Before a care home website goes live, confirm the information, permissions, enquiry routes and launch responsibilities. This twenty-point checklist gives your nominated contact and website provider a practical review structure. Use it alongside your agreed project scope; it is not a regulatory or accessibility certification.
Choose one person to gather feedback and identify who can approve publication. Review the preview before launch, keep requested changes in one consolidated list and resolve outstanding factual questions. The home approves its information and permissions; the website provider handles the design and technical work included in the agreement.
Confirm the business information and content
- Confirm the home’s identity. Check the trading name, business details, address and contact hours against approved information. Use consistent wording wherever those details appear.
- Check service descriptions. Confirm that care types, facilities and accessibility information accurately reflect the service you provide. Make the route for discussing individual needs clear.
- Review the page structure. Check that every agreed page exists, has a useful purpose and can be reached through sensible navigation. Resolve missing or duplicated information.
- Approve the wording. Ask the responsible contact to review team information, the care philosophy and practical details. Replace placeholder text before the final approval.
- Confirm contact destinations. Check the public telephone number, email address and enquiry recipient. Make sure the relevant team knows what the website asks visitors to do.
Approve facts, imagery and publication permissions
- Approve photographs and videos. Confirm permission to publish each asset and that it represents the home appropriately. Remove material that has not been approved for website use.
- Check reviews and testimonials. Confirm permission, wording and attribution before publishing. Avoid claims about customer or resident experiences that you cannot substantiate.
- Verify care-related statements. Have the nominated approver confirm factual and regulatory information. Website design does not verify a service’s care quality or suitability.
- Check inspection references. Link to the correct service information and reflect its current rating or unrated status accurately. Do not reuse another location’s inspection details.
- Review privacy information. Confirm that published information matches the forms and tracking tools actually enabled. Agree how confidential enquiries will be directed to an appropriate secure route.
Test the experience on devices and enquiry routes
- Review desktop and mobile layouts. Read key pages on a computer and phone. Check headings, images, menus and buttons without assuming the desktop view covers every device.
- Follow important navigation paths. Start at the homepage and find service information, contact details and visit arrangements. Check links, including links to external information.
- Check readability and keyboard use. Review text contrast, meaningful headings, labelled form fields and visible focus. Confirm important controls can be reached and operated with a keyboard.
- Test the enquiry form. Agree an appropriate test with the recipient, submit it and confirm delivery. Check required fields, confirmation messages and who handles an enquiry after receipt.
- Check telephone links and page loading. Confirm call links use the correct number and that key pages load without obvious errors. Ask the provider to investigate unexpected delays or broken elements.
Agree launch, handover and ongoing responsibility
- Confirm the domain arrangements. Check who owns and can authorise changes to the domain. Arrange any necessary access securely; do not send passwords through an enquiry form.
- Approve the launch plan. Confirm the agreed publication date, remaining dependencies and who can give final approval. Allow for required content, access and approvals before relying on a target timeline.
- Check the agreed technical setup. Ask the provider to confirm HTTPS, relevant redirects and the SEO or analytics items included in scope. Do not assume every package includes the same features.
- Review handover and ownership. Confirm the access and information you will receive, when ownership transfers and any separate ongoing terms. Record who can request future changes.
- Assign ongoing upkeep. Agree who maintains content, software, security and backups, whether independently or through an agreed service. Set a practical routine for checking that information and enquiry routes remain current.
What should happen after the checks?
Record any outstanding items, who owns them and whether they affect publication. Confirm that the final approved version is the one scheduled for launch, then repeat essential link and enquiry checks on the live website. Substantial extra features or pages should be agreed separately rather than becoming an unclear last-minute expectation.
For inspection context, the CQC explains its ratings and why some services have no rating. Families also use conversations and visits: the NHS care homes guide describes the wider research involved in choosing care. Keep those decisions distinct from a website launch review.
Read our complete website journey for the project sequence, or compare website packages and ongoing options. If you are planning a new site or redesign, discuss your scope with WaveBNB Pro before committing to a launch date.