Website launch checklist: how to go live with confidence and fewer errors

By: Nicholas Gracilla


Airplane

At Neoteric, we want every project’s launch day to be as uneventful as possible—no surprises, and no last-minute shuffles.

To do this, we’ve developed extensive checklists, processes, and procedures that we use from project kickoff through mid-project assessment to launch. Not all of these tasks are “client apparent,” but they add up to a polished, smooth launch process.

Content

  • Remove all test and for-placement-only content
  • Run an automated link check to confirm no broken links
  • Finalize editorial style guides
  • Configure a print style sheet appropriately
  • Confirm favicon is in place
  • Finalize application documentation with editors, managers
  • Archive legacy site content

Optimization

  • Run a high-traffic stress test
  • Run Google’s Lighthouse Audit against Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO, Performance
  • Run Google’s PageSpeed Insights
  • Optimize images
  • Implement browser caching
  • Configure asset pipeline or Content Distribution Network appropriately
  • Configure caching appropriately

Application

  • Set up and test application resource monitoring
  • Enable database backups on daily, monthly basis
  • Test all integrated services, forms, and workflows
  • Consider Google’s Data Highlighter for structured data
  • Confirm DNS management, settings, and TTL
  • Validate RSS feeds and embed in headers
  • Confirm and configure application content exports
  • Set server configuration to production mode

Security

  • Review SSL certificate requirements, create and install SSL certificates as needed
  • Run observatory.mozilla.org
  • Confirm account credentials are established and secure
  • Confirm staging server has HTTPS authentication to prevent indexing
  • Validate secured application pages work
  • Update robots.txt as needed

Analytics and SEO

  • Review required URLs and 301 redirect as needed
  • Confirm page titles and descriptions are appropriate
  • Validate meta tags for Facebook, Twitter, and others for appropriate URL unfurls
  • Consider implementing Google Tag Manager
  • Implement Google Analytics, and filter out traffic (from client, team) appropriately
  • Implement Google Analytics site search, if needed
  • Establish and implement Google Analytics Goals and Events as required
  • Integrate Google Search Engine, request reindex
  • Filter sharebutton.to and other Analytics spam
 
Nick 2014
Nicholas Gracilla

Nick founded Neoteric Design in the 1990s. He writes about digital strategy, content management, and project management.