Launching a WordPress site is a big deal.
It’s the culmination of all your hard work and you want to make sure it goes smoothly.
But before you hit that “publish” button there are a few crucial steps you need to take to ensure everything goes off without a hitch.
🔥 Launching your WordPress site? Make sure it’s rock solid! 🔥
Before you hit “publish,” check out these must-have tools that’ll make your launch smoother than a freshly waxed floor 🏄♂️
Make sure your site’s blazing fast! ⚡️
1. Double-Check Your SSL Certificate
🔥 Launching your WordPress site? Make sure it’s rock solid! 🔥
Before you hit “publish,” check out these must-have tools that’ll make your launch smoother than a freshly waxed floor 🏄♂️
Make sure your site’s blazing fast! ⚡️
Think of an SSL certificate like a security guard for your website.
It’s essential for any site that handles sensitive information like user logins payment details or even just contact forms.
An SSL certificate encrypts the communication between your website and visitors protecting that information from prying eyes.
You can check if your site has an SSL certificate by looking for the little padlock icon in your browser’s address bar.
If you see “https” at the beginning of your website’s URL that means SSL is enabled.
You’ll want to make sure this is in place before you launch to protect your users’ data and maintain their trust.
2. Disable User-Generated Content
If your website allows user-generated content like comments forums or online stores it’s a good idea to disable these features before launch.
You can enable them later once you’ve had a chance to test and make sure everything is working as expected.
Disabling these features early on prevents potential issues and helps you focus on getting your core site functionality up and running.
3. Migrate Your Site Carefully
If you’re migrating your site from one host to another ensure that all the content plugins and themes are transferred correctly.
Keep your old site live until you’re certain everything is in order.
Migrating a website can be a complex process and you don’t want to lose any data along the way.
I know this from experience – I once lost a whole week’s worth of blog posts during a migration!
4. Update Plugins and Themes
Remember that regular plugin and theme updates are vital not just for security but also for compatibility and performance.
Before launching update all your plugins and themes to the latest versions.
It’s a good idea to check with your theme or plugin developers for specific instructions or compatibility information.
A quick update can save you hours of troubleshooting later.
5. Clear Your Site’s Cache
Your website’s cache can often hold on to old content even after updates or changes.
This can cause your site to display outdated information to visitors.
Before launching make sure to clear your site’s cache including both browser cache server cache and plugin-specific caches.
This will ensure that your visitors see the latest version of your website.
6. Test Your Links
Broken links are like digital dead ends.
They can frustrate visitors and hurt your site’s SEO.
Take the time to check for broken links before launching.
There are many great online tools available to help you with this but I recommend avoiding WordPress plugins for this task as they can sometimes be resource-intensive.
7. Check Your Site’s Functionality
Before launching test every page and feature on your website.
Make sure all forms are working buttons are clickable and navigation is intuitive.
This ensures that your site delivers a smooth experience for your visitors.
A site that’s hard to navigate or has broken elements can quickly turn visitors away.
8. Choose the Right Launch Day
Timing is everything.
Try to launch your site on a low-traffic day such as Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday.
This will give you a chance to monitor your site’s performance and fix any issues before the weekend rush.
It also reduces the chance of any launch-day hiccups impacting your website’s visibility and user experience.
9. Optimize Your Permalinks
Permalinks are the URLs to your website’s pages and posts.
They are the unique addresses that people use to access your content.
Optimize your permalinks for both SEO and user experience.
Use relevant keywords in your permalinks and make them easy to read and understand.
10. Create an XML Sitemap
Search engines use crawlers to index websites and an XML sitemap helps them understand your site’s structure.
It’s like a table of contents providing a clear roadmap for the crawler.
Creating an XML sitemap can improve your site’s SEO and help it get indexed faster.
11. Optimize for Mobile Users
Mobile browsing is now the dominant way people access the internet.
Make sure your website looks great and functions flawlessly on all devices.
There are several tools and services that can help you test your website’s mobile responsiveness.
12. Force HTTPS
HTTPS is essential for security and it’s becoming increasingly important for SEO.
Before launching force HTTPS on your site to ensure that all traffic is encrypted.
This protects your visitors’ data and improves your website’s ranking in search results.
Launch Day: Take a Deep Breath and Celebrate!
Now that you’ve checked off all these pre-launch tasks you’re finally ready to launch your WordPress site! Take a deep breath enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and get ready to watch your website grow.
Remember that launching a WordPress site is just the beginning.
You’ll continue to learn iterate and improve your website over time.
🔥 Launching your WordPress site? Make sure it’s rock solid! 🔥
Before you hit “publish,” check out these must-have tools that’ll make your launch smoother than a freshly waxed floor 🏄♂️