Putting a new website live is an exciting moment. To make sure you don’t forget anything, we’ve created a complete checklist that you can use in 2025.
Checklist for going live
Before you put the site live
- Check all pages for errors or broken elements. Use the WordPress dashboard to get an overview of all pages.
- Review all blog and news posts for accuracy and functionality.
- Make sure the website works well on different devices such as mobile, tablet and desktop. Use tools such as Responsinator to check this.
- Check with the customer that all feedback has been incorporated.
- Make sure you have access to the DNS to make changes.
- When moving: synchronize e-mail if it also needs to be transferred.
- Update all plugins, themes and WordPress to the latest versions.
- Have an SEO specialist perform all the important SEO checks, such as checking redirects and SEO settings.
- Make sure images load correctly and have alt text.
- Test internal links and make sure they point to the right pages.
- Check the mobile view using the Inspector Browser.
- Make sure an SSL certificate (HTTPS) is active.
- Make sure the robots.txt and sitemaps are set up correctly and accessible to search engines.
- Schedule the launch at a time with low website traffic, such as in the evening or on weekends.
While going live
- Prepare the new hosting environment.
- Back up the old website.
- Copy all files to the new hosting environment.
- Import the database from the new site into the new environment.
- Modify the configuration file to use the new database.
- Test the site by modifying the host file.
- Change the DNS settings so that the new site goes live.
- Use a temporary maintenance page during launch.
After putting it live
- Set a 301 redirect from HTTP to HTTPS and from www to non-www or vice versa.
- Check that all links in the database are correct and point to the new environment.
- Make sure the website is search engine accessible.
- Check that emails are working properly.
- Test forms for spam problems with tools such as Mail Tester.
- Empty the cache of the server and website.
- Register the website with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Make sure schema markup is implemented correctly for rich snippets.
- Perform an SEO audit with tools such as Screaming Frog or Ahrefs.
- Test the mobile view again with the Inspector Browser.
- Have the client check the website to confirm that everything is working.
Help with putting a website live
This checklist will help you reduce the chances of mistakes when putting your website live. Should you need additional support, contact the specialists at OnlineLabs. We will be happy to help you with a flawless launch. Please contact us.
