The calm website launch checklist

Verify the paths, ownership, search signals, and recovery plan before announcing the URL.

01

Walk the primary journey

Begin as a first-time visitor on a phone. Follow the main decision path without using the browser back button as a crutch. Read labels aloud and note every pause.

Repeat on desktop with keyboard only.

EXAMPLE

Landing → service detail → relevant evidence → contact → confirmation with clear response expectation.

MISTAKE TO AVOID

Checking pages individually without testing the journey between them.

NEXT ACTION

Record a screen capture of the primary journey and fix every dead end.

02

Submit and recover every interaction

Use realistic good input, invalid input, missing required input, and a network failure where possible. Confirm where submissions arrive and who owns the response process.

Copy buttons, filters, accordions, calculators, and navigation all need visible state changes.

EXAMPLE

A contact form rejects an invalid email, preserves the message, then confirms submission and expected response time.

MISTAKE TO AVOID

Assuming a form works because the button changes color on hover.

NEXT ACTION

Create an interaction inventory and mark pass, fail, owner, and evidence.

03

Check discovery and ownership

Verify unique titles, descriptions, canonicals, social previews, headings, sitemap, robots rules, analytics decisions, domain renewal, and recovery access.

Document the deployment and rollback process before traffic arrives.

EXAMPLE

The launch record names the domain owner, host owner, analytics owner, billing owner, and emergency contact.

MISTAKE TO AVOID

Letting the agency or former employee remain the only domain administrator.

NEXT ACTION

Store the ownership map somewhere the business can recover without one person.

USE THE GUIDE

Turn these decisions into a build specification.

Open the brief builder