So, your WordPress site is almost ready to go and you’re counting down the days until your launch. It’s an exciting time and you want to make a splash, so ensuring your website is launched without a hitch is imperative.
It’s tempting to rush things to get your site out there as soon as possible but taking an extra day or two to run through some final checks and make sure everything is perfect could save you a lot of hassle further down the line. Potentially having to take your site offline to fix a bug or having a visitor flag an issue is the last thing you want, so take a look at our list of five things to check before launching your WordPress site.
1. Security and Backups
First thing’s first, is everything secure? Make sure you have a back up of your full site and a solid automated back up system in place. Ensure any security plugins you want to use are installed and make sure all plugins you’re using are fully up to date.
2. Proofread Your Content
Check it once, twice, then check it again. The design of your site might be the first thing visitors notice but it’s the copy that will form their final judgement and decide whether or not they become a repeat visitor. Your copy is what sells your product or service and it should be flawless. If you’re not confident in your own skills as a copy editor then outsource the final check to an expert with a keen eye for detail.
3. Test Your Site
Separate yourself from being the site owner and run through the site as if you’re a visitor with a certain goal in mind. If you’re launching an online shop, try searching through your catalogue and adding products to the cart to check the process is as simple as you think it is. If you’re a blogger, leave a comment at the end of a test post to make sure it’s easy to log in without having to wade through numerous sign in and CAPTCHA screens.
4. Check Analytics and SEO
In order to measure the effectiveness of any campaigns or offers you’re running through your site, you’ll need a robust set of data to analyse, which is where analytics come into play. Google Analytics is the obvious choice but whichever service you’ve opted for, make sure it’s fully set up and ready to start measuring traffic from the moment you set the site live.
The same goes for SEO, click through each page on the site and make sure each one is correctly optimised. Lastly, ensure you have a robots.txt file in place.
5. Test the Site on Multiple Devices
Responsiveness is key when it comes to the success of a website in today’s digital world, so testing your site on your own laptop isn’t enough any more. You’ll want to test it on laptops, desktops, tablets and smart phones across a wide variety of browsers – and not only the latest version either. It’s always worth checking your site looks just as good on the last few versions of the main browsers, just in case your visitors aren’t quite up to date yet. If you don’t have access to multiple devices and browsers then don’t worry, there are plenty of sites like Browser Stack that will do the job for you.
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We hope these five last minute checks come in handy when you’re getting ready to launch your next site and if you want to take the stress out of web design and work with our team to create your ideal business site, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our contact form.
