The Business Website Features Checklist: Pre-Launch Inspection

Whenever a client calls me to inspect an older house in Prahran before they buy it, I run a standard pre-purchase inspection. I check the water main pressure, test the hot water unit valve, and run a CCTV camera down the sewer line to look for tree roots.

If you do not run an inspection, you end up buying a house with collapsed clay pipes.

Launching a business website without a checklist is the exact same thing. You are buying a house without looking at the drains.

Let's look at the direct answer first.

A comprehensive website features checklist must verify five core areas: DNS and secure hosting (SSL), mobile responsiveness, form and click-to-call routing, image compression and speed scores (90+), and proper search indexing setup (sitemaps and Google Search Console).

Here is the exact blueprint I use to inspect websites before they go live.

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1. The Domain & Hosting Check (The Mains Valve)

The first step is checking the foundation. If your domain and hosting are not configured correctly, your site won't load at all.

• SSL Certificate Active: The browser must show the padlock icon. The URL must start with `https://`.
• Custom DNS Connected: The domain must resolve correctly from both `www.yourname.com` and `yourname.com`.
• CDN Active: Files should be cached on a global CDN (like Cloudflare) to ensure fast load speeds.

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2. Header & Navigation Check (The Front Door)

This is what a visitor sees in the first 3 seconds. It needs to be clean.

• Clear Logo: The logo should link back to the homepage.
• Click-to-Call Phone Number: The phone number must be prominent and clickable on mobile screens.
• Simple Menu: Keep it under 5 links. (If your menu looks like a sitemap index, trim it down.)

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3. Performance & Speed Check (The Aerator Test)

A slow site is a leaking pipe. It drains your traffic.

• PageSpeed Score 90+: Test the site on Google PageSpeed Insights.
• Compressed Images: All photos must be in WebP format and compressed under 200KB. (No 5MB raw camera uploads allowed.)
• No Broken Links: Test every link on the site to make sure they do not lead to a 404 page.

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4. Lead Capture & CTA Check (The Collection Basin)

If a customer wants to contact you, the process must be frictionless.

• Simple Contact Forms: Keep fields to a minimum.
• Instant WhatsApp Button: A floating WhatsApp CTA lets customers message you directly.
• Form Success Screen: After submitting, the user should see a clear "Thank You" screen.

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5. Footer & Compliance Check (The Clean-up)

The bottom of the page is where search crawlers and lawyers look.

• Physical Address: Include your office location to boost local SEO.
• Business Hours: Clearly state when your team is available.
• Dynamic Sitemap XML: Ensure your sitemap is active at `/sitemap.xml` so search engines can index your pages.

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Rule of thumb for website audits

Before you pay the final invoice to your website design company, run through this list. If they refuse to fix slow page load times or broken forms, they have not finished the job.

Give us a call at Menarc. We run a comprehensive audit on every site we build to ensure it passes every check before going live.