A pre-launch landing page checklist

The page people land on decides whether your campaign works. A great appeal email sent to a slow, confusing or broken page wastes every click. This checklist covers twenty quick checks to run before you launch an appeal, an event, an ad campaign or a print run. Most take under a minute each.

Work through it with the page open on your phone as well as your computer. Most campaign visitors arrive on a phone, so that is the version that matters most.

Tracking: can you measure it?

1. Analytics is on the page. Check that your GA4 tag loads on this page, not just your homepage. If your site uses a cookie banner, accept analytics in a private window and check the visit appears in GA4 Realtime.
2. Your tagged links reach it intact. Click one real campaign link from each channel and confirm the address still shows utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign after the page loads.
3. The important action is measurable. Decide what success means (a donation started, a form sent, a booking) and make sure GA4 records it, usually as a key event.
4. The thank-you or confirmation step exists. If success is a form, there should be a clear confirmation page or message, which also gives you something to measure.

Speed and mobile: will it load?

5. It loads quickly on mobile data. Turn off Wi-Fi and open it. If you find yourself waiting, so will everyone else.
6. Images are sensibly sized. Large photos straight from a camera are the most common cause of slow pages. Resize and compress them before uploading.
7. It fits the screen. No sideways scrolling, no text too small to read, buttons large enough to tap with a thumb.
8. Forms work on a phone. Fill in the form on your own phone, including any drop-downs and date pickers, all the way to the confirmation.

Message: does it make sense?

9. The headline matches the promise. If the email said "Help us open the winter shelter", the page should say that too, in the first line people see.
10. There is one clear main action. One main button, near the top and repeated further down on a long page. Several equally weighted buttons split attention.
11. The key facts are there. For an event: date, time, place, price, accessibility. For an appeal: what the money does and how to give.
12. It works without the email or post. Someone forwarded the link without the context. Does the page still explain itself?

Trust: would you give your details here?

13. The page is secure. The address starts with https:// and the browser shows no warnings.
14. Who you are is obvious. Your name and logo, and for registered charities, your registered charity number where people expect to see it.
15. Privacy and contact details are linked. A privacy policy link near any form, and a way to get in touch.
16. Nothing looks broken. No placeholder text, no missing images, no links to last year's event.

Sharing and search: will it look right when shared?

17. The page title is specific. The browser tab and search result should say what the page is, not just your organisation's name.
18. There is a meta description. One or two sentences that search engines can show under the title.
19. The share preview works. Paste the address into a message to yourself. A good preview has a clear title and an image (set with og:title and og:image).
20. The page will stay live. Printed QR codes and old posts keep sending people for months. Keep the page up, or redirect it somewhere sensible when the campaign ends.

How to use this checklist in a small team

Do not try to tick all twenty alone the night before launch. A better rhythm:

• A week before: run the Site Checker and fix anything technical. Technical fixes often need someone else, so they need the most notice.
• Two days before: ask someone who has not seen the campaign to open the page on their phone and tell you what it is asking them to do. If they hesitate, the message needs work.
• Launch day: click a real link from every channel and watch GA4 Realtime.
• The day after: check that visits are arriving under the right source and medium, and that the key event is being recorded.

If you only have ten minutes

Sometimes a campaign goes out at short notice. If you cannot do everything, do these five: open the page on your phone, click one tagged link from each channel, fill in the form or start the donation yourself, check the page title and preview by sending the link to yourself, and look for anything out of date. Those five catch the problems that cost the most.

Keep a copy

Save this checklist with your campaign template and run it every time, even for small campaigns. The checks that feel unnecessary are the ones that catch the problem nobody expected. For tracking the campaign itself, see Campaign tracking for charities, and for print, Tracking QR codes on posters, flyers and print.