WordPress Website Launch Checklist: 20 Things to Check Before Going Live
Launching a WordPress site without a checklist leads to the same mistakes every time: the "discourage search engines" box is still checked, there's no backup solution configured, the admin username is "admin," and the site takes 6 seconds to load because nobody optimized the images.
Here are 20 things to check before removing the maintenance mode page or going live.
SEO Configuration (Checks 1-7)
| # | Check | Where | Common Mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uncheck "Discourage search engines" | Settings → Reading | Left checked from development — entire site gets noindexed |
| 2 | Set permalinks to "Post name" | Settings → Permalinks | Default /?p=123 URLs are ugly and bad for SEO |
| 3 | Install and configure an SEO plugin | Plugins → Add New (Yoast or Rank Math) | No plugin = no control over meta tags |
| 4 | Write title tags and meta descriptions for all pages | SEO plugin → each page/post | Generic "My Site - Just another WordPress site" title |
| 5 | Generate and submit XML sitemap | SEO plugin settings + Google Search Console | Sitemap exists but wasn't submitted to GSC |
| 6 | Verify Google Search Console ownership | search.google.com/search-console | Never set up — no visibility into indexing issues |
| 7 | Check robots.txt | Visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt | Blocking important directories or the entire site |
Speed and Performance (Checks 8-11)
| # | Check | How | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Install a caching plugin | WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache | Sub-2-second page loads for repeat visitors |
| 9 | Optimize and compress all images | ShortPixel, Imagify, or EWWW (or compress before upload) | No image over 200KB, WebP format preferred |
| 10 | Remove unused plugins and themes | Plugins → Installed Plugins / Appearance → Themes | Only active, needed plugins. Delete (not just deactivate) unused ones. |
| 11 | Test with PageSpeed Insights | pagespeed.web.dev | Performance score 80+ for both mobile and desktop |
Security (Checks 12-15)
| # | Check | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Change default "admin" username | Brute force attacks always try "admin" first |
| 13 | Use a strong, unique admin password | 12+ characters, generated by a password manager |
| 14 | Install a security plugin | Wordfence or Sucuri for login protection, firewall, and malware scanning |
| 15 | Ensure SSL/HTTPS is active and forced | Mixed content warnings destroy trust and Google penalizes HTTP sites |
Backups and Recovery (Check 16)
| # | Check | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Configure automated daily backups | UpdraftPlus or BlogVault. Store backups off-server (Google Drive, S3, or the plugin's cloud). Test a restore before launch. |
Analytics and Tracking (Checks 17-18)
| # | Check | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Install Google Analytics 4 | Either via a plugin (MonsterInsights, Site Kit) or by adding the tag to the theme header. Verify data is flowing. |
| 18 | Set up goal/conversion tracking | Track form submissions, phone clicks, or purchases. Without this, you can't measure ROI. |
Legal and UX (Checks 19-20)
| # | Check | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Privacy policy and cookie consent | Required by GDPR. WordPress generates a privacy policy template at Settings → Privacy. Add a cookie consent banner if using analytics or advertising cookies. |
| 20 | Test all forms and CTAs | Submit every form. Click every CTA. Check the confirmation/thank-you page. Verify emails arrive. Test on mobile. |
Post-Launch: First 48 Hours
- Run a full SEO audit. Use WebsiteChecker.Tech to crawl the live site. Development and staging environments often mask issues — broken links from hardcoded staging URLs, missing redirects, pages still set to noindex.
- Submit key URLs to Google for indexing. In Search Console, use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for the homepage and key landing pages.
- Check mobile rendering. Visit the live site on an actual phone (not just Chrome DevTools). Tap every button, scroll every page.
- Verify backups ran. Check your backup plugin — did the first automated backup complete successfully?
- Set up uptime monitoring. UptimeRobot (free) or Better Uptime. Know immediately if the site goes down.
A checklist takes 30 minutes to run through. Fixing a launch disaster takes days. Do the checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I check before launching a WordPress site?
Essential checks: SEO settings (titles, descriptions, permalinks, sitemap), speed (caching, image optimization), security (strong admin password, security plugin, updated core/plugins), backups (automated daily backups configured), analytics (Google Analytics + Search Console), and legal pages (privacy policy, cookie consent).
How do I configure WordPress SEO before launch?
Set permalinks to "Post name" (/sample-post/ not /?p=123). Install an SEO plugin (Yoast or Rank Math) for meta tag management. Write unique title tags and meta descriptions for every page. Generate and submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console. Uncheck "Discourage search engines" in Settings → Reading.
What is the most common WordPress launch mistake?
Leaving "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" checked in Settings → Reading. This adds a noindex meta tag to every page. Many developers check this during development and forget to uncheck it at launch. One checkbox can make the entire site invisible to Google.
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