Guide

Website launch checklist for a UK small business

Harrowtech.ai · last checked 13 October 2026

Use this website launch checklist in the last day or two before a UK small business site goes live. Each check comes from an official or Google source, with the date each page was read. Tick each line on the live address, not on a draft.

1. Google can find and show the pages

• Googlebot is not blocked. Google’s Search Essentials lists three technical requirements: “Googlebot isn’t blocked.” “The page works, meaning that Google receives an HTTP 200 (success) status code.” “The page has indexable content.” (Updated 18 December 2025.)
• Remove build-time blocks. Google says robots.txt “is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google”, and that noindex, password protection or deleting the page do that job (updated 10 December 2025). If you used any of these while building, check they are gone from the pages you want found.
• Canonical link. Google advises absolute paths in rel="canonical" and to include the tag on the canonical page itself (updated 10 July 2026). Each page should name its own full address.
• Sitemap. Google defines a small site as about 500 pages or fewer and says you might not need a sitemap if it is small and comprehensively linked. A sitemap does not guarantee crawling or indexing. Many website builders already provide one (updated 10 December 2025).
• Search Console. It can confirm that Google can find and crawl your site, show indexing problems and alert you to issues. Add your site before launch so you can see what happens next.

2. Titles and descriptions

• A title on every page. Google says each page needs its own title text, avoiding keyword stuffing and boilerplate that differs by one detail. Put the site name at the beginning or end with a delimiter. Avoid a vague “Home” as the home page title (updated 10 December 2025).
• A description on the pages that matter. Google says “Identical or similar descriptions on every page of a site aren’t helpful.” If you cannot write them all, do the home page and your most popular pages first. It says Google mostly builds snippets from page content, so the description may not be shown (updated 20 April 2026).

3. Phone and speed

• Same content on phone and desktop. Google uses the mobile version for indexing and ranking. With a responsive design, content and metadata are already the same on both. If you have a separate mobile site, check the headings, structured data, titles, descriptions and image alt text match.
• Secure pages and no intrusive pop-ups. Google’s page experience page asks whether pages are served in a secure fashion and whether they avoid intrusive interstitials (updated 22 September 2026).
• Core Web Vitals. Good means LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP of 200 milliseconds or less and CLS of 0.1 or less, at the 75th percentile (web.dev, updated 31 October 2024). Our website design ideas guide explains the three measures.

4. Accessibility

• Know the legal duty. The Equality Act 2010, section 20, sets a duty to make reasonable adjustments. Where a provision, criterion or practice “puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage” compared with people who are not disabled, the duty is “to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.” This checklist does not say how the duty applies to a particular site.
• Aim for WCAG 2.2 level AA. The W3C published WCAG 2.2 on 5 October 2023. It adds nine success criteria to 2.1 and removes 4.1.1 Parsing. The GOV.UK Service Manual says government digital services must meet level AA of WCAG 2.2 “as a minimum”. That rule is for government services, not private firms, but it shows the standard the UK government uses. The same page says “In the UK, 1 in 5 people have a long-term impairment affecting their ability to do everyday activities.”
• Check the 2.2 additions at level AA. Focus Not Obscured (Minimum): a focused item must not be entirely hidden by content the author added. Dragging Movements: any dragging action must also work with a single pointer without dragging. Target Size (Minimum): pointer targets at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with exceptions. Accessible Authentication (Minimum): no cognitive function test at a login step unless there is an alternative.
• Check the long-standing ones. Images need text alternatives, and text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 (3:1 for large text).
• Test by hand as well as by tool. The GOV.UK Service Manual recommends “a combination of manual and automated tests” each time a feature is built. It writes for government services, but the method works anywhere.

5. Cookies, privacy and data

• Cookie consent. Under PECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, the ICO says you must tell people if you set cookies, clearly explain what they do and why, and get consent. Consent “must be actively and clearly given”, and “This must be more than simply continuing to use the website.” Non-essential cookies cannot be set on the homepage before the visitor has consented. The same rules apply to similar technologies.
• What is exempt. Cookies strictly necessary for a service the visitor asked for do not need consent. The ICO’s examples are remembering goods added to an online basket, session cookies that provide essential security, and load-balancing cookies. Cookies that are helpful or convenient but not essential still need consent.
• Third-party tools. The ICO’s checklist asks for appropriate arrangements for any third-party cookies. Ask whoever built the site for a list of every cookie and similar tool it sets, including any added by embedded services.
• Recheck the guidance. The ICO page says it is based on the previous version of its detailed cookie guidance and that a revised version is out for consultation.
• Privacy notice. Where your site collects data directly from people, the ICO says to give your organisation’s name and contact details, the purposes, the lawful basis, retention periods or criteria, and people’s rights including the right to complain to the ICO. It says “Be clear about each different purpose.” Link the notice from the form. The ICO notes this guidance is under review because of changes made by the Data (Use and Access) Act.
• Show it clearly. business.gov.uk’s page on e-commerce rules says “By law you must display your data protection policy clearly on your website.” That page carries no date.
• Data protection fee. The ICO says organisations, including sole traders, that use personal information need to pay a fee unless exempt. Its page gives no amounts and does not list who is exempt, so check with the ICO.

6. Contact and company details

• Limited company. GOV.UK says that on “business letters, order forms and websites” you must show the registered number, the registered office address, where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and that it is a limited company.
• Selling to consumers. Before an order, GOV.UK’s distance selling guidance lists the business name, contact details and address, prices including all taxes, payment methods, delivery arrangements and how customers can cancel, among other points. The information must be easy to understand and in a form the customer can keep, such as an email.
• Right to cancel. The same page says “You must tell the customer they can cancel their order up to 14 days after their order is delivered.” If you do not tell them, they can cancel at any time in the next 12 months. The page frames this around delivered orders and says downloads and streaming services have different rules, so check the rules for what you sell. Our guide on what to give your web designer for a quote has a brief you can copy.
• A contact route that works. Send a test message through every form and phone number on the live site, and note who replies.

After launch

Google’s SEO starter guide says “Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months”, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether a change helped (updated 10 December 2025). Our own five-page redesigns go live within a working week from the day we have your content or access to your old site, and if something we built breaks, we fix it free for 90 days. See what a website costs in the UK for the price.

What this guide does not cover

It is not legal advice and not a full SEO audit. It does not cover structured data, analytics set-up, terms and conditions, VAT, rules for regulated trades, or how the Equality Act duty applies to a particular site. For choosing who builds the site, see website design in the UK. Source pages change, so open each link before you rely on a detail. More guides: all Harrowtech.ai guides.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Technical requirements, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Consolidate duplicate URLs, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Sitemaps overview, read 13 October 2026
• Google: About Search Console, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Title links, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Snippets and meta descriptions, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Mobile-first indexing, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: Page experience, read 13 October 2026
• web.dev: Web Vitals, read 13 October 2026
• W3C: What’s new in WCAG 2.2 and WCAG 2.2 quick reference, read 13 October 2026
• GOV.UK Service Manual: Making your service accessible (updated 17 December 2025), read 13 October 2026
• ICO: Cookies and similar technologies, read 13 October 2026
• ICO: What privacy information should we provide?, read 13 October 2026
• ICO: Data protection fee, read 13 October 2026
• GOV.UK: Signs, stationery and promotional material, read 13 October 2026
• GOV.UK: Online and distance selling for businesses, read 13 October 2026
• business.gov.uk: Regulations around e-commerce, read 13 October 2026
• legislation.gov.uk: Equality Act 2010, section 20, read 13 October 2026
• Google Search Central: SEO starter guide, read 13 October 2026