Website relaunch: what to check before sign-off

What should the new website be measured by?

A new design is quick to judge by taste. For sign-off, you also need a task that a visitor should actually complete: find a suitable service, request a quote or choose an appointment. Write this task down in one sentence before acceptance.

For a local service provider, it might read: a prospect recognises whether their concern is part of the offer, finds the right contact option and can send an enquiry. This is a working example, not a measured client result. An attractive screenshot does not yet prove that this path works.

A sign-off sheet you can actually work through

Our recommendation is a shared sheet with the following six checks. Each line has a responsible person and visible evidence, such as a tested link or a received test enquiry. The criteria are our own working aid for acceptance.

On a smartphone, usability counts, not the mockup

Check the website outside the design preview too. Open the menu, read a service page and use the contact route on a real smartphone. Pay attention to messages that only appear after input: a clear error message can be more important than another animation.

For ordinary content read vertically, WCAG 2.2 specifies a width of 320 CSS pixels at which information and functions should remain available without two-dimensional scrolling. There are exceptions for content such as data tables. So also test a narrow view and enlarged text; a single mobile screenshot isn’t enough for this.

For normal text, the WCAG minimum contrast criterion requires at least 4.5:1, and 3:1 for correspondingly large text. A heading is not automatically large enough for the lower value. Pay particular attention to text on photos and form labels. These checks cover part of accessibility, not complete proof of conformance.

Sources: W3C: reflow for narrow views and zoom · W3C: minimum contrast under WCAG 2.2

Check load time and responsiveness separately

An animation can look calm and still delay input. So check both the first load and the response to the menu, buttons and forms. For videos and large images, it’s also worth trying a slower connection.

For good Core Web Vitals, Google specifies an LCP of no more than 2.5 seconds, an INP of no more than 200 milliseconds and a CLS of no more than 0.1. The assessment relates to the 75th percentile of real page views, separately for mobile and desktop.

Before launch, lab tests and your own usability trials help find concrete weaknesses. After launch, you supplement them with available field data. A single Lighthouse score is not proof that real visitors achieve all three targets. Record in the sign-off sheet which measurement is available and what still needs monitoring.

Sources: web.dev: Web Vitals

Preserve existing paths when addresses change

If URLs change during a relaunch, Google recommends mapping old addresses to matching new ones and permanent server-side redirects, such as 301 or 308. Internal links, canonical tags and the sitemap should use the new addresses. Redirecting many different old pages to the homepage across the board is not a clean substitute.

To do this, collect the important existing service pages as well as links from ads, emails and printed material. Open them again after the switch. A pure design change with unchanged URLs needs no blanket redirect action.

Sources: Google: site moves with URL changes

Check whether the public website may be found

A test environment may be deliberately protected. On the public pages, the settings must match the desired search access. Check in particular whether password protection, a crawler block or a noindex directive was carried over by mistake.

Google names as minimum technical requirements an unblocked Googlebot, a working page with HTTP status 200 and indexable content. The URL Inspection tool in Search Console helps check individual pages. Meeting the requirements does not yet guarantee indexing or a particular ranking.

Sources: Google: technical requirements for Search

What blocks sign-off and what can wait

An incorrect scope of services, an unreachable contact route or a hidden booking button must be corrected before launch. An additional image variant, on the other hand, can fit into a later improvement step. What matters is whether a problem prevents the agreed task or distorts the content.

Plan a second check of the most important paths immediately after publication. Checking in the preview and checking on the real domain are two separate steps. Note open improvements with a responsible person so they don’t disappear after launch.

• Approve: the agreed visitor task works on the real domain.
• Fix: a clearly limited problem prevents this task; after the correction, test the same path again.
• Realign: the offer, target group or booking process is still unclear. Then clarify the brief first.

How the check fits Pribbly’s website offers

Pribbly offers websites as an individual service and the initial website setup within its monthly packages. In the packages, the company website is created at the start; after that, technical maintenance and limited monthly content changes are provided. This does not mean a new website every month. The separate shop offer Website Premium 3D is not automatically part of a monthly package.

For a quote, you therefore record which pages will be built, which contact or booking path goes with them and what support will be needed afterwards. The sign-off sheet helps make these points concrete in the conversation.

This practical article was created with AI support. Sources, statements and the link to the Pribbly catalogue were checked automatically for publication. The checklist does not replace a review of a specific client website.