The order of operations on launch day

Replacing a live website is a small operation with a specific sequence. Done in the right order it takes a morning; done in the wrong order it produces a week of confusing problems.

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Launch in this order: confirm the staging site is complete and the noindex instruction removed, put the redirects live with the new site, verify a sample of old addresses by hand, check tracking is recording, test the contact path end to end, then submit the sitemap and watch for errors.

Before you switch anything

Confirm the new site is genuinely finished: no placeholder text, no missing images, no pages that only exist in a design. Launch pressure makes people accept unfinished pages that then stay unfinished for a year.

Then check the single most expensive detail: that the instruction hiding the staging site from search engines has been removed. A site that launches while still telling search engines to stay away can remain invisible for months while everything looks perfect.

The sequence

Each step depends on the previous one, which is why order matters more than speed.

  • Remove the staging instruction that blocks search engines.
  • Put the new site live and the redirect map live at the same moment.
  • Verify twenty old addresses by hand, including your best pages.
  • Confirm tracking is recording page views and events.
  • Complete a real enquiry, on a phone, and confirm it arrives.
  • Check the phone number dials on a phone.
  • Submit the new sitemap and request indexing for key pages.
  • Tell anybody internally who answers enquiries that the change happened.

Redirects go live with the site, not after

A gap between launching the site and applying redirects means every old address returns an error during that window, and search engines may visit during it.

Prepare the map in advance so both happen together. This is the single most common cause of avoidable damage on launch day.

Verify by hand, not by assumption

Automated checks are useful and no substitute for opening twenty important addresses yourself and seeing where they land. Include your best converting pages, your most linked pages, and anything printed on physical material.

Do the same for the contact path: submit a genuine enquiry from a phone and confirm both the internal notification and the customer confirmation arrive.

Tell the people who answer the phone

A launch changes what customers see and sometimes what they mention. Anybody who answers enquiries should know the site has changed and what is now on it.

It is a small courtesy that prevents the awkward call where a customer describes a page the person answering has never seen.

Keep the old site accessible to you

Do not delete the previous site immediately. Keep a copy where you can consult it, because within days somebody will ask what an old page said or where a particular image came from.

It also allows a fast comparison if a page stops performing and nobody can remember what changed.

How Licheo launches

Redirects live at the same moment as the site, a person verifying a sample of addresses by hand, the contact path completed on a real phone, and tracking confirmed before the launch is called finished.

Nothing goes live until you have seen it, and the weeks afterwards are watched rather than assumed.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Redesign and revenue. The other parts:

Questions people ask

What order should I do things in on launch day?
Remove the staging block on search engines, launch the site and redirects together, verify old addresses by hand, confirm tracking works, test the contact path on a phone, then submit the sitemap.
What is the most expensive launch mistake?
Leaving the instruction that hides the staging site from search engines. Everything looks perfect to human visitors while the site stays invisible in search, sometimes for months.
Should redirects go live before or after the new site?
At the same moment. Any gap means old addresses return errors during the window, and search engines may visit during it. Prepare the map in advance so both switch together.
How many addresses should I check by hand?
About twenty, chosen deliberately: your best converting pages, your most linked pages, and any address printed on physical material. Automated checks help but are not a substitute.
Should I delete the old site straight away?
No. Keep a copy you can consult, because within days somebody will ask what an old page said, and it allows a fast comparison if a page stops performing after the change.

Launch without surprises

Redirects live with the site, a person verifying by hand, and nothing published until you have seen it.

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