Congratulations! You finally finished working on your WordPress website. It has taken weeks, probably months and your efforts and endeavors for everything to be perfect, and you are ready to show the world your hard work. But, before you launch WordPress website, you should check some important stuff.
To make everything easier, we created this handy tutorial with 7 most important things to check before WordPress goes online. Some of these things may seem you kinda basic, but that’s why double-check is important – to forget nothing. We just want to help you make sure that you didn’t overlook some small and basic, but important aspect of your new WordPress website.
1. Design & Aesthetics – Basic But Check It Anyway
Does your website look good? After hard-working days and nights and all sweat and tears, you gave for your website the best, and when it’s almost done you may overlook something because you just want to finish it. So you’ll need a pair (or a few pairs) of fresh eyes – ask your friends to check and give you objective feedback. It’s important for further user-experience because the better the website looks, the longer customers will be on it.
2. Check Again Your Hosting Plan
It’s completely obvious that if you’re about to launch a website you need a hosting plan. But, is your hosting plan good for your WordPress website? Check it again.
First of all, check if your hosting provider supports WordPress. Some hosting providers also offer specialized hosting plans customized especially for WordPress websites so you should think about that option. Inform yourself well before you make a decision – read the reviews from the online community and choose the best for your WordPress website. According to reviews on WebSite Planet, Hostinger is one of the greatest and most reliable choices for WordPress – it offers the one-click installation of WordPress, 24/7 support, enhanced security and it’s very affordable.
It is also very important that you have good communication with your provider for all questions and misunderstandings, especially if you’re a newbie – WordPress is easy to use, but it’s also nice when you have someone you can ask everything you don’t understand.
3. Test and Optimize Your Website Performances on All Devices and Browsers
Patience is the key to success, but when you’re almost done it’s hard to be patient. Try to stay focused enough to check your WordPress website visibility – it is important because people use different devices to browse the internet.
The first thing you should check is cross-browser compatibility, and it’s easy: just open your website with all popular browsers. Take look at fonts, your logo, colors, widget areas – if everything is in the same place in all browsers, it’s a good sign. But, you’re not done – you should also check your website on different devices because different screen sizes can reduce or stretch your website’s content. Look out for site navigation, design consistency, and overall look.
4. Set up Your WordPress Website Backup
Backup is an essential thing for every website – if anything goes wrong, you should better have all your data copied and stored somewhere else rather than making everything once again. Before your website goes online, take care of a suitable backup solution and test it properly.
Today, many hosting providers implement automatic backups, but it’s good to have your own backup plugins to double-secure all your data. Don’t be lazy and take care of it, because it can save you from lots of stress.
5. Take Care of Boring But Very Important Stuff
Honestly, it’s the most boring part of the website launch checklist, but it’s also very important if you don’t want some legal problems later in your work.
First of all, let’s start with some basic stuff – take care if you have all licenses for images, plugins, fonts, everything on your website. As a result of the GDPR, WordPress has added a dedicated privacy policy feature to the core, but you can also just create a regular page to house your privacy policy. Also, if you want to explain your services in detail, you can include Terms of Service on your website. If you planning to deal with e-commerce or with money, you’ll need a comprehensive Terms and Conditions section so customers can be informed properly in case of any misunderstanding. A warning about cookies is a legal requirement in almost all countries, so you should also check if your website includes it.
6. Integrate Your Social Media Accounts
It’s strange but it’s true – if you don’t have an account on social media platforms, you don’t exist! You’ll want people to see your blog/business on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., so make sure your website is connected to them. Add a “Share” button to your content and “Follow” buttons that are linked to your profiles. You should also consider Open Graph tags for your content so people can easily share it.
7. Verify Your SSL Certificate
Your website takes a risk to be labeled as not secure if you don’t have SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. SSL assures visitors their connection with your website is secure, and if your website is insecure browsers will provide a special visual sign. It is also important for Google because, if Google recognizes your website as insecure, it won’t be high on the ranking in search engines.
Conclusion
Aaaaand you’re ready! If you took care of all this stuff, you’re ready to show everyone your brand new, the most stunning WordPress website! Checking everything is maybe boring but it’s essential for a professional impression of your website. But it’s not everything. Once you establish a website there is also plenty of stuff to deal with, so be aware. Good luck!