A launch checklist for a small business website
Get the name and extension right
Pick a name customers can say on the phone, and take the extension your market trusts. Register it for two years and switch on auto-renew before you build anything.
The six pages that matter
Home, services, pricing or quote request, about, contact, and one proof page (cases, reviews, gallery). Everything else can wait until the first pages earn traffic.
Make contact effortless
Phone number and messaging link in the header, working form on the contact page, and business hours written out. Every extra click between interest and contact costs you leads.
Speed and mobile first
Most local traffic is mobile. Compress images, keep one font family, and test the site on a mid-range phone before launch, not after.
Basic SEO before launch
One clear H1 per page, a unique title and description per page, readable URLs, a sitemap submitted to Search Console, and your business listed on the local map service.
Trust signals
Real address or service area, privacy page, terms page, and a visible name behind the business. Small sites lose deals to anonymity more often than to design.
Suggested two-week order of work
- Days 1–2: pick the domain, check value and availability in domain search, and set up same-domain email.
- Days 3–5: write the core pages: home, services, about, contact, privacy.
- Days 6–7: add real contact details, address if any, and opening hours.
- Days 8–9: optimise images for phones and confirm each page opens within a few seconds.
- Days 10–11: write a unique title and description per page, then check them with the SEO audit.
- Days 12–14: add the site to Search Console, submit the sitemap, and ask three people to try it on their phones.
Worked example
A small repair workshop launched a one-page site with no visible phone number. After adding a sticky call button on mobile, one page per service with approximate prices, and a sitemap, requests started arriving from local search within weeks. The key change was not design — visitors could now find a price and a way to call in under five seconds.
Comparison table: essential vs can wait
| Element | Essential at launch | Can wait |
|---|---|---|
| Own domain + email | Yes | — |
| Contact page with real number | Yes | — |
| Privacy policy | Yes | — |
| Regular blog | — | After core pages are stable |
| Full online store | — | After demand is proven |
| Fully custom design | — | A clean template is enough at first |
After launch
Check Search Console weekly for indexing errors, watch which pages get contacted from, and improve those first.
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