Checklist To Follow Before Launching a Newly Created WordPress Website
Are you going to create a WordPress-powered website? Building and launching a WordPress website, whether it’s for you or clients, requires a lot of work. A successful website requires many distinct components to function as a cohesive whole, and that’s why custom WordPress development is so popular.
It is simple to forget a couple of the items because there are so many to keep in mind. Before a website starts, creating a road map of all the processes involved is a good idea to maximize the likelihood of a successful outcome and, ultimately, success. You can accomplish this by using the pre-launch checklist for WordPress websites we’ve created.
Importance of Having a WordPress Checklist
Before launching your WordPress website, you must verify that everything works as it should. The last thing you want is for visitors to your website to find it broken when they first arrive! This would destroy your band’s reputation. What a terrible impression to make!
A checklist will make the procedure easier the next time you work with WordPress frequently as an agency or freelancer. A checklist helps you develop a website by allowing you to unload part of the mental work, which increases your brain space for creativity and lowers your stress levels.
After all, if the website launch is unsuccessful, you will be held accountable. Your productivity will increase if you create a pre-launch checklist.
Let’s dive deeper into the various checks you’ll need to implement.
Check 1: Create Backups
Every website needs at least one form of backup. Consider backups as the insurance for your website. You will constantly have a backup to restore everything in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
A decent WordPress maintenance practice is creating a backup every day, and if you charge your client for maintenance, you must do so with proficiency. It’s recommended to use third-party solutions since, while you can use a backup plugin, you can find it difficult to access it if your website is unavailable.
Check 2: Anti-spam Integration
On well-known WordPress blogs, up to 85% of the comments are spam. That is to say, just 15 out of every 100 comments are legitimate. You don’t want to waste your time moderating comments because that will damage your credibility and your client’s reputation. So be sure to implement an anti-spam solution!
Check 3: Test Out Your Forms & Surveys
Nowadays, contact forms are present on most websites. You might also have subscription or lead generation forms and contact forms.
Before launching your WordPress website, ensure all your forms display and work as intended. Making ensuring forms accurately store data is equally as important as the design.
Check 4: Optimize Loading Times & Browser Compatibility
Nothing is worse than a sluggish website. Make sure your WordPress site loads swiftly before launching it. To find out how quickly your site loads and what you can do to make it even faster, utilize a tool like Google Page Speed Insights. Additionally, you can put in place numerous performance monitoring systems.
Check 5: SSL Certificate Validation & WordPress Admin Security
The security technology known as SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, allows for encrypted communication between a web browser and a web server. An SSL certificate is essential in 2022. Hopefully, the majority of web hosting companies will have one.
Free SSL certificate plugins can help you obtain an SLL certificate if you don’t already have one. Make sure your WordPress admin has complicated passwords as well. If you wish to strengthen your admin area’s security, look at the Login Lockdown plugin.
Check 6: Make a Customized 404 Page
Website visitors can run into typos or missing pages. They typically close the page as a result of these mistakes.
Before you launch your WordPress site, install a 404 page to engage visitors and lead them in the proper route. If you work for an agency, your clients may particularly appreciate this attention to detail.
Check 7: Optimize Plugins & Themes
You must keep your WordPress version, themes, and plugins updated to avoid any vulnerabilities. Hackers can easily use an old version of any software to their advantage.
The good news is that WordPress makes an effort to fix any vulnerabilities that are reported. Maintaining everything currently is, therefore, the best thing you can do to ensure the security of your website.
Conclusion
A new website’s launch can be anxious. We hope that this checklist, which is continually being updated, will assist you in launching your WordPress website smoothly.
Using this checklist as you launch your WordPress website can greatly prevent errors. Last but not least, we advise you to compile a list of the 5–6 plugins that you install on each website. If you’re looking for custom WordPress development from the experts, then you can always outsource your projects to a top service provider such as Golpik Inc.
