Record the starting point and the intended changes
Identify important existing pages, useful search landing pages and the contact routes the business relies on. Record the changes planned for URLs, content, navigation and forms. A fresh structure can be appropriate, but its purpose and effect should be understood.
Separate content that has a suitable new destination from material that is genuinely retired. Google advises against redirecting many old pages to an irrelevant homepage. A useful mapping should explain where the equivalent information now lives, or allow an honest not-found response when it no longer exists.
Check the new pages as a connected website
Review the page titles, descriptions, headings, internal links and canonical URLs together. The sitemap should list intended canonical pages, while navigation should help visitors find important content. Temporary indexing restrictions used during development must be handled deliberately at launch.
Inspect the actual page response and content as well as the visual layout. Test smaller screens and the controls needed to navigate or enquire. Images should have accurate context, suitable loading behaviour and dimensions that reduce unnecessary page movement.
- Check important old-to-new route mappings.
- Confirm live canonical URLs and crawl controls.
- Review mobile navigation and readable content.
- Test missing pages and redirect destinations.
- Verify the sitemap contains the intended public URLs.
Test an enquiry through the intended destination
A submit animation is not proof of delivery. Use a clearly labelled test request through the appropriate path and confirm that the lead was saved in the intended system. Check required fields, validation, duplicate handling and the message shown to the visitor.
If chat prepares a brief, confirm that the visitor can review it before submission and that the form retains the useful context. Analytics should measure the intended event at the correct point, subject to the configured visitor choices. Keep personal form details out of routine Analytics events.
Verify the published version and follow the evidence
After deployment, check the real domain, HTTPS and host routing, important pages, assets and contact path. Verify the correct Search Console property and sitemap submission where authorized. These checks establish what is live; they do not prove that every page has already been indexed.
Record the deployed version and any remaining verification. Then review indexing, unexpected errors and enquiry quality as data becomes available. The launch handoff should make the site’s state clear enough for the next person to maintain it without guessing.
Sources & further reading
Official references used for the local and platform guidance on this page.