Hosting Checklist for Laravel and Next.js Sites Before Launch

A launch checklist is useful because production issues are often simple things missed under pressure. For Laravel and Next.js projects, I check the application, server, DNS, cache, storage, and monitoring layers before moving traffic.

The first step is environment separation. Production credentials, API keys, database connections, mail settings, payment secrets, and analytics IDs should not be copied from local development without review. I also confirm that debug mode is disabled and error pages are user-friendly.

Server and SSL checks

SSL should be active before launch, with HTTP redirecting to HTTPS. The server should have the correct PHP or Node version, process manager, file permissions, queue workers, scheduler, and storage links. For Laravel, I verify config cache, route cache, migrations, queues, and log permissions. For Next.js, I verify build output, image handling, environment variables, and the start command.

DNS changes should be planned with TTL in mind. Lowering TTL ahead of migration can make a launch smoother if a rollback is needed.

Backups and rollback

I do not consider a site ready until backups have been tested. A backup that cannot be restored is only a hopeful file. Before launch, I confirm database backups, uploaded media backups, and a rollback path for the deployed code.

For content sites, I also verify robots.txt, sitemap.xml, canonical URLs, redirects, and 404 behavior. These are easy to miss because they are not always visible in the main UI.

After launch

Immediately after launch, I watch logs, analytics, uptime checks, form submissions, and key pages on mobile. The goal is to catch small issues before users report them. Calm launches come from boring preparation.