Before launch day
Confirm the approved site version, owners of DNS and hosting, a recoverable backup and the rollback decision. Schedule the change around real business activity. Keep a record of redirects and the current mail configuration.
Test the destination
Review navigation, important landing pages, responsive layouts and downloadable files. Test forms and notification delivery, login and reset flows, and checkout in an appropriate test mode. Check integrations and scheduled tasks rather than assuming a working homepage proves the site is ready.
Review discovery and URLs
Remove staging-only noindex restrictions from the intended public pages. Check canonical URLs, redirect mappings, the sitemap and robots rules. Leave private or transactional pages out of search where appropriate. A correct setup does not guarantee immediate indexing.
During the cutover
Use the agreed data freeze or synchronization plan for changing databases. Update only the intended DNS records, verify HTTPS and check mail routing. DNS caching means different visitors may reach different environments during the transition.
After launch
Repeat the key user journeys, verify orders and enquiry delivery, review errors and monitor resource usage. Keep temporary environments and backups for the agreed period. Record what changed and who owns ongoing maintenance. See the project guide and staging-to-live service.