What a simple marketing site needs before launch

Who it is for

This is for a small business owner, office manager, or solo pro who is about to launch a simple marketing site: a home page, a few service pages, an about page, and a way to contact you. Maybe you built it yourself on a site builder, or a web person is handing it over and asking “ready to go live?” You do not need to know code. You need about an hour, a phone, a laptop, and a second email address for testing. The goal is simple: when the site goes live, customers can find it, trust it, and reach you.

Steps

1. Make sure every way to contact you actually works

This is the most important check. A pretty site with a broken form loses leads silently.

1. Submit every form on the site with a message that clearly says “TEST.” Use your personal email as the sender.
2. Confirm each one arrives in the right inbox, not spam, and that someone on your team knows they own it.
3. On your phone, tap the phone number. It should open the dialer. Tap the email address. It should open a new message.
4. If you have a map or address, tap it and make sure it opens directions to the right place.
5. Check that the form shows a clear “thanks, we got it” message so visitors do not submit twice.

2. Turn on HTTPS and check the padlock

1. Visit https://yourbusiness.com and https://www.yourbusiness.com. Both should load and end up at the same address.
2. Visit http://yourbusiness.com (no “s”). It should redirect to the https:// version.
3. Click the padlock or site-info icon. It should say the connection is secure.
4. For a second opinion, run your domain through SSL Labs. You are looking for a passing grade and no certificate errors. Most hosts and builders issue certificates automatically once your domain points at them.

3. Check it on a phone first

Most small business visitors arrive on a phone, often from a Google search or a map listing.

1. On your phone (WiFi off, cellular on), open every page.
2. Text should be readable without zooming. Buttons should be easy to tap with a thumb.
3. Your phone number and main call to action (call, quote, book) should be visible without much scrolling on the home page.
4. Menus should open and close. Nothing should run off the side of the screen.
5. Run the home page through PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile result. Big red scores usually come from oversized photos. Ask your web person to compress or resize them.

4. Give every page a real title and description

The page title is what shows in the browser tab and, often, as the blue headline in Google results (Google on title links).

1. Each page should have its own title that says what it is and who you are, for example “Kitchen remodeling in Springfield — Smith Builders,” not “Home” or “Page 1.”
2. Each page should have a short description (one or two sentences) that a person would want to click.
3. Each page should have one main heading that matches what the page is about.
4. Image files should have short descriptions (alt text) for screen readers, like “front of the shop on Main Street.”

5. Remove the leftovers

1. Search the site for placeholder text like “Lorem ipsum,” “Your headline here,” or a template company name.
2. Check the footer: current year, correct business name, address, and phone.
3. Click every menu item and button. Fix or remove anything that goes nowhere.
4. Make sure the site is not still set to “hide from search engines.” Many builders have this switch on during design. Ask your web person to confirm it is off at launch.
5. If you have a privacy policy or terms page, make sure it is linked in the footer and mentions your real business name.

6. Turn on basic analytics

You cannot improve what you cannot see. Free analytics tells you how many people visit, where they come from, and which pages they use.

1. Add Google Analytics or your builder’s built-in analytics (Google Analytics setup).
2. After launch, visit the site from your phone and confirm a visit shows up in the real-time report.
3. If you can, mark form submissions or phone taps as “key events” so you see leads, not just visits.

7. Tell Google the site exists

1. Add the site to Google Search Console and verify ownership. Your web person or host can usually do this with one DNS record.
2. Submit your sitemap. Most builders create one automatically at an address like /sitemap.xml (Google: build and submit a sitemap).
3. Update your Google Business Profile and social profiles so they link to the new site.