Homepage build checklist: 24 checks before launch

Key takeaways

This homepage build checklist has 24 yes or no checks, four for each stage of the Global Bridge Labs (GBL) Homepage Blueprint: brief, buyer, message, layout, build and launch. Score your page before go-live. With 20 or more it is ready, with 15 to 19 fix your weakest stage and under 15 it is not ready to launch.

• 24 checks across six stages: four per stage.
• 20 or more: ready to launch.
• 15 to 19: fix your weakest stage first.
• Under 15: not ready, whatever the deadline says.

How do you use the homepage build checklist?

Score one point for each check you can answer yes to with evidence. Answer honestly, ideally with a colleague, on the staging version of the page. A check counts only if it is complete and not merely planned. Then add up your score and look at which stage scored lowest.

• How to create a high-converting homepage for an SME
• The homepage blueprint: six stages from blank page to live
• Build your new homepage on a staging site

Stage 1: is the brief clear?

A clear brief means anyone on the project can state what the page is for. If two people answer differently, the rest of the score matters less, because the page has no agreed job. These four checks take minutes, and they prevent most of the arguments that delay launches.

• One goal is written down.
• One primary action is agreed.
• One first reader is named.
• One person signs off.

• A one-page homepage planning template
• Get a homepage signed off without a committee

Stage 2: do you know the buyer?

You know the buyer when you hold their words, not just your assumptions about them. These checks confirm that research happened, even if it was brief. Without this, the page will describe you as you see yourself, which is the commonest failing of small business homepages.

• Recent enquiries have been read.
• At least five customers were asked.
• Their exact phrases are recorded.
• Main fears and objections are listed.

• Research your buyers before you draft a homepage
• Answer buyer objections on your website before they ask

Stage 3: does the message work?

The message works if a stranger can tell what you do, for whom and why to trust you in a few seconds. Test this with real people rather than the team. Copy should be finished and approved at this stage, with no placeholder text remaining in any section of the page.

• The headline says what you do and who for.
• A stranger passes a five-second test.
• Claims are specific and provable.
• All copy is final and approved.

• Choose between two homepage headlines without an A/B test
• Edit your homepage draft: cut it by a third

Stage 4: does the layout serve the buyer?

The layout serves the buyer if its section order follows their questions, and the main action stays easy to find. Check it on a phone. As a GBL rule of thumb, repeat the action about every two screens. Anything without a buyer's question behind it should have gone by now.

• Sections follow the buyer's questions.
• Proof appears within the first two screens.
• The action repeats down the page.
• No section lacks a clear job.

• Homepage wireframe: plan the page before the design
• How many sections should a homepage have?

Stage 5: is the build sound?

The build is sound when the page meets Core Web Vitals on a real phone, works with a keyboard and has correct technical signals. Google's thresholds are LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP within 200 milliseconds and CLS below 0.1. Lab tests are a useful start, and field data confirms it later.

• Mobile speed meets your target.
• Text contrast and tap sizes pass.
• One clear H1 and logical headings.
• Someone in-house can edit the words.

• Core Web Vitals on your homepage: what to fix first
• The homepage H1: what it should say
• Make your homepage easy to edit yourself

Stage 6: are you ready to launch?

You are ready when an enquiry can travel from the page to a person who replies, when you can measure that and when you can undo the launch. Do not count any of these as done until each has been tested. These four checks protect the money already spent on the project.

• A test enquiry reached a named person.
• Key events are recording correctly.
• A tested backup exists.
• Search blocks are removed.

• Test your homepage enquiry route from end to end
• Set up homepage tracking before you launch
• Plan a rollback before you change your homepage

What does your score mean?

With 20 or more, launch. With 15 to 19, fix the weakest stage first, as a low score in one stage matters more than the total. Under 15, you are not ready. A deadline does not change the score. These bands are GBL rules of thumb, not an industry standard.

After launch, switch to the Homepage Conversion Checklist, which diagnoses a live page. Across our client work, conversion-first rebuilds have delivered a 2.4× enquiry rate, which is why we start with the checks that come before any design.

• Homepage conversion checklist: 20 checks
• See client work

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see when teams score honestly: the build stage scores well, and the buyer stage scores one or two, because design was easier to start than research. That imbalance explains many well-made homepages that fail to convert, and it is far cheaper to find it before launch than after.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Before you run the checklist

• Print the 24 checks.
• Score on the staging page.
• Count only finished work.
• Score with a colleague.
• Find your weakest stage.
• Fix that stage before launch.

• A wedding venue homepage that books viewings
• The homepage blueprint: six stages from blank page to live

Next step

Score your homepage today, even if it is half-built. The result will tell you what to do next, which is worth more than another design round.