Website Launch Checklist: Things To Double-Check Before Going Live

by | May 30, 2025 | Etcetera | 0 comments

Launching a brand new web content? That’s nice, however have you ever made positive it really works smartly when reside? You’re most certainly making the primary influence in your long term consumers, and also you don’t need them to pass judgement on you simply because your web content didn’t load smartly or isn’t optimized for cellular.

It’s simple to omit a couple of issues when dashing to move reside. A lacking favicon, a damaged kind, or a noindex tag can quietly mess issues up. To be sure that not anything is overpassed, we’ve compiled a web content release tick list overlaying the whole lot, from design and velocity to search engine marketing and safety. Bookmark this put up so that you’ll by no means wager what’s lacking once more.

Website online Pre-Release Tick list

We’ve divided the record into two classes: pre-launch and post-launch duties, so it’s more straightforward to devise accordingly. Get started with the pre-launch tick list to make sure your web content is able to move reside.

1. Do A Ultimate Design Overview

Earlier than going reside, overview your whole web content design one final time. A couple of commonplace issues to appear out for:

  • Are your emblem colours, emblems, and fonts constant throughout each web page? (To make sure consistency going ahead, it might be a perfect concept to create a brand identity kit and percentage it with crew contributors.)
  • Do photographs load temporarily and show correctly with out stretching or pixelation? (You will have to optimize your images to make sure they’re light-weight and cargo temporarily.)
  • Are your buttons, menus, and CTAs simple to spot and have interaction with?
  • Have you ever got rid of any placeholder content material or dummy photographs?

Those small main points form how devoted {and professional} your web site feels to new guests. As soon as all’s checked, optimize your whole web content for responsiveness. Your web content may glance nice on a computer, however how does it glance on a telephone or pill?

Some website builders, like Divi, robotically optimize your web site for responsiveness, however with others, you will have to do it manually for every cyber web web page. This may simply change into tiring as a result of a web content has many pages. So, select your web content builder appropriately, which simplifies your paintings.

For instance, when you’re the use of Divi 5, trying out and tweaking responsiveness is simple. Throughout the builder, you’ll be able to toggle between cellular, pill, and desktop perspectives and make format adjustments for every display measurement immediately. It allows you to view your web content in numerous breakpoints according to quite a lot of display sizes.

2. Take a look at Go-Browser Compatibility

A web content that works completely in Chrome may wreck in Firefox or glance abnormal in Safari. Earlier than launching, test your site across all major browsers, similar to Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, each on desktop and cellular. Pay particular consideration to:

  • Fonts rendering otherwise
  • Spacing and alignment shifts
  • Button hover states
  • Shape box styling and validation habits
  • Sticky headers or animations behaving unevenly

You could be tempted to only take a look at the homepage. Alternatively, pay shut consideration to key conversion pages like product pages, checkout, or touch paperwork. To make this procedure more straightforward, use gear like BrowserStack or LambdaTest to preview your web site in more than one browsers and gadgets on one display without having to put in them in the neighborhood.

browserstack

Clear your browser cache ahead of every take a look at, or use incognito mode to look the newest model of your web site with out saved recordsdata interfering.

Even small system faults could cause frustration or lack of agree with, particularly in case your web content guests are seeking to whole an motion. So, even supposing this isn’t as a laugh as designing your web site, take a couple of mins to check your web content for design and capability to save lots of hours of strengthen and misplaced leads later.

3. Optimize Your Web site For Efficiency Metrics

Earlier than you release, be sure your site loads fast as a result of a gradual web content can frustrate customers, building up soar charges, or even harm your search engine marketing scores. Right here’s what to test and connect:

  • Compress all images ahead of importing them. Equipment like TinyPNG or ShortPixel lend a hand cut back document sizes with out shedding high quality.
  • Convert photographs into WebP format. It’s lighter than JPG/PNG and supported by means of maximum browsers.
  • Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to scale back web page load occasions. Equipment like WP Rocket deal with this robotically.
  • Use caching (browser, web page, and object caching) to hurry up repeat visits. WP Rocket can lend a hand.
  • Lazy-load photographs and movies, so handiest visual content material lots first. Listed below are the best image optimization plugins.
  • Take away unused plugins, topics, and third-party scripts that decelerate efficiency.
  • Host fonts in the neighborhood to steer clear of delays from third-party font supply networks.
  • Keep away from heavy animations or autoplay movies above the fold. They decelerate perceived efficiency.
  • Use asynchronous loading for scripts and monitoring codes.
  • Check your Core Web Vitals the use of PageSpeed Insights, and connect any failing metrics.

The precise answer can support your web content’s efficiency and velocity. For instance, most sensible website speed optimization plugins like WP Rocket and WP Optimize are all-in-one answers, so that you don’t wish to set up many plugins and bloat your web site.

WP Rocket Caching Plugin

Bonus tip: Run your web site via GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights after every trade to trace enhancements. Even a one-second growth could make a noticeable distinction.

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4. Take a look at Cellular Pace As Neatly

You will have to additionally verify that your web site lots speedy on cellular gadgets. Right here’s our information on how to do a full website speed test that covers mobile-friendly velocity optimization intimately. Practice the ideas successfully to load your cellular web site speedy.

5. Make Your Web site Optimized for search engine marketing

Serps want transparent indicators to know your web site. Making a couple of key search engine marketing updates now can support visibility and power long-term visitors:

  • Upload distinctive name tags and meta descriptions for each web page. Those display up in seek effects and affect click-through charges.
  • Use blank, SEO-friendly URLs that replicate your content material. For instance, /products and services/web-design is helping seek bots (in addition to readers) perceive the put up a lot better than /web page?identity=23).
  • Write alt textual content for each symbol so search engines like google and yahoo can interpret visible content material and customers with display readers can navigate your web site.
  • Hyperlink to different related pages inside your web site. Internal linking is helping search engines like google and yahoo move slowly your web site higher and helps to keep guests engaged.

WordPress SEO plugins like Rank Math or Yoast SEO be offering real-time search engine marketing ideas, schema markup, and on-page audits, all inside your WordPress dashboard. So when you’re writing a weblog put up, you’ll be able to optimize all on-page search engine marketing parameters throughout the web page.

rankmath seo schema markup

We’ve additionally written a whole information on WordPress SEO that covers the whole lot you wish to have to do to optimize your web content. And when you’re the use of Divi, you’ll be able to optimize your whole web content for search engine marketing simply.

divi seo options

You’ll additionally upload search engine marketing titles and meta descriptions for every web page immediately within the builder, so that you don’t have to leap between gear whilst optimizing your web site.

6. Set Up Your Monitoring And Analytics Correctly

You don’t wish to release your web site and later understand you’ve neglected monitoring your first guests. Putting in place the fitting gear from day one guarantees you’ll be able to see what’s operating and the place individuals are losing off.

Get started with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to trace person habits, conversions, and engagement throughout gadgets. Pair it with Google Search Console to watch your web site’s efficiency in seek effects and catch indexing or cellular usability problems early. You’ll additionally use it to post your new URLs for indexing each time a brand new put up is going reside, so seek bots additionally find out about them.

request indexing search console

If you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing more practical, particularly for fundamental web site stats and uptime tracking, Jetpack can provide you with fast insights without having to configure the whole lot manually. It gained’t exchange GA4 or Seek Console, but it surely’s a useful addition, particularly for solo web site homeowners or newbies.

7. Take a look at For Damaged Hyperlinks

Earlier than your web site is going reside, it’s price scanning for damaged hyperlinks, despite the fact that it’s nonetheless in staging. Damaged hyperlinks are simple to pass over when you’ve migrated pages, reused templates, or copied hyperlinks between environments. Catching them early is helping you blank up your inside linking, repair lacking URLs, and be sure that not anything vital issues to a lifeless finish. Search for:

  • Inner hyperlinks that result in unpublished or deleted pages
  • Exterior hyperlinks pointing to out of date or damaged sources
  • Buttons or CTAs with out operating URLs
  • Navigation menu pieces that don’t move anyplace

You’ll use gear just like the Broken Link Checker plugin to scan draft content material.

Tip: After your web content launches, do a moment scan the use of gear like Semrush or Ahrefs so they are able to move slowly your reside web site and catch problems that weren’t visual in staging.

semrush site audit report

8. Create A 404 Web page + Set Up Redirects

Although you’ve fastened each damaged hyperlink you’ll be able to in finding, guests would possibly nonetheless land on out of date URLs, particularly when you’ve moved content material, redesigned the site, or others have connected to outdated pages.

That’s the place a useful 404 page is available in. As a substitute of revealing a generic error, create a branded 404 web page that reassures customers and guides them to helpful content material. Upload hyperlinks for your homepage, in style pages, or a seek bar to stay other folks engaged. 404 pages typically annoy readers, however you’ll be able to practice a sensible method like Ahrefs to ship them to another web page.

ahrefs 404 page example

Moreover, set up 301 redirects for any URLs you’ve modified right through construction. Rank Math makes it simple to map outdated hyperlinks to new ones with out touching your code.

9. Create Felony Pages

It’s simple to get stuck up in design and overlook the criminal fundamentals, however they subject. Relying on the place your target audience is situated, skipping this step may put you vulnerable to non-compliance with privateness rules like GDPR or CCPA. Even when you’re no longer amassing delicate data, having those pages displays guests that your web site is devoted and professionally controlled.

Remember to have the next pages reside and simple to search out, typically to your footer:

  • Privateness Coverage: Explains the way you acquire, use, and retailer customer knowledge.
  • Phrases & Stipulations: Outlines utilization laws, disclaimers, and legal responsibility.
  • Cookie Realize: In case your web site makes use of cookies (maximum do), you’ll most probably want a visual cookie banner and a hyperlink for your cookie coverage.

If you happen to’re undecided the place to begin, gear like Termly can generate legally compliant pages and cookie consent banners in only some steps.

10. Examine Your E-mail Advertising Setup Is Built-in Correctly

If you happen to plan to build an audience or acquire leads, your e-mail setup must be in a position from day one. Although you’re no longer launching a complete marketing campaign straight away, it’s vital to make sure your opt-in paperwork are styled correctly, positioned the place they make sense, and simple to finish.

You’ll additionally wish to double-check that your kind integrates easily together with your e-mail advertising platform, whether or not you’re the use of Mailchimp, Kit, or one thing else. Post a take a look at e-mail to ensure contacts are being added for your record and that your welcome or affirmation emails are sending as anticipated.

If you happen to’re the use of a device like Bloom, now’s a great time to arrange your paperwork, attach them for your supplier, and observe constant styling to check your emblem.

See also  Introducing Divi Quick Sites & AI Website Creation

Although just a few other folks enroll to start with, having those fundamentals in position guarantees that you just’ll be capable to capitalize on alternatives from day one. If you’ve introduced your web content effectively, you could possibly wish to arrange your email marketing automation to begin nurturing your subscribers.

11. Set Up Your Website online Backup Machine

Launching a web content comes to many shifting portions, and from time to time issues don’t move as deliberate. Possibly a plugin replace reasons a format factor, otherwise you by accident overwrite a key web page right through last-minute edits. Regardless of the case, having a backup in a position manner you’ll be able to temporarily repair your web site with out shedding development.

Set up a plugin like UpdraftPlus and configure it to retailer backups off-site, similar to on Google Pressure or Dropbox. Run no less than one guide backup ahead of release, so you have got a blank model to revive if anything else is going incorrect.

You’ll additionally arrange computerized backups to run day-to-day or weekly, relying on how continuously you replace your web site. It’s a kind of stuff you don’t take into consideration till you in point of fact want it. Right here’s a information on how to back up your WordPress site if you wish to have lend a hand getting began.

12. Tighten Your Website online Safety

Safety will have to be a part of your release procedure, no longer one thing you patch in later. Right here’s what to deal with ahead of going reside:

  • Set up an SSL Certificates: Maximum website hosting suppliers, like SiteGround, be offering loose SSL with a one-click setup. This encrypts your web site and boosts person agree with.
  • Use a Trusted Security Plugin: Equipment like Solid Security or Wordfence lend a hand observe suspicious job, block brute-force makes an attempt, and protected login pages.
  • Disable Document Modifying from the WordPress Dashboard: This prevents someone from editing theme/plugin recordsdata immediately in the event that they get get right of entry to.
  • Create Robust, Distinctive Passwords: Particularly for admin accounts and website hosting logins.
  • Take away Unused Person Accounts: Fewer customers imply fewer access issues.
  • Stay WordPress, Issues, and Plugins As much as Date: Maximum vulnerabilities come from out of date device.

Taking those steps early is helping steer clear of useless tension as soon as your web site is reside and attracting visitors. An all-in-one answer like Solid Security can lend a hand, however it’s possible you’ll wish to optimize your web site for a layered safety method, as we discovered that a plugin on my own isn’t sufficient in our fresh record. Take a look at the biggest security threats WordPress faces and our whole information on WordPress security to harden it much more.

SolidWP WordPress security plugin

13. Take a look at Your Favicon & Browser Identify

Those may look like small main points, however your favicon and web site name make a large distinction in how your web content seems in browsers and tabs.

First, upload a favicon (the small icon that looks subsequent for your web site title within the browser tab.) With out it, customers would possibly see a generic placeholder or not anything in any respect, which may make your web site glance unfinished.

Subsequent, double-check your browser tab title. That is typically pulled out of your homepage’s search engine marketing name, but it surely’s price reviewing to make sure it obviously displays your emblem. Keep away from generic titles like “House” or “New Website online.” It is helping your web site glance extra polished and devoted from the primary click on.

14. Check Your Touch Paperwork

You’d be stunned how continuously touch paperwork wreck or by no means get examined ahead of release. And if somebody tries to succeed in you via a sort that doesn’t paintings, you might by no means know. Earlier than launching your web site, post a take a look at access via each kind in your web site, similar to touch paperwork, lead magnets, quote requests, anything else. Take a look at if:

  • The shape submits effectively with out mistakes
  • Emails are dropped at the fitting inbox
  • Auto-replies or affirmation messages glance proper
  • Junk mail filtering or CAPTCHA (if used) isn’t too competitive

If you happen to’re the use of more than one paperwork or third-party gear like Mailchimp or Kit, take a look at the combination. If you happen to’re the use of the Divi touch kind module (which is a good suggestion to stay issues easy), take a look at integrations with e-mail products and services or CRMs, particularly when you’ve added conditional good judgment or customized fields.

divi contact form module

15. Optimize Your Web site For Internet Accessibility Requirements

Your web content will have to additionally paintings for everybody. Accessibility is ready ensuring all guests, together with the ones with disabilities, can navigate and have interaction together with your web site. On the very least, test the fundamentals:

  • Colour Distinction: Ensure the textual content is well learn in opposition to the background, particularly for buttons and hyperlinks.
  • Alt Textual content: Each and every symbol will have to have descriptive alt textual content so display readers can learn it.
  • Keyboard Navigation: Take a look at the use of your web site with only a keyboard. Are you able to succeed in all vital spaces with out a mouse?
  • Shape Labels and Error Messages: Ensure they’re transparent and correctly related to their fields.

EqualWeb is a loose cyber web accessibility checker that allows you to temporarily carry out an accessibility audit and spotlight areas of difficulty. Whilst you don’t wish to meet each complex tenet straight away, overlaying the accessibility basics makes your web site extra inclusive and user-friendly for everybody.

Website online Submit-Release Tick list

This record highlights issues to ensure after a couple of days of launching your web site.

16. Ultimate Content material Overview

Even in the end the pre-launch tests, reviewing your content material as soon as it’s reside is useful as a result of from time to time mistakes handiest change into evident when noticed in context. However that’s no longer in truth a monotonous phase, as a result of I do know you’re most certainly very excited to look your web content’s reside model.

Click on via every key web page in your web content and search for typos, formatting system faults, damaged CTAs, or placeholder textual content you might have neglected previous. Additionally, double-check your cellular perspectives, particularly for textual content overlays, CTA buttons, and long-form content material.

If you happen to’re operating with a crew, it is helping to have somebody else do a recent move. A moment set of eyes continuously spots stuff you’ve gotten too used to seeing.

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17. Allow Social Sharing Options

Your web content is reside. Now, it’s time to make it shareable.

Get started by means of including social sharing buttons to key pages like weblog posts, product pages, and touchdown pages. You’ll upload them as floating sidebars, underneath the name, or inline content material. That stated, floating sidebars are nice for longer articles, whilst inline buttons close to the highest or backside paintings smartly on shorter pages or gross sales content material. Focal point on making sharing easy with out interrupting the studying enjoy.

monarch social sharing buttons example

If you happen to’re the use of Monarch, overview your settings to ensure:

  • Buttons are appearing up at the proper pages
  • The design and animation taste fit your branding
  • Cellular responsiveness is operating correctly

Check the buttons throughout other gadgets and display sizes to substantiate they’re no longer blockading content material or taking too lengthy to load. The extra seamless the enjoy, the much more likely guests are to percentage.

18. Set Up A CDN And Take a look at Web hosting

Is your web content speedy and solid for genuine guests? In case your website hosting is gradual, imagine SiteGround that includes integrated caching and function gear to deal with maximum velocity optimization duties out of the field, together with dynamic caching and on-demand scaling.

SiteGround WordPress hosting

Additionally, upload a CDN like Cloudflare and ensure that it’s handing over your static property appropriately. Track your web site for a couple of days after release to catch any slowdowns, spikes, or downtime. Even small website hosting problems can have an effect on person enjoy if left unchecked.

19. Announce Your Release

Call to mind your release as a last giveaway: you’re delivering a cultured, operating web content to the sector. Get started by means of making plans how you need to announce it. Will it’s a cushy release for your e-mail record or a larger push throughout social platforms?

Craft a brief message that highlights what’s new, what’s precious, or what other folks can be expecting subsequent. If you happen to’re focused on explicit teams (like shoppers, friends, or fans), tailor your message to every one. Then percentage it.

  • Ship an e-mail for your record.
  • Submit a brief release message or behind-the-scenes video on LinkedIn, Instagram, or anyplace your target audience hangs out.
  • Replace your bios, hyperlink to the brand new web site, and imagine repurposing your release message into a brief weblog put up or e-newsletter.

The Divi Framework Simplifies Website online Release

Launching a web content will also be overwhelming when you’re juggling design, velocity, search engine marketing, and capability suddenly. That’s why your selection of web content builder issues greater than you suppose.

Divi is greater than only a WordPress theme. It’s a whole website-building framework that brings the entire shifting portions of your web site into one streamlined workspace. From sharpening your design to optimizing for cellular, solving search engine marketing fundamentals, and trying out efficiency, Divi is helping you test each merchandise off your release tick list with out switching between more than one gear.

It’s constructed to simplify all the release procedure. As a substitute of spending hours solving responsiveness, styling buttons, or chasing efficiency problems, you get a builder that anticipates those wishes and bakes in answers from the beginning.

Right here’s what makes Divi a cast selection:

  • Professionally Designed Templates: Make a choice from over 2,000 customizable website templates constructed for various industries and use instances — all editable with Divi’s intuitive visible drag-and-drop builder, so that you’re by no means ranging from scratch.
  • Fast Website online Setup with Divi Fast Websites: Generate a whole web content in mins the use of Divi Quick Sites. Simply solution a couple of questions, and Divi builds out your homepage, interior pages, and branding robotically, very best for fast launches.
  • Content material Technology with Divi AI: Want content material speedy? Divi AI is helping you generate textual content, photographs, or even customized code within the builder. Whether or not it’s writing headlines or constructing complete sections, AI accelerates your workflow with out compromising creativity.
  • Release an On-line Retailer in Mins: Divi’s WooCommerce Builder comes with integrated strengthen for developing and styling your entire eCommerce pages, from product listings to cart and checkout, with out a further setup wanted.
  • All-in-One Advertising Toolkit: Divi contains Bloom for e-mail opt-ins, Monarch for social sharing, and Divi Leads for integrated A/B trying out. Those gear mean you can develop your target audience, building up engagement, and optimize conversions, all from a unmarried dashboard.
  • Responsive by means of Default: All templates and components in Divi are constructed to be mobile-friendly and responsive. Plus, you’ll be able to preview and modify layouts for various gadgets immediately throughout the builder.
  • Streamlined Updates with Divi Sprint: Organize your web site updates on one centralized hub with Divi Dash. It helps to keep your workspace tidy and makes international adjustments speedy and simple.

With Divi, you’re no longer simply opting for a design software. You’re making an investment in a whole website-building framework that brings the whole lot in combination, so launching your web site feels arranged, environment friendly, and relaxing from begin to end.

Get Started With Divi

Equipment Advisable To Release Your Website online Successfully

You most likely couldn’t practice all our software ideas whilst constructing your web site, so listed below are the entire gear, plugins, and merchandise we discussed during and what every does for you.

Equipment to Release Web pages Successfully Description
1 Divi Website online Builder Get
2 SiteGround Web hosting Get
3 LambdaTest Go-Browser Checking out Get
4 WP Rocket Pace Optimization Get
5 WP Optimize Pace Optimization Get
6 Jetpack Analytics & Tracking Get
7 Rank Math search engine marketing Plugin Get
8 Mailchimp E-mail Advertising Get
9 ConvertKit E-mail Advertising Get
10 UpdraftPlus Backup Plugin Get
11 Cast Safety (iThemes) Safety Plugin Get
12 Semrush search engine marketing & Web site Audit Get

The put up Website Launch Checklist: Things To Double-Check Before Going Live gave the impression first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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