The pre-launch checklist — 42 things to verify before going live

42 things to verify before you announce a new bio page, product launch, or campaign URL to the world. Run this checklist for 15 minutes and catch the issues that turn a launch tweet into a Discord pity-party. Free, printable, no email gate.

If you just want the PDF, hit the download button on the right.

Why this checklist exists

Every launch has the same 42 things that go wrong — every single time. The 404 link on a featured CTA. The OG image that's 800 wide. The custom domain that propagated everywhere except the destination you actually need it on. The "Buy now" button that points at the old Stripe product.

We've shipped enough launches at Linkos (and worked on enough client launches) to know that 90% of these are catchable in 15 minutes if you have a list to walk through. Without the list, you'll catch maybe 60% — and the other 40% will surface during the launch window when you can't fix them.

This is the list.

What's in the file

42 yes/no checks across 7 categories:

• The destination page (8 checks) — does it actually load on every browser, every device size, with no broken links inside it
• Custom domain + DNS (6 checks) — SSL, redirect rules, cache, propagation, MX-record collisions
• Share preview (5 checks) — OG title, description, image dimensions, twitter:card type, validates on all 5 major platforms
• Tracking + analytics (5 checks) — UTM tagging consistent, analytics firing, conversion tracking wired, attribution working
• Email + CRM hooks (4 checks) — opt-in forms saving, welcome email firing, list segmentation correct, double-opt-in if relevant
• Payment + commerce (8 checks) — only relevant if shipping a paid product: price displayed, currency localized, taxes, webhook fires, receipt email, refund policy, terms link, success page
• The launch comms (6 checks) — tweet drafted, email scheduled, DM templates ready, Slack/Discord posts, time zones aligned, internal team briefed

Each item is one line, one checkbox. The whole thing is 2 pages printed.

The 5 launches-killing mistakes this catches

If you only have 60 seconds, here are the issues we see in 80% of unprepared launches.

1. The featured CTA points at a broken or wrong URL. Most common: you replaced the Stripe product/pricing and the old URL still works but points at the old price (or 404s). Catches by check #4.
2. OG image is below 1200×630. Means LinkedIn collapses to a sad text-only card; Facebook compresses badly. Catches by check #19.
3. Custom domain redirects miss www. People who type the URL with www. get a redirect loop or 404. Catches by check #12.
4. Analytics not firing on the destination. You launch, traffic comes in, you have no idea where it converted. Catches by check #25.
5. Email opt-in form not actually saving anywhere. People submit, you celebrate the signups, two weeks later you realize nothing was being stored. Catches by check #29.

How to use it

The flow is one of two paths.

Path A — Print + walk: Download the PDF, print 2 pages, walk through your launch with a pen. 15 minutes. Old-school but fast.

Path B — Run it digitally: Open the PDF on a second screen, walk through your launch tabbed in the first screen. Check off as you go. Save the marked-up PDF as a launch record (handy if launches recur monthly).

Either way: do it within 24 hours of launch, NOT a week ahead. Things change in the last 48 hours that invalidate week-old checks.

When this checklist is the right tool

Use it when:

• You're announcing a new product or campaign with a CTA URL.
• You're launching a redesigned site or bio page.
• You're shifting a domain (moving from oldname.com → newname.com).
• You're rolling out a paid offering for the first time.
• You're a freelancer/agency taking a client launch live.

Skip it when:

• You're A/B testing minor copy on an existing live page — overkill.
• The launch is internal-only (team-facing, no external URL).
• You've done 50 launches and have this stuff in muscle memory — though even then, every launch director we know still uses a list.

Common questions about the checklist

Why 42 items? It started as 28. Then we caught real things at #29 and #34 and #41 in actual launches, so the list grew. 42 is currently the size; we'll trim if items stop catching things.

Can I customize it? Yes — the PDF source is markdown (file in docs). Fork, edit, re-export with the markdown-to-PDF tool.

Is there a digital version with auto-checks? Not yet — the manual click + see-the-screen process is half the value. We're considering a "launch dashboard" that runs some checks automatically (DNS, SSL, OG validation) — message contact@linkos.bio if that's interesting.

My launch is in 30 minutes. Too late? No. Skim items 1-8 (destination page) and 17-21 (share preview). Those are the catastrophic ones. The rest can be addressed post-launch if needed.

Do I really need to check OG on all 5 platforms? Each platform unfurls differently. Yes. The Link Preview tester does this in one screen.

The launch confidence calibration

Most launches that go badly weren't unprepared in some grand sense — the founders did the obvious work. They missed the 4 small things that compound. A 15-minute walkthrough catches all 4 every time, because the list contains exactly those small things.

If you skip the checklist and the launch goes well, you got lucky. Next launch, same odds. If you run the checklist and the launch goes well, you can repeat it.

Questions or items you think should be added/removed? Email contact@linkos.bio — the list improves whenever readers send us cases the current list missed.