consider:

1. Content and URL Audit

• Complete content inventory of existing site
• Performance analysis of current pages
• Backlink profile assessment
• Traffic value analysis by page
• Content consolidation opportunities

2. Technical Migration Planning

• Server and hosting requirements
• Database migration strategy
• Staging environment setup
• Development timeline
• Rollback plan

3. URL Migration and Redirect Strategy

Before we even talk about analytics, let’s address the elephant in the room – URL redirects. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen websites lose massive chunks of traffic because they botched their redirect strategy. Here’s what you absolutely must do:

• Map Your URLs
• Export all your existing URLs from Google Analytics
• Crawl your current site (I use Screaming Frog for this)
• Check Google Search Console for any URLs you might have missed
• Document every single URL that gets traffic or has backlinks
• Plan Your Redirects
• Create a proper URL mapping spreadsheet (or better yet, use my AI-powered URL mapping tool to save hours of manual work)
• Match old URLs to new ones (don’t just redirect everything to the homepage!)
• Look for patterns you can use in redirect rules
• Check for redirect chains from previous migrations
• Use Google’s DNS lookup tool to find forgotten subdomains
• Implementation
• Set up 301 redirects (not 302s – this is crucial for SEO)
• Test every redirect before going live
• Check for redirect loops
• Verify redirect performance (slow redirects kill user experience)
• Document all redirects for future reference

Pro tip: Don’t wait until launch day to think about redirects. I’ve seen sites lose years of SEO juice because somebody thought “we’ll sort out the redirects later.” Spoiler alert: later usually means never.

3. Analytics Setup: Don’t Miss This

Here’s where most people muck up. They either:

• Set up basic GA4 and call it a day
• Forget to plan their event tracking strategy
• Miss the BigQuery integration completely

Trust me, you want this sorted before launch. Here’s what you need:

• GA4 Configuration
• Set up your property
• Plan your events (seriously, sit down with your client and map these out)
• Get that BigQuery export running day one
• Link your Google Ads account (you’ll thank me later)
• Make sure your timezone is set correctly

3. Tracking and Marketing Tools

This is the bit that makes your website actually useful for business:

• Google Tag Manager setup (with proper triggers)
• Conversion tracking configuration
• Social media pixel integration
• Heat mapping tools (I recommend Hotjar)

4. Australian Compliance Requirements

Let’s talk about the local requirements that overseas checklists miss:

• ABN display requirements
• GST disclosure (where applicable)
• Australian Privacy Principles compliance
• Spam Act requirements for forms and newsletters

5. The Pre-Launch Checklist

Here’s my actual checklist that I use for every launch. Feel free to steal it:

Post-Migration and Launch Monitoring

The work isn’t over once you’ve launched or completed your migration. Here’s what you need to monitor:

• Search Performance
• Daily organic traffic monitoring
• Ranking tracking for key terms
• Google Search Console indexing status
• 404 error monitoring
• Redirect performance
• Technical Health
• Server response times
• Redirect chain performance
• Core Web Vitals
• Mobile usability
• Site crawlability
• Business Metrics
• Conversion rates compared to old site
• User engagement metrics
• Page load times
• Form submissions
• Revenue tracking (for ecommerce)

The Complete Migration and Launch Checklist

Right, here’s my actual checklist that I use for every website migration and launch. Feel free to steal it:

Common Migration and Launch Day Disasters (And How to Avoid Them)

Let me share a few war stories:

1. The Great Redirect Disaster of 2024 – A client switched from their old CMS to a new platform without proper URL mapping. They had thousands of product pages with decent Google rankings. Two weeks after launch, their organic traffic had dropped by 85%. Why? All their old URLs were throwing 404s, and Google was rapidly de-indexing them. It took three months to recover their rankings after we implemented proper 301 redirects. This disaster actually inspired me to build an AI-powered URL mapping tool to help prevent this exact situation. The lesson? Map your URLs before touching anything.
2. The time a client’s email stopped working because we missed an MX record
3. When we launched without checking mobile forms (rookie mistake)
4. That fun day when we realised the staging robots.txt got pushed to production
5. The classic ABN verification drama with a .au domain registration

Learn from my mistakes – they’re less painful than making your own.

Next Steps: Your Launch Plan

Right, so you’ve got the checklist. But what now? Here’s what I recommend:

1. Download the complete checklist (I’ve made it available as a PDF above)
2. Schedule your launch for a Tuesday or Wednesday morning (trust me on this)
3. Have a rollback plan ready (because sometimes things just go wrong)
4. Get your dev team comfortable with Australian hosting environments

Need Help With Your Launch?

Look, website launches are complex. Sometimes you want a local expert in your corner. If you need help ensuring your launch goes smoothly, get in touch and let’s talk about how I can help.