The 47-Point Website Launch Checklist (How Fenway Web Goes Live Without Breaking Things)
Boston Made, Inc.Office of the Founder & CEO
From the desk of Nathan StricklandBoston, Massachusetts ·
Dear Sir or Madam,
Most websites don’t fail on design.
They fail on launch.
Because going live isn’t just “publishing.”
It’s:
- DNS changes
- hosting configuration
- SSL certificates
- redirects
- caching
- analytics
- performance checks
- SEO indexing setup
- form delivery checks
- broken link scans
And if you skip any of those…
You can accidentally launch a website that looks great…
…but silently breaks:
- calls
- forms
- rankings
- tracking
- emails
- customer trust
So today, Fenway Web is pulling the curtain back.
This is our Go-Live Standard — the checklist we follow to launch websites cleanly, safely, and professionally.
Why Most Website Launches Go Sideways
The average launch looks like this:
✅ website is built
✅ owner is excited
✅ button gets clicked
❌ someone notices forms aren’t working
❌ pages load slow
❌ Google loses rankings
❌ tracking is wrong
❌ old links break
❌ customers see errors
A bad launch doesn’t always look bad immediately.
It looks fine…
then your leads dry up 2 weeks later.
That’s why a real launch process matters.
The Fenway Web Go-Live Standard (47-Point Checklist)
This is what Fenway Web checks before we call a website “live.”
CATEGORY 1: Domain + DNS (Points 1–7)
- Confirm domain ownership + login access
- Verify DNS records (A / CNAME / TXT)
- Confirm TTL strategy before changes
- Verify WWW vs non-WWW canonical behavior
- Confirm email records (MX) are untouched
- Confirm CDN records (if used)
- Confirm propagation + fallback plan
CATEGORY 2: SSL + Security (Points 8–13)
- SSL certificate installed + auto-renew enabled
- HTTP → HTTPS redirect working sitewide
- Mixed content scan (no insecure assets)
- WordPress admin hardening (if WP)
- Firewall/WAF enabled if applicable
- Security headers baseline check
CATEGORY 3: Redirects + URL Integrity (Points 14–20)
- Map old URLs to new URLs
- Install 301 redirects for high-value pages
- Prevent redirect chains
- Prevent redirect loops
- Verify canonical tags on main pages
- Check 404 errors (pre-launch scan)
- Verify permalink structure consistency
CATEGORY 4: SEO Launch Setup (Points 21–27)
- Meta titles and descriptions complete
- H1 structure correct on key pages
- XML sitemap generated + accessible
- Robots.txt verified (not blocking important pages)
- Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
- Verify schema opportunities (LocalBusiness, FAQ, etc.)
- Confirm noindex removed from launch pages
CATEGORY 5: Performance + Speed (Points 28–33)
- Image compression check
- Cache plugin / caching enabled (if WP)
- Minification settings reviewed
- Lazy load behavior tested
- Mobile performance spot test
- Run Lighthouse baseline test + record score
CATEGORY 6: Forms + Lead Delivery (Points 34–38)
- Test every form submission
- Confirm email delivery (not just thank-you message)
- Confirm spam filtering works
- Confirm form submits tracked as conversions
- Confirm phone number links work (click-to-call)
CATEGORY 7: Analytics + Tracking (Points 39–44)
- GA4 installed and firing
- Google Search Console verified
- Meta Pixel / Ads tags (if used) installed properly
- Event tracking for conversions (calls/forms/bookings)
- Confirm UTM tracking consistency
- Confirm cookie banner behavior (if enabled)
CATEGORY 8: UX + Human QA (Points 45–47)
- Full mobile navigation check (menu, tap targets)
- Full cross-browser check (Chrome/Safari/Edge)
- Proofread the “money pages” (home/services/contact)
The Real Goal: A Quiet Launch
A successful launch is boring.
No panic.
No emergency fixes.
No “why isn’t it working?”
Just:
✅ clean performance
✅ clean SEO transfer
✅ clean conversion tracking
✅ clean user experience
A quiet launch is a professional launch.
Final Word: Launch Day Is Not the Finish Line
Going live is not “done.”
It’s the starting line.
Because after launch, we monitor:
- uptime
- speed
- lead delivery
- indexing
- ranking movement
- performance drift
That’s the Fenway Web standard.
Not just build.
Not just publish.
Build → verify → launch → monitor.
Want Fenway Web To Launch It The Right Way?
If you’re planning a new site launch (or relaunch), Fenway Web can handle:
✅ design + build
✅ SEO structure
✅ speed optimization
✅ conversion tracking
✅ safe Go-Live process
✅ monitoring support
No chaos.
No broken leads.
No lost rankings.
