What Happens After My Website Launches? The 90-Day Post-Launch Checklist

Launch day is not the finish line. It's the start of the real work. A website that isn't monitored and optimized in the first 90 days often underperforms indefinitely — not because the build was wrong, but because the post-launch phase wasn't managed.

This is the exact 90-day checklist we give every AnD Innovatech client after their site goes live.

Why Launch Day Is Not the Finish Line

Three things happen after a website launches that determine its long-term performance: Google discovers and indexes it, real users interact with it for the first time (revealing UX issues that no amount of testing anticipated), and the analytics baseline is established.

Each of these requires attention. An agency that disappears after launch day hands you a live website with no visibility into whether it's working, no baseline to compare against, and no optimizations in place for the first wave of real traffic.

Week 1 — Technical Verification

The first week is about confirming the site is working correctly in production — not just in staging.

Checklist:

[ ] All forms tested and confirmed to send email notifications
[ ] Google Analytics or GA4 tracking code firing correctly on all pages
[ ] No 404 errors on internal links (run a crawl with Screaming Frog Free or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools)
[ ] SSL certificate active and HTTPS enforced site-wide
[ ] Core Web Vitals scores checked in Google PageSpeed Insights (mobile)
[ ] Site loads correctly on iOS Safari, Android Chrome, and desktop Chrome/Firefox/Edge
[ ] Redirects from old URLs confirmed (if this was a rebuild with URL changes)
[ ] Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
[ ] robots.txt reviewed — confirm no important pages are blocked from indexing
[ ] Contact email and any notification addresses receiving test form submissions

Week 2 — SEO Indexing and Search Console Setup

Google needs to discover and index your pages before they can rank. This doesn't happen automatically at the speed most clients expect.

Checklist:

[ ] Google Search Console property verified and configured
[ ] XML sitemap submitted via Search Console
[ ] URL Inspection tool used to request indexing for key pages (homepage, core service pages)
[ ] Bing Webmaster Tools property configured (often neglected, represents ~8% of US search traffic)
[ ] Schema markup validated using Google's Rich Results Test
[ ] Canonical tags verified on all pages to prevent duplicate content signals
[ ] Search Console Coverage report reviewed for any "noindex" or crawl errors

Note: Google typically indexes a new site within 1–4 weeks, but ranking for target keywords takes longer. See the full SEO timeline guide for what to expect month by month.

Week 3–4 — First Performance Baseline

You cannot optimize what you haven't measured. Weeks 3–4 establish the baseline against which all future performance is compared.

Checklist:

[ ] First full month of analytics captured without major site changes (to establish a clean baseline)
[ ] Conversion rate baseline recorded: sessions ÷ goal completions
[ ] Bounce rate by page recorded (especially homepage and key service pages)
[ ] Average session duration by page recorded
[ ] Top traffic sources identified (organic, direct, referral, social)
[ ] Top-performing pages identified (by sessions and by conversions)
[ ] First review of Search Console query data: what searches are bringing visitors?

Month 2 — Content and CTA Optimization Based on Real Data

By month 2, you have enough data to make informed decisions — not guesses.

Checklist:

[ ] Pages with high traffic but low conversion: A/B test CTA copy or placement
[ ] Pages with high bounce rate (>70%): review for intent mismatch or missing information
[ ] Pages with very low traffic that you expected to perform: review meta descriptions and keyword targeting
[ ] Contact form conversion rate: if below 3%, reduce fields or test alternative copy
[ ] Above-the-fold review: does the key value proposition appear without scrolling on mobile?

Mid-content CTA reminder: If your blog posts or service pages don't have a CTA placed approximately 40–50% through the page (not just at the bottom), you're leaving conversions behind. Readers who leave before reaching the bottom never see a bottom CTA.

Month 2 — Backlink and Local SEO First Steps

SEO results begin with indexing, but compound through authority signals. Month 2 is the right time to start building them.

Checklist:

[ ] Google Business Profile (GBP) fully completed and verified (if applicable)
[ ] NAP consistency checked: Name, Address, Phone number consistent across all online directories
[ ] Submitted to 20+ local citations (Yelp, YellowPages, BBB, Bing Places, Apple Maps)
[ ] Reached out to 3–5 relevant industry directories for listing
[ ] Identified 3 guest post or editorial link opportunities for month 3 outreach
[ ] First customer review request campaign launched (email or SMS to existing customers)

Month 3 — First Conversion Rate Review

Checklist:

[ ] 3-month conversion rate: is it above baseline from month 1? Above industry benchmark?
[ ] Which traffic sources convert at the highest rate? (Prioritize these in marketing spend)
[ ] Which pages have the highest exit rate before conversion? (Specific fix opportunities)
[ ] Are there patterns in when conversions happen? (Time of day, day of week — informs outreach timing)
[ ] Has the contact form been optimized based on month 1–2 data?

Month 3 — What to Fix, What to Scale

By month 3, you have a clear picture of what the site is doing in production. The decision framework:

Fix: High traffic, low conversion. The page is discoverable but not compelling — revise the copy, add trust signals, or improve the CTA.

Scale: Low traffic, high conversion. The page converts well when people reach it — push traffic to it through paid ads, internal linking, or external content.

Investigate: High bounce, low time-on-page. Visitors are arriving and leaving immediately — this may indicate keyword mismatch (the searcher expected different content).

Deprioritize: Low traffic, low conversion. Either the page needs a complete rework or the topic isn't resonating — don't invest in optimization until you've diagnosed the root cause.

Tools You Need to Monitor Performance

Free tools:

Google Analytics 4 (traffic, conversion, user behavior)
Google Search Console (keyword rankings, indexing, crawl errors)
Google PageSpeed Insights (performance scores)
Bing Webmaster Tools (Bing search performance)
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools free tier (backlink profile)

Paid tools:

Ahrefs or SEMrush ($100–$200/month): keyword ranking tracking
Hotjar ($30–$100/month): session recordings and heatmaps
Clarity by Microsoft (free): session recording and heatmap tool from Microsoft

Our 90-Day Support Is Included

At AnD Innovatech, every web project includes 90 days of post-launch support:

Week 1 technical verification (included)
GSC setup and indexing requests (included)
One performance review call at day 30 (included)
Bug fixes and minor adjustments within the original scope (included)
Monthly SEO report from day 30 (included for clients on an SEO retainer)

Ask any agency what their post-launch support looks like before you sign. "We'll hand over the files" is not a support plan.

Working with a team that disappears after launch? Book a free consultation — we'll review what your current site is doing, identify the quick wins, and explain exactly how our 90-day post-launch process works.

Book a Free Consultation →