We launched. Here’s what went wrong in the days around launch.

This site went live between 1 and 2 October 2026. We promised to build it in public, and that includes telling you what went wrong. In the days around launch we stumbled three times. None of it was serious, all of it was a little embarrassing, and each one can save you a bad afternoon with your own site.

The first one caught us right as we were about to publish: the domain was suspended and we had no idea. Why? When you register a domain you get an email asking you to confirm that you are the owner. If you don’t confirm it within 15 days, the domain is suspended. That email was waiting for us in the Spam folder. We confirmed it and in under an hour the domain was back. What you can do: check your email today, Spam included, and make sure your domain is registered to an address you actually read.

The second: the site refused to publish. The service that hosts it checks who signs each change, and ours was signed with an email it didn’t recognise as the account owner’s. The result: a sign that said “Blocked” and nothing online. It wasn’t a failure, it was a rule we didn’t know about. We fixed the signature and out it went. What you can do: ask for the accounts your site lives on to be in your name, and for a test publish before the day that matters.

The third was the sneakiest, because everything looked like it was working. The contact form sent, it said the message was on its way… and the message landed in Spam. The first four tests, all of them. The culprit turned out to be one character: “$”. Our form asks how much you plan to invest, and the spam filter saw the currency sign and got suspicious. We stopped sending the sign and the messages started reaching the inbox. What you can do: write to yourself through your own form, the way a client would, numbers and all, and check where it lands. A message in Spam is a person who wrote to you and thinks you never answered.

Two of our three stumbles went through the Spam folder, so that is our number one piece of advice: check it. The whole list fits on one line: domain email confirmed, accounts in your name, and a form you have really tested. Go through your site with it before a client does it for you. That’s why we build in public: so that what went wrong for us goes right for you.

— Paola A. González Guerrero · founder, EMPOWR STUDIO