There's a lot to do before making your site available to your live audience. Have you installed caching? Do your contact forms work properly? The list goes on! I've compiled a checklist of steps that you should undertake before launching any of your WordPress websites.

1. anthonyhortin
@maddisondesigns#WPMELB
25 Steps Before
Launching Your Website

2. anthonyhortin @maddisondesigns #WPMELB
01
Configure your General Settings
On the Settings > General page
Update Site Title
Update Tagline (or remove if not needed)
Ensure (admin) Email Address is correct
Set Site Language (if needed)
Set Timezone
Set Date Format
Set Time Format

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02
Install SSL Certificate
Ensure your site is running on HTTPS.
Most major browsers now show a warning or
“not secure” message when accessing non-https site.
Most respectable website hosts provide SSL certs for free.
e.g. Let’s Encrypt
SSL/HTTPS is even more important for eCommerce sites

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02
Install SSL Certificate
HTTPS is a factor in Google rankings.
John Mueller - Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google

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03
Rename Default Posts Category
The default Category for Posts is ‘Uncategorized’.
Rename this to ‘News’ or something similar.
You can do this on the Posts > Categories page

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04
Remove Default Content
Some themes provide you with default content
to help you setup your site.
Ensure you remove any default content before going live.

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05
Configure Permalinks
Permalinks (Settings > Permalinks) are your site URL format
It’s a good idea to decide on a Permalink structure
before going live.

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06
Setup Redirects
If you’re replacing an existing site or moving domains,
ensure you setup redirects for all changed URL’s.
Setting up Redirects is good SEO practice.
Redirects will ensure Search Engines and visitors can find
your content when the URL has changed.
A popular, free, and easy to use Redirection plugin is:
Redirection - https://wordpress.org/plugins/redirection

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07
Optimise your Images
You should always optimise/compress your images before
uploading to your site.
Online Optimisation tools:
https://compressjpeg.com (jpg)
https://compresspng.com (png)
https://tinypng.com (jpg & png)
Plugin to compress existing (uploaded) images:
EWWW Image Optimizer - https://wordpress.org/plugins/ewww-image-optimizer

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08
Install Caching
To increase the speed of your site, use a Caching plugin
Free:
WP Super Cache - https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache
W3 Total Cache - https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache
Swift Performance Lite - https://wordpress.org/plugins/swift-performance-lite
Paid:
WP Rocket - https://wp-rocket.me

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09
Minimise & Concatenate your CSS & JS
To increase site speed and reduce HTTP requests, minimise and
concatenate your CSS & JavaScript files.
Minimising files removes excess white space, comments and
empty lines. Concatenating files, joins multiple files into one.
Most caching plugins can do this for you and usually,
it just needs to be turned on in their settings.
If your caching plugin doesn’t, try:
Autoptimize - https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize
WP Super Minify - https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-minify

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10
Add A Contact Form
It’s always important that your site visitors can get in touch,
so make sure you add a contact form to your site.
The easiest way to do so is by using a plugin:
Free:
Ninja Forms - https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms
Contact Form 7 - https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7
Paid:
Gravity Forms - https://www.gravityforms.com

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11
Check for Broken Links
No-one likes going to a website and then finding that the
link you want, doesn’t actually work. Google hates that too!
While it might seem easy to install a ‘Broken Link Checker’ plugin,
these can quite often max out your server CPU & RAM.
Use an external service such as:
Broken Link Checker - https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com
Dead Link Checker - https://www.deadlinkchecker.com

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12
Install the Classic Editor plugin
With the new Block Editor (Gutenberg) only months old,
a lot of people would still prefer to use the Classic Editor (also
known as the TinyMCE or Visual Editor).
If you prefer to stick with the Classic Editor, install the
Classic Editor plugin.
Classic Editor - https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor
If you’re happy using the new Block Editor, then that’s ok too.

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13
Install Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is by far the most popular SEO plugin out there.
WordPress is great for SEO straight-out-of-the-box, but
Yoast SEO makes it even better and will help improve your
search engine results, when setup (& used) properly.
Yoast SEO - https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo
If you really don’t want to use Yoast though, try:
All in One SEO Pack - https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack

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14
Create a Sitemap
A Sitemap is a file that provides information about your site
such as pages and files, and the relationship between them.
Search Engines like Google read your Sitemap to more
intelligently crawl your site.
If you’re using an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or All in One
SEO, you can configure them to create your Sitemap for you.
Make sure you view your Sitemap as well, to ensure it was
generated properly.

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15
Setup Google Analytics
To get a deeper understanding of your customers or site
visitors, signup for a free Google Analytics account.
https://google.com/analytics
After you’ve signed up, you’ll need to add your GA code to
your website.
There’s lots of Google Analytics plugins available. Some better
than others, and some horrible ones with an overabundance of
annoying ads!
For a lightweight, and super-easy plugin, use:
GA Google Analytics - https://wordpress.org/plugins/ga-google-analytics

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16
Setup Security Plugin
To help strengthen the security of your site, setup a security
plugin.
Security plugins can help strengthen passwords, block and/or
lockout suspect IP’s, prevent brute force intrusions, detect file
changes, scan for malware and help with a host of other
issues that can cause a site harm.
Free:
Wordfence - https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence
iThemes Security - https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security
Paid:
iThemes Security Pro - https://ithemes.com/security

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17
Setup Spam Plugin
If you have a Blog on your site where you allow comments, it’s
only a matter of time before it attracts spam comments.
Install a spam plugin to help catch & reduce spam comments.
Free:
Antispam Bee - https://wordpress.org/plugins/antispam-bee
Spam Destroyer - https://wordpress.org/plugins/spam-destroyer
Paid:
Akismet - https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet (free for personal sites)

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18
Setup Backup Plugin
Just like backing up your home computer, it’s vitally important
to backup your website.
A good backup plugin should allow you to schedule regular
backups. You should also perform regular checks that you can
also restore from your backup files.
Free:
UpdraftPlus - https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus
BackWPup - https://wordpress.org/plugins/backwpup
Paid:
BackupBuddy - https://ithemes.com/purchase/backupbuddy
VaultPress - https://vaultpress.com

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19
eCommerce & Membership sites
If your site has eCommerce or Membership functionality:
It’s important your site has an SSL Cert and is configured to
use HTTPS, especially if taking payments on your site.
Make sure your Cart & Checkout pages are Working.
Ensure shipping charges are calculating correctly.
Ensure your Payment Gateway is setup and working properly.
Ensure Products and/or subscriptions are loaded and
displaying correctly.

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20
eCommerce & Membership sites
Make sure your signup & login process is working.
This applies to free membership sites as well as paid
membership sites.
Pro tip: If your eCommerce/Membership plugin generates
usernames based on the customer email address (e.g.
WooCommerce), create a dummy ‘admin’ user and assign it
the lowest role (or no role). This will ensure a customer email
address like ‘admin@yoursite.com' doesn’t automatically
generate an ‘admin’ username.

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21
eCommerce & Membership sites
Always test the complete purchase/checkout process using
your LIVE payment gateway.
If using a Payment Gateway like Stripe, this means using your
LIVE credit card.
If using PayPal you may need to get a friend to make a test
purchase for you as you can’t make a PayPal payment using
your own PayPal account.

24. anthonyhortin @maddisondesigns #WPMELB
22
Strong Passwords
It should go without saying that ALL account passwords
should be strong!
If you’re creating passwords for other users or clients, ensure
those passwords are strong.
Longer passwords are better. Aim for 10-15+ characters in
length. 30 or 60 is even better.

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22
Strong Passwords
https://xkcd.com/936/

26. anthonyhortin @maddisondesigns #WPMELB
23
Perform Complete Site Test
Test everything!
- Test all forms submit & form emails are sent
- Ensure navigation menu works properly
- Test your page links
- Test button links
- Test email links and ensure they are obfuscated
Simple Mail Address Encoder
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-mail-address-encoder
- Check content for spelling mistakes & grammatical errors
- Test blog comments work

27. anthonyhortin @maddisondesigns #WPMELB
24
Check Responsiveness
It’s more important now than ever that your site is mobile
friendly so make sure your site is responsive.
Check your site on a mobile device & a tablet device, and if
possible, even check multiple device types.
Mobile traffic is responsible for 52.2 percent of Internet traffic in 2018
https://hostingfacts.com/internet-facts-stats
57% of consumers said: A business with a poorly designed mobile
website is not likely to be recommended
https://www.socpub.com/articles/the-5-mobile-marketing-mistakes-infographic-14849

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25
Update Everything
Ensure all your Plugins and Themes are up-to-date.
Ensure WordPress is up to date.
Using outdated Plugins, Themes and even WordPress core
files, can leave your site vulnerable.

29. anthonyhortin @maddisondesigns #WPMELB
GO!

30. I’m Anthony Hortin
You can find me here
@maddisondesigns
maddisondesigns.com
@easywpguide
easywpguide.com
Thanks!
Questions?