The hour before launch is chaos. The team is finalizing copy. Engineering is pushing last fixes. The founder is anxious. Inevitably, brand details get missed in the rush. And the missed details are the ones customers see first when traffic arrives.
This is the launch-day checklist. Fourteen items, ordered by what hurts most if broken when traffic arrives. Work through them in order. If you've nailed all 14, you're as ready as any founder can be.
Tier 1: Will-embarrass-you-if-broken (verify with eyes, twice)
1. The homepage loads correctly.
Open your homepage in three browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox. Open it on a phone. Look at it for 5 seconds. Does anything look broken? Missing images? Misaligned layouts? Font that didn't load? The 5-second test catches most issues.
2. The hero copy says what you want it to say.
Read the hero out loud. Does it accurately describe what you do? Is it free of placeholder text like "Lorem ipsum" or "Your tagline here"? Is the spelling correct? Founders frequently realize on launch day that the hero says something slightly wrong; this is your chance.
3. The primary CTA works.
Click the main "Sign Up" / "Get Started" / "Try Free" button. Does it go where it's supposed to go? Does the page it leads to work? Does the form submit? The signup flow should be tested end-to-end at least once an hour before launch.
4. The pricing page is accurate.
If you have pricing, look at the pricing page. Are the prices correct? Are the feature lists for each tier accurate? Is the recommended tier visually emphasized? Are the CTAs functional?
Tier 2: Show-up-broken-in-search-results (verify in the right tools)
5. The Open Graph image renders.
Share your URL in Slack or LinkedIn (or use opengraph.xyz). Does an image appear? Is it the right image? Is it the right brand? OG images render at small sizes. Verify it's legible.
6. The page title is correct.
The browser tab text should say something specific to your brand and page, not "Untitled" or "[BRAND] - Coming Soon" if launch is happening. Look at the tab.
7. The meta description is set.
The text that appears in Google search results. Should be specific to your brand and page. Use a tool like meta-tags.io to preview how the page appears in search.
8. The favicon shows up.
Look at the browser tab. Is your favicon visible? Or is there a generic browser icon? Or is it your old logo from a previous brand? Verify what's actually rendering.
Tier 3: Customer-experience-degrading (test the journey)
9. The welcome email sends.
Sign up for your own product. Does a welcome email arrive? Is it in your brand voice? Does it have the right logo, the right links, the right contact information?
10. The transactional email branding is current.
Password reset, payment confirmation, account update emails. If any of these still have your old branding or generic templates from your email provider, fix before launch. Customers see these more than they see your marketing emails.
11. The contact / support path works.
Email the contact email address on your site. Does it reach you? Try the support form. Does it submit? When customers hit issues on launch day, they need to be able to reach someone.
Tier 4: Cross-platform-consistency (audit the surfaces)
12. Social profile bios are current.
Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, wherever you're active. Bios should reflect your current positioning, link to your launch surface, use current brand language. Pinned posts should be current.
13. Profile images and banners are current.
Same platforms. Profile image should be a clean version of your logo or mark. Banner should be current. Both at the right sizes for each platform.
14. The mobile experience works.
Open your launch surface on a phone. Both iOS and Android if possible. Half your traffic will arrive on mobile. The mobile experience needs to work, not just the desktop version. Tap CTAs. Scroll. Look for layout issues.
The 60-minute timing
If you're doing this hour-before-launch, the order matters:
Minutes 0-15: Tier 1. The catastrophic-failure checks. Homepage loads, hero is correct, primary CTA works, pricing is accurate. If any of these fail, fix immediately.
Minutes 15-30: Tier 2. The share-and-search checks. OG image, page title, meta description, favicon. These determine whether the launch is shareable and findable.
Minutes 30-45: Tier 3. The customer journey checks. Welcome email, transactional emails, support path. These determine whether the customer experience after signup works.
Minutes 45-60: Tier 4. The cross-platform checks. Social profiles, mobile experience. These determine whether the brand is consistent across surfaces.
If something is broken at any tier, fix it before moving to the next tier. The order is calibrated so that the most catastrophic issues get the most time.
What to do when you find something broken
You will find something broken. Probably several somethings. Calibrate your response:
If it's catastrophic (homepage won't load, signup doesn't work): Delay launch. A few hours' delay is better than a launch where customers can't reach you. Most successful launches happen on the day after the originally planned day; the world doesn't notice the slip.
If it's significant (wrong tagline, missing OG image, broken transactional email): Fix before launch if you can within the hour. If you can't, decide whether to delay or launch with the known issue and fix in the first hour after launch. The latter is acceptable; the former is sometimes necessary.
If it's cosmetic (small layout issue, minor typo, sub-optimal photo): Note it. Fix it in the first day post-launch. Don't delay launch for cosmetic issues. The launch energy is more valuable than minor polish.
The post-launch first-hour checklist
Once you're live:
- Watch the first signups come in. Verify they work end-to-end.
- Monitor your inbox for the first customer questions.
- Reply quickly to anything that comes in. First-hour responses set the tone.
- Track basic metrics. Traffic, signups, conversion. Sometimes the launch reveals issues that the pre-launch testing didn't catch.
- If something is broken that the pre-launch testing missed, fix immediately and communicate transparently.
Launches are stressful. Most things go reasonably well; some things go wrong. The 14-item checklist catches the issues that would otherwise create the biggest pain. Done in the hour before launch, it gives you the best chance of arriving at launch with the brand actually ready to be seen.
And. Once you've launched. Celebrate. The work to get here was real. The work after launch is different work, but that starts tomorrow. Tonight, the brand is live. That matters.
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