004 – How to Launch a Website Properly

The WP SEO Show – Demystifying SEO for WordPress Websites

In this episode, Pete and Jeff consider the elements you need to consider when preparing a website for launch.

Pre-requisites

We're assuming you already have:

• Built the site properly
• Browser-checked it the responsive layouts
• Populated it fully
• Figured out your caching

Pre-Live

• Unblock Search Engines
• SEO Plugins & Basic Set Up
• Business Details in Schema / SEO Plugin
• 301 Redirects of old URLs to new URLs
• Site Title / Tagline (remove "Just another WordPress Website", etc)
• Are Web and Home URLs updated to live site
• Remove standard posts / hello world content
• Make sure GA4 is installed
• Make sure tracking codes are copied over from the previous site
• Ensure all plugins / themes / wordpress updates are complete (even if they're not on a maintenance plan, you should hand the site over with 0 updates required).
• Run an SEO Health Audit
• Make sure there is only 1 H1 tag per page
• Run a full check for any placeholder text
• Make sure forms submit
• Take payment gateway of of Test / Dev Mode (if applicable)
• Check load times on all page templates are less than 3 seconds (absolute maximum)
• Check Social Media links are correct
• Confirm 404 page is set correctly
• Ensure Cookies and Privacy Policies are correct / up-to-date
• Install security plugin (like Wordfence of iThemes)
• Check all contact forms go to the clients email address

Post-Live

• Submit to Google Search Console (this might involved submitting a new (different) sitemap.xml URL
• Make sure SSL Certificate is installed
• Set up Instant Indexing for Bing and Google
• Set up maintenance plan (if the client has signed up)
• Send Website Owners Manual (with agreement for maintenance plan if they're not signed up already)
• Ensure all licensed plugins have the new (live) domain authenticated on them