What should you check on a page before launch?
Validate access, useful delivery, clear subject matter, discoverable links, and consistent indexing signals.
On this page
Direct answer
Validate access, useful delivery, clear subject matter, discoverable links, and consistent indexing signals. Inspect final HTML and actual actions rather than treating a plugin score, word count, or density as a launch certificate.
When to use
A page is ready to publish or a template change needs regression checks.
Step by step
Check delivery and readability
Can users complete the promised task? Review steps, examples, errors, and limits on desktop and mobile, including keyboard access, alt text, and overflow.
Check page and indexing signals
Inspect status, metadata, body, canonical, language, hreflang, and indexing controls. Public content should not be just a loading shell, and private drafts require more than client-side hiding.
Check discovery and boundaries
Verify directories, breadcrumbs, related pages, and sitemap links point to canonical destinations without broken links or private leaks. Save the version and inspect no-JavaScript reading and missing routes.
Worked example
Hypothetical exercise, not a real performance claim.
A page looks correct but its template points canonical to the homepage. Correct the per-page address before expanding the same error across more pages.
Action checklist
Reusable templates
Page release acceptance
URL, language, task:
Real inputs, outputs, errors, mobile, keyboard:
Status, title, body, canonical:
Hreflang, indexing rules, sitemap:
Directory, breadcrumbs, related links:
Private, draft, and test-data exclusions:
No-JavaScript / missing route / version:
Pitfalls
Visible text does not prove all content is accessible, and a “not found” message does not prove a 404 response. SEO checks do not establish ad approval.
Related guides
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How do you check content accessibility on a JavaScript site?
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How should canonicals handle parameters, languages, and pagination?