Launching a website can be very complicated, especially if your website has a lot of pages, posts, authors, images and more. We find that many of our client’s websites are very complex and we needed a system for our team to work through to ensure the quality of each website launch. We developed a checklist that each developer can work through during each part of the launch process. This checklist works for someone who wants to launch their own website, or a large company that has a robust website with many moving parts (pages, posts, authors, custom post types, plugins, comments, etc).
Here is a simple WordPress website launch checklist for some of our website launches. This isn’t exhaustive, but it should give you an idea of all the things that need to happen before you launch and after you’ve launched your website. Having a checklist like this helps us keep the website project on track and this resource also lets us become more efficient.
Please Note:
- This launch checklist primarily applies to WordPress based websites, but many of these items can be used on other website launches.
- We continually add to our launch checklist so this list isn’t exhaustive, please add your ideas in the comment section. We’d love to compile an updated list in the future.
WordPress Website Pre-launch checklist:
[list style=”style1″]
[li]Determine hosting account, login info, ftp access, cpanel info, etc.[/li]
[li]Analyze SEO on old website – where do they come up in Google rankings?[/li]
[li]Do a basic Google search to see where they come up[/li]
[li]Confirm any redirects (especially if moving from non-WordPress site to WordPress)[/li]
[li]Create a Favicon[/li]
[li]Make sure WordPress SEO titles & Meta are correct[/li]
[li]Check Gravity Forms Notification – whose (client) email address does the contact form get sent[/li]
[li]Make sure any “Home” nav buttons or pages with custom urls from the development site are hard linked to new website[/li]
[li]Look to see if old site uses www or non-www [/li]
[li]Update plugins and make sure they still work correctly[/li]
[li]Install broken links plugin to get alerted if/when links are broken[/li]
[li]Look at website in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE[/li]
[li]Make a cutoff date for client so they can’t add any more to the “old” website. [/li]
[li]Create a BackupBuddy Full backup and download/store in Amazon S3[/li]
[li]Create a BackupBuddy database backup and download/store in Amazon S3[/li]
[li]Use WordPress export feature to export all content (just in case)[/li]
[li]Conduct a speed test of old website http://tools.pingdom.com[/li]
[li]Conduct a speed test of new dev website http://tools.pingdom.com[/li]
[/list]
Now, once the new website is launched, we also have a checklist to run through to make sure everything is working properly.
WordPress Website Post-Launch checklist:
[list style=”style1″]
[li]Confirm all testing URLs are gone and correct domain URLs are in place[/li]
[li]Make sure WordPress SEO titles & Meta are correct[/li]
[li]Make sure pages redirect correctly[/li]
[li]Use Broken Link Checker to make sure all links work[/li]
[li]Check Gravity Forms get sent to correct person’s email address[/li]
[li]Check website on all browsers[/li]
[li]Connect site in Google Webmaster Tools[/li]
[li]Connect site in Google Analytics[/li]
[li]Submit site map to Google Analytics[/li]
[li]Connect website to Bing [/li]
[li]Create user logins (usernames/passwords)[/li]
[li]Install/activate Caching plugin[/li]
[li]Use Google XML Sitemap and submit that to Google Webmaster Tools [/li]
[li]MAKE SITE SEARCHABLE IN WORDPRESS SETTINGS[/li]
[li]Enable comments and install/activate Akismet[/li]
[li]Update Permalinks[/li]
[li]Create a BackupBuddy Full backup and download/store in Amazon S3[/li]
[li]Create a BackupBuddy database backup and download/store in Amazon S3[/li]
[li]Use WordPress export feature to export all content (just in case)[/li]
[/list]
Having this list enables to work more confidently and efficiently from start to finish so we don’t leave anything to chance. What do you have on your website launch checklist? We’d love to hear your tips.
Hi from PlatU, Jeff!
I have to admit, I was expecting a list more along the promotion/marketing lines.
This checklist is very detailed and especially focused on the technical (important) aspects of making sure a website launches and works properly without dropping any balls. I expect to be using it soon. Technical excellence is important for bringing value. If it won’t work, being well-promoted is…, well, maybe dangerous.
Good resource. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words Cliff. I’ve found that I minimize the risk by using this checklist. Plus, it helps my clients know that the process will go as smoothly as possible.
Great to hear from you as always!
This is excellent! Screaming frog or Xenu are also great free/freemium resources to check for broken links and errors. You can save so much traffic and headache by doing this well, and having a checklist like this is most helpful.
Thanks for the broken link/error links. The more information you have during the launch phase, the less issues will arise.
Nice Informative Article.
It is true saying that Launching a website can be very complicated, especially if your website has a lot of pages, posts, authors, images and more.
Checklists are worked like a filters that will make the website bug free.
To improve your efficiency, you must have to develop website through the different checklist.
Thanks again for sharing such a great Article.