Twenty checks to run before your site goes live, each with a ready-to-paste prompt so an AI coding assistant runs the audit for you.
Est. 90 to 120 minutes
Beginner friendly
Updated September 2026
Purpose
Most launch delays come from the same handful of gaps: broken flows nobody tested, missing states, or an SEO setup nobody checked. This SOP turns those gaps into 20 discrete checks. Each one includes a prompt built for an AI coding assistant, so you do not need to be technical to run the audit yourself.
Run this the week before launch, and again right after any major update.
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01
What the site's for
A visitor should understand what the product does and who it is for within five seconds of landing. If the hero copy needs a second read, it needs a rewrite.
Prompt
Read the hero section and headline of my homepage. Tell me, in plain terms, whether a first time visitor would understand what this product does and who it is for within 5 seconds. Flag any vague or generic language and suggest a sharper alternative.
02
Page flow
Every page should lead somewhere. Orphan pages and dead ends quietly kill conversion.
Prompt
Map every page on this site and how they link to each other. Flag any orphan pages with no inbound links, any dead ends with no next step, and any navigation loop that traps the user.
03
Sign up and login
This is the first real interaction most users have with your product. Confirm it works cleanly on the first try.
Prompt
Test the sign up and login flow end to end. Confirm password requirements are shown before submission, error messages are specific rather than generic, and a successful login redirects to the correct page.
04
Email verification
A slow or missing verification email is one of the most common silent drop off points after signup.
Prompt
Check the email verification flow. Confirm the verification email sends within seconds of signup, the link does not expire too quickly, and an unverified user sees a clear message telling them exactly what to do next.
05
Password reset
Users forget passwords constantly. A broken reset flow becomes a support ticket and a lost user.
Prompt
Test the password reset flow. Confirm the reset link has a reasonable expiry window, the new password form validates correctly, and the user receives clear confirmation that the reset worked.
06
Account deletion
Users should be able to leave as easily as they arrived. This also matters for data privacy compliance.
Prompt
Confirm a user can find and complete account deletion without contacting support. Check that deletion removes or anonymizes their data in line with the stated privacy policy.
07
User roles
Every role should have a matching access boundary. A missing check here is a security gap, not just a UX one.
Prompt
List every user role in this system and exactly what each one can and cannot access. Flag any page, route, or action that is missing a role check.
08
Empty states
A blank dashboard on day one reads as broken, not as new. Every list and table needs a designed empty state.
Prompt
Find every page on this site that displays a list, dashboard, or data table. Show me what each one renders when there is no data yet, and flag any that just show a blank screen.
09
Loading states
A frozen screen during a fetch or submit reads as a crash. Users need visible proof that something is happening.
Prompt
Find every async action on this site, including data fetches, form submissions, and page transitions. Confirm each one shows a loading indicator instead of a frozen or blank screen.
10
Error pages
A default server error page is a jarring exit from an otherwise branded experience.
Prompt
Confirm that custom 404 and 500 error pages exist, match the site's branding, and include a clear way back to the homepage or support.
11
Offline mode
Not everyone has a stable connection. A blank white screen with no explanation is the worst version of this failure.
Prompt
Test how the site behaves with the network disabled mid-session. Confirm the user sees a clear offline message instead of a broken or blank page.
12
Data backup
This is the one check that costs nothing until the day it saves you.
Prompt
Confirm there is an automated backup running on the production database. Tell me the backup frequency, the retention period, and how a restore would actually be performed.
Important
If there is no backup running, treat this as a launch blocker, not a nice to have.
13
Checkout flow
If money changes hands on your site, this flow gets tested more than any other page.
Prompt
Walk through the checkout flow as a new customer. Confirm pricing is shown clearly before payment, the payment form surfaces errors in plain language, and the user gets a confirmation page or email after purchase.
14
Mobile view
More than half of first visits will be on a phone. Test at the smallest common width, not just a resized browser window.
Prompt
Review every page in this project at a 375px viewport width. Flag any element that overflows the screen, any text under 14px, and any tap target smaller than 44 by 44 pixels.
15
SEO basics
Search engines and AI answer engines both start with the same basics: title, description, and heading structure.
Prompt
Check every page on this site for a unique title tag, a unique meta description, and exactly one h1. Flag any page with a missing or duplicated one, and suggest a fix for each.
16
Analytics setup
You cannot improve what you cannot see. Confirm tracking is live before, not after, your first real traffic.
Prompt
Confirm an analytics tool is installed and firing on every page of this site. Confirm key actions such as signup, purchase, and contact form submission are tracked as events, not just page views.
17
Cookie consent
This is a compliance check as much as a UX one, especially for visitors in the EU and UK.
Prompt
Confirm the site shows a cookie consent banner before any tracking script loads, and that the visitor's choice is stored so the banner does not reappear on every page load.
18
Contact form
This is usually the least tested form on the entire site, and often the most important one.
Prompt
Submit a real test message through the contact form. Confirm it arrives in the correct inbox, the sender receives a confirmation, and required fields are validated before submission.
19
Site speed
Speed is a conversion factor and a ranking factor at the same time.
Prompt
Run a performance check on the homepage and the single highest traffic page. Flag anything with a load time over 3 seconds and tell me the most likely cause, such as image size, unused scripts, or render blocking resources.
20
Domain and hosting
The last check, and the one that quietly breaks trust fastest if it is wrong.
Prompt
Confirm the domain has a valid SSL certificate, that both the www and non-www versions redirect to a single canonical URL, and that DNS records are configured correctly for the current host.
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