But we’ve got your back.
We begin to prepare for the launch of your website at the start of the development phase.
We assemble and meet with your launch team weeks in advance to ensure the correct folks are in place for the launch. We’ll discuss who on your team is responsible for the domain and DNS settings, and will work closely with the right contacts to ensure everything is configured properly, including the implementation of security and server policies.
“Even with weeks of preparation, every launch presents a few unexpected challenges. That’s completely normal.”
We’re prepared for the unexpected.
We already have a plan for handling any surprises. Whether it’s a caching issue, a misdirected form submission, or an SSL configuration quirk, we know what to look for and how to get the right folks involved to fix it quickly.
Our team has 20 years of experience launching hundreds of websites– we’re great at troubleshooting, and we’re dedicated to getting your site live.
We utilize our expertise and industry-leading tools to ensure that your website is wrapped within a couple of weeks after launch.
There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes. In some areas, we’ll ask you for input, but most times, we’re heads-down preparing for launch. We don’t want to bore you with all of the details, so here’s a short list of some of these things.
Launch day agenda
On launch day, you and our team will come together in a zoom room to oversee the transition of the website from staging to live.
This collaborative space will facilitate real-time communication, troubleshooting, and validation to ensure a smooth deployment.
Our team confirms everything on our pre-launch checklists are set for deployment.
DNS records are updated by the person assigned at the launch planning meeting.
All teams participate in front-end testing. Orbit provides real-time support as needed during the call.
Once the website is live and fully functional, we’ll take a moment to acknowledge the hard work, collaboration, and dedication.
You might be wondering what we do in the weeks after the website is launched.
After the website goes live, we perform a comprehensive health check to ensure everything runs smoothly, loads quickly, and remains optimized for users and search engines. Here’s what happens next:
We verify that your hosting environment is properly configured for security, performance, and reliability. Our team continuously monitors uptime, server response times, and resource usage to prevent downtime and keep your site running at peak efficiency.
We use Google Search Console to detect indexing issues. This allows us to identify crawl errors and ensure Google is properly accessing and ranking your site. We’ll inform you as soon as possible of anything that is concerning or needs your attention.
We monitor 404 and 301 redirects to ensure a seamless transition from old pages to new ones, preserving SEO value and preventing visitors from landing on dead pages. Just like the pre-launch process, we may involve you in this step to help with decision making for newly identified 404s after launch.
Even though the site was thoroughly tested pre-launch, the live environment may change due to server configurations or caching issues. We conduct live environment testing to ensure any detected issues are promptly resolved.
We conduct live speed tests using Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to ensure that any scripts and caching settings are updated to improve load times and overall performance.
We conduct a final accessibility checkpoint to ensure you are informed of outstanding issues that could impact your accessibility guidelines.
Here are some common post-launch items that can occur and what to do about them.
Are people having difficulty seeing the new website? Sometimes it just takes time for the website to propagate across the web. Tell them to clear their cache and browser history. And if that didn’t do it, tell them to give it an hour or two and try again.
Not getting form email notices? Double-check your form settings in WordPress or your 3rd party tools. A setting may be required on your server to ensure you receive these notifications. If everything checks out okay on your end, contact your PM.
Are form submissions not being routed to your CRM correctly? Double-check your form configuration settings. Further modifications may be required. If everything checks out okay on your end, contact your PM.
Are you getting notices or warnings from CSC? That is common with any website launch and you don’t need to forward these emails to us. We check your GSC after the launch and ensure the critical items are resolved. We’ll let you know if there’s anything you need to review.
Broken links or images? Expect to find small content-related issues in the first few weeks after launch. That’s why you have a handy CMS—so you can make these quick edits as they come up! However, if you need our help troubleshooting anything unexpected (like missing files or major layout shifts), let us know, and we’ll assist as needed.
Sometimes, unexpected server settings or restrictions can cause issues post-launch, such as timeout errors, permission issues, or misconfigured SSL certificates. If anything arises, we work with your hosting provider or IT team to resolve them quickly. Our team monitors server uptime and performance to identify and fix issues before they impact your visitors.
Several things around launch will feel urgent.
Please know that our team actively monitors your website and responds to post-launch server-related issues quickly.
For everything else, continue to use the Request Tracker in your Content Workbook.
Most fixes happen within hours, while more complex issues are resolved within a couple of days. Critical issues that impact website functionality, like a site outage or broken forms, are always given top priority.
You’re never left waiting in the dark because you still have access to your project team during this launch phase.
If something seems off, let us know—we’re here to help.