Site launch checklist

Important things to check and consider before launching your site.

Last updated December 17, 2024

As you prepare to publish your site, use this list to ensure everything is ready for visitors and search engines.

To help you budget your time, we've labeled some items as optional. These can help make a site feel truly yours, but aren't as necessary for getting your site up and running. For example, a custom 404 page makes your site look more polished, but if you don't create one, there's a default 404 page already set up for you. You can always continue to fine-tune your site after you publish it.

To get the perspective of a few friends or colleagues before publishing, set and share a site password.

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Step 1 - Perfect your site's design and style

Recommended:

  • Set your site title (always) and add a logo (optional). Logos replace site titles, but the site title will still appear in other places, like search results.

Optional:

Step 2 - Finalize your pages

Recommended:

Optional:

  • Ensure each page's size is below 5 MB. Large pages affect your site's mobile compatibility and overall loading speed.
  • Build a community and sell access to your expertise by adding a member site or course page to your site.
  • Design a custom 404 error page in case visitors end up in the wrong place.
  • Consider if there are pages your visitors will be looking for that you haven't yet created. For inspiration, visit our guides on About and Contact pages, or our site topic guides.

Step 3 - Check images

Recommended:

Optional:

Step 4 - Check domains and integrations

Recommended:

Optional:

  • Consider using our Google Workspace integration to create email addresses for your custom domain.
  • If you've already set up a custom email address, it's a good idea to send a few test emails to ensure your inbox is working.
  • If you have an international audience, consider using our Weglot integration to add a language switcher to your site and translate your content into other languages.

Step 5 - Optimize for search engines

Go through our SEO checklist to ensure your site is optimized for search engines. For example, ensure every page has an SEO description.

Step 6 - Check your online store and invoicing setup

If your site has a store page, or if you plan to invoice clients for custom products or services, ensure you’re ready to receive orders and collect leads:

Recommended for online stores and invoicing:

Recommended for online stores:

  • Run a test order to see what checkout is like for your customers. This is a good time to check how shipping options display and how your email notifications look.
  • Confirm every product has the correct price, at least one product image, and a complete description.
  • Disable test mode to prepare for accepting orders.

Optional for online stores:

Step 7 - Publish

When you're ready to share your site with the world, visit Publishing or hiding your site.

After making your site public, check the following things.

Recommended:

Optional:

  • Visit your site on different mobile devices and browsers to ensure your visitors' experience is consistent no matter how they get to your site.
  • After people start visiting your site, use our built-in analytics tools and Google Analytics integration to track site traffic and check for trends.

Tip

Treat your site as a work in progress. After publishing, you can continue to customize and add content. Even if your site stays mostly the same, it's good to check periodically to ensure the information is still correct and any links to other websites haven't broken.

Step 8 - Promote your site after publishing (optional)

When your site is live, here are some tips for promoting it:

Blog page checklist

For blog pages:

If you're using your blog page to host a podcast:

Events page checklist

For events pages:

  • Review the main landing page.
  • Open each upcoming event and review its images, text, times, and links.
  • Add additional page sections to include more content.

Portfolio pages checklist

For Portfolio pages:

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  • Get help from our community

  • Get help from our community on advanced customizations.

  • Hire a Squarespace Expert

  • Stand out online with the help of an experienced designer or developer.