WordPress Pre-Launch Checklist: 20 Checks Before You Hand Over the Site
WordPress sites are easy to build and easy to hand over with something left undone. This checklist covers the checks that matter most before you tell a client the site is live. Menu names vary a little between versions and themes, so the steps describe the setting rather than promise exact wording.
Visibility and search
- Search engine visibility. In the Reading settings, make sure the option that discourages search engines from indexing the site is switched off. This is the most common reason a new WordPress site never shows up.
- Permalinks. Choose a readable structure such as the post name and set it before launch. Changing it later breaks links.
- Sitemap and SEO plugin. If you use an SEO plugin, confirm it generates a sitemap, and submit it in Google Search Console.
- Titles and descriptions. Give every important page a unique title and meta description.
Content and design
- Remove demo content. Delete sample posts, pages, comments and any placeholder text such as lorem ipsum.
- Check every menu and footer link. Click each one. Empty # links and links to staging addresses are common.
- Test forms. Submit every contact form and confirm the email arrives at the client's inbox, not yours.
- Check mobile. Open the site on a real phone and look at the menu, forms and images.
- Add a favicon and a useful 404 page.
Security and reliability
- Update core, theme and plugins, and delete the ones you do not use.
- Do not use a default admin username, and use strong unique passwords.
- Use HTTPS everywhere. Force HTTPS and check for mixed content warnings.
- Set up backups and confirm you can actually restore one.
- Check caching and image sizes so the pages load quickly on mobile networks.
Final check
Run a crawl-based audit on the live address and read the report before you send the launch email. Nyrolo checks broken links, titles and descriptions, canonical and social tags, security headers, robots.txt and sitemap, placeholder text and basic speed signals, and gives WordPress-specific fix steps. It reads server-sent HTML, so test forms and logged-in areas yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my new WordPress site not showing in Google?
The most common cause is the setting that discourages search engines from indexing the site. Also check robots.txt, noindex tags from an SEO plugin, and whether you have submitted a sitemap in Google Search Console.
Should I set permalinks before or after launch?
Before. Changing the structure later changes URLs and can break links, so choose it during the build.
What should I give the client at handoff?
Logins, a short guide on editing content, backup details, a list of plugins and what they do, and the audit report showing what was checked.
Keep reading
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