Free website QA checklist

Everything to check before your website goes live, with how to check each item, built on QA standards and reviewed by our QA team. 94 checks for business websites, online stores, web apps and apps built with AI tools. Free, no signup.

1Pick your type of site
2Answer each check
3Share it with your team

Start the checklist

Prefer a file?

Excel PDF Markdown

Every check comes with how to test it:

Is the site allowed to be indexed (no leftover noindex or robots.txt block from staging)?Check robots.txt and the meta robots tag on live pages.
Does every form deliver its submission where it should?Submit each form with a real email and confirm it arrives in the inbox, CRM or database.
Does the site work on iPhone Safari?Test on a real iPhone (current iOS). Safari is about half of mobile visits in the US and Canada.
Are there no secret keys in the site's code (API keys, service keys, passwords)?Search page source and JavaScript files for sk_live, sk-, service_role, secret, password.

How to use this website QA checklist

It works like a QA engineer's pre-launch pass: go area by area, test each item the way a visitor would, and do not launch until every blocker is a Yes. The checks are built on QA standards (ISTQB, WCAG 2.2, OWASP, Google's Core Web Vitals) and reviewed by the BugsQA QA team.

1
Pick your type of site
Business website, online store, web app or an app built with AI tools. The checklist keeps only the checks that apply.
2
Answer each check
Yes, No or Not applicable. Each check says how to test it. Start with the blockers: those must pass before launch.
3
Share it with your team
Copy the list with your answers into Google Sheets, Excel, a GitHub issue or Notion, and assign the No answers.

Blockers first25 checks are marked Blocker: a No on any of them is a reason to delay launch.

Questions you can answerEach check is one yes or no question, so a No is a clear task for someone.

PrivateRuns in your browser. Nothing about your site is sent to us.

Remembers your answersClose the tab and come back; your progress is still there.

Website QA checklist by type of site

A brochure site and a store with checkout do not need the same checks. Each type keeps the basics every site needs and adds what its own risks call for.

Checklist for a business or marketing website

73 checks, 17 blockers

For company sites, landing pages and portfolios. The biggest risks are the quiet ones: a contact form that stops delivering, a staging noindex tag left in place, old URLs that no longer redirect, and a page that breaks on iPhone Safari.

Content, forms, devices, speed, SEO, accessibility, tracking and launch.

Checklist for an online store

91 checks, 24 blockers

Everything a business site needs, plus the money checks: a full test order end to end, declined cards and double clicks on Pay, taxes and shipping for each region, coupons, and switching the payment provider from test mode to live keys.

Adds store and payments, accounts and server-side price checks.

Checklist for a web app with accounts

79 checks, 20 blockers

For SaaS products, portals and dashboards. On top of the basics it checks signup, login and reset end to end, testing with a fresh non-admin account, one user never reaching another user’s data, rate limits, account deletion and backups.

Adds accounts and data, access control, rate limits and backups.

Checklist for an app built with AI tools (Lovable, Bolt, Replit, v0, Cursor)

87 checks, 22 blockers

AI builders ship working screens fast but often skip what nobody asked for: secret keys in the browser code, Supabase tables without Row Level Security, prices checked only in the browser, debug pages left on and no spending caps on AI APIs. These checks catch the problems we see most in AI-built apps.

Adds exposed keys, database rules, AI feature safety and cost limits.

When to run each check before launch

Website QA is not one afternoon before go-live. Spread the checks over the last two weeks, so there is time to fix what you find and test the fixes.

The rule that saves most launches

Repeat the blocker checks on the live domain within an hour of going live. Staging passing is not the same as production passing.

Back to the checklist Download the Excel checklist

1
Two weeks before launch: freeze the content
Finish the copy, images, prices and legal pages, then run the content and links checks. Every later fix to content means testing again, so lock it first.
2
One week before: forms, devices and flows
Submit every form and confirm where it lands, complete the main flows on real phones and browsers, and test accounts and checkout if the site has them. This is where most launch-blocking bugs appear.
3
Three days before: speed, SEO, accessibility and security
Run PageSpeed Insights and an accessibility scan, crawl the site for titles, canonicals and broken links, and check the security basics: HTTPS, no exposed keys, admin and staging pages locked.
4
Launch day: switch to live and test again
Connect the domain, remove noindex, switch payments to live mode, then repeat every blocker check on the live domain. Many bugs only show up in production: wrong email links, missing environment variables, a robots.txt from staging.
5
First 48 hours: watch it
Watch errors, form submissions, orders and the support inbox, and submit the sitemap to Google Search Console. Fix anything that breaks before the traffic grows.

Download the website QA checklist

The same 94 checks as files, for teams that track launches in a spreadsheet, on paper or in a ticket. Free to download, no email needed.

ExcelWebsite QA checklist for Excel and Google SheetsEvery check with how to test it, a column per type of site, answer dropdowns and a summary that counts open blockers.Download PDFPrintable website QA checklistAll checks grouped by area, with tick boxes. Print it or fill it in on a tablet.Download MarkdownWebsite QA checklist in MarkdownA task list for a GitHub issue, Notion page or launch ticket.Download

QA testing by BugsQA

Launching soon? Let us run the checklist for you

A checklist tells you what to check. BugsQA checks it: a full pre-launch QA pass on real phones and browsers, with every issue reported and every fix retested before you go live.

Every check run by a QA tester, not a script
Real iPhones, Android phones and browsers
Bug reports with steps, video and severity
US and Canadian time zones

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When a check fails

A No in the checklist is the start of the work, not the end. These free resources take it from there:

Report the bug

Write it up so a developer can fix it on the first read: steps, expected and actual result, device and evidence.

Free bug report template

Test the feature in depth

A checklist item says what to check; test cases say exactly how, step by step, for login, checkout, forms, payments and more.

Free test case template

Plan the testing

For a bigger launch, a test plan agrees the scope, devices, dates and the go or no-go criteria with your team.

Free test plan template

Rather have someone check it for you?

BugsQA runs a full pre-launch QA pass on real phones and browsers, reports every issue with steps and evidence, and retests the fixes before you go live.

Get a free QA consultation See how we work

Frequently asked questions

What is website QA?

Website QA (quality assurance) is checking a website before and after launch so visitors get a site that works: correct content, working links and forms, a layout that holds up on every browser and phone, good speed, accessibility, search engine basics and security. It is done by testing the site the way real visitors use it, ideally by someone who did not build it.

What should a website QA checklist include?

A complete website QA checklist covers content and copy, links and navigation, forms and emails, browsers and devices, speed, SEO and sharing, accessibility, security basics, and analytics and legal pages, plus accounts and payments if the site has them and the launch itself. This checklist has 94 checks in those 13 areas, and 25 of them are blockers that should pass before launch.

How long does website QA take?

For a small business website of 10 to 20 pages, one tester can usually run a full QA pass in one to two days, plus time to retest fixes. An online store or a web app with accounts and payments takes longer, often one to two weeks, because every flow has to be tested on several browsers and phones and with different accounts.

Who should do website QA?

Ideally someone who did not build the site. Developers and designers know how the site is supposed to work, so they follow the happy path without thinking; a fresh tester tries what real visitors do, like double clicking, going back mid-checkout or using an old phone. If there is no QA tester on the team, ask a colleague, run the blocker checks yourself, or hire a QA service before launch.

What is the difference between website QA and UAT?

Website QA is technical testing by testers: does every page, link, form and flow work on every browser and device, and are speed, SEO, accessibility and security in order. User acceptance testing (UAT) comes after, when the client or business users confirm the site does what they need for their real tasks and sign off on the launch.

Can website QA be automated?

Part of it. Link checkers, PageSpeed Insights, accessibility scanners like axe or WAVE, SEO crawlers and end-to-end tests with tools like Playwright catch a lot, and are worth running on every release. But automated tools miss wrong content, confusing flows, layouts that look broken on a real phone and many accessibility problems, so a manual pass by a person is still needed before launch.

Does this checklist work for apps built with Lovable, Bolt or Replit?

Yes. Choose "App built with AI tools" and the checklist adds the problems AI-built apps often have: secret keys exposed in the browser code, Supabase or Firebase rules that let anyone read the database, prices and roles checked only in the browser, debug pages left on, and no rate limits or spending caps on AI and other paid APIs.

Is the website QA checklist free?

Yes, free with no signup, for your own sites and your clients' sites. The checklist runs in your browser and your answers are saved only there, so nothing about your site is sent to BugsQA. The Excel, PDF and Markdown versions are free to download too.

Back to the checklist

Free website QA checklist

The website QA checklist

Content and copy9 checks

Links and navigation8 checks

Forms and emails7 checks

Browsers9 checks

Speed5 checks

SEO and sharing11 checks

Accessibility9 checks

Security basics11 checks

Accounts and data4 checks

Store and payments6 checks

Analytics and tracking4 checks

Legal and privacy4 checks

Launch day and after7 checks