What to have ready before you launch a website

Content and copy

• Your site clearly states what you offer and who for (right at the top, not down at the bottom).
• The copy is free of typos and speaks the customer's language, not in internal jargon.
• The photos are good quality and your own (not stock photos that look like everywhere else).
• It is clear the next step - what the visitor is supposed to do (call, write, buy).

Contact and trust

• Contact in one click - phone, email, a form. And the form actually works (test the submission!).
• Opening hours / address / map, if you have premises.
• Something that builds trust - testimonials, numbers, your registration number in the footer, links to your socials.

Mobile and speed

• Website looks good on a phone (most visits come from mobile). Test it on a real phone.
• It loads fast - images resized and optimised, not 5 MB photos.
• Buttons and links are easy to hit with a thumb.

Technical and findable

• The site runs on HTTPS (the padlock in the address bar) and on your own domain.
• It has a title and a description for the page (what shows up in Google and when shared).
• A preview image for sharing (an OG image) - so the link does not look empty on social media.
• robots.txt + sitemap.xml and the site registered in Google Search Console (otherwise Google will take a long time to find you).

The legal minimum

• A note on personal data handling by the form (at least one short sentence or a link).
• Contact and company details (name, registration number) in the footer.

Most of this is a few hours' work - but the difference between a site that earns and a site that merely exists is exactly in these details.