OnWebPoint 
Table of Contents
Most WordPress sites go live with at least five things that should have been fixed first. After launching dozens of websites for Irish businesses, I have learned that a pre-launch checklist is not optional — it is the difference between a smooth launch and a panicked call three days later about a broken contact form, a Google indexing problem, or a GDPR complaint about missing cookie consent. This is the full WordPress website launch checklist I run through on every launch, in the order I run through it.
SEO Checks Before Launch
1. Search Engine Discoverability Is Off — and About to Be Turned On
WordPress has a setting under Settings → Reading: “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.” It is typically enabled during development to prevent Google from indexing an unfinished site and must be turned off before launch. Check it. This is the single most common launch mistake I encounter on sites handed over from other developers — the site goes live, nobody turns this off, and the business wonders why Google cannot find them six weeks later.
2. Every Page Has a Unique Title Tag Under 60 Characters
Open Rank Math or Yoast and confirm that every published page and post has a unique, descriptive title tag. The homepage title should include your primary service and location: “WordPress Developer Cork | OnWebPoint.” Service pages should be keyword-specific: “WooCommerce Store Setup Ireland | OnWebPoint.” Duplicate or missing title tags are a fundamental SEO error that costs nothing to fix before launch and is painful to unpick after.
3. Every Page Has a Unique Meta Description
150–160 characters, written to encourage clicks from search results, unique per page. Do not leave these blank — Google will generate them from your page content, and the auto-generated version is almost always worse than one written with intent. Include a location reference and a clear value proposition: “WordPress websites for Irish businesses. Fixed prices, fast delivery, full code ownership. Get a free quote.”
4. XML Sitemap Submitted to Google Search Console
Rank Math automatically generates a sitemap at /sitemap_index.xml. Submit this URL in Google Search Console under Sitemaps before launch day. This tells Google exactly what pages exist and accelerates the initial indexing of your new site. While you are in Search Console, request indexing for the five or six most important pages directly using the URL Inspection tool.
5. Permalink Structure Is Set to Post Name
Settings → Permalinks should be set to Post Name (/my-post-title/) before launch. This produces clean, readable URLs that are better for both SEO and usability. Change this before launch — changing it after launch breaks all existing URLs and requires a full redirect map to recover rankings.
6. All Images Have Alt Text
Every image that carries meaning needs a descriptive alt attribute. Decorative images should have empty alt=”” to signal they can be skipped by screen readers. Missing alt text loses both accessibility compliance and image search visibility — both of which matter for Irish businesses.
Speed and Performance for WordPress Website Launch Checklist
7. PageSpeed Score Above 80 on Mobile
Run every key page through Google PageSpeed Insights before launch. If the mobile score is below 80, identify and fix the largest issues before going live — ranking a slow site is demonstrably harder than ranking a fast one. The most common culprits are uncompressed images, render-blocking scripts, and missing caching configuration.
8. Images Compressed and Served in WebP
Every image should be compressed before upload and served in WebP format where browser support allows. A single uncompressed 3MB hero image adds seconds to load time on a mobile connection. ShortPixel or Imagify handle bulk compression and WebP conversion as a WordPress plugin — run it across all uploaded images before launch.
9. Caching Plugin Configured
Install and configure your caching plugin before launch. SiteGround Optimizer is the right choice on SiteGround hosting; WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache on other hosts. Caching configuration determines how your site performs for real users from day one — this is not something to add after launch as an afterthought.
10. HTTPS Enabled With HTTP Redirecting to HTTPS
Every page must load over https://. Non-HTTPS sites display a “Not Secure” warning in Chrome, which reduces visitor trust and suppresses rankings. Confirm that any http:// URL automatically redirects to its https:// equivalent — your host’s SSL configuration or a plugin like Really Simple SSL handles this.
11. Render-Blocking Resources Addressed
Your caching plugin should be configured to defer non-critical JavaScript and combine CSS files. PageSpeed Insights will flag specific blocking resources if they are present. The most common offenders on Irish WordPress sites are third-party scripts — cookie consent platforms, Google Analytics, chat widgets — that load synchronously and block rendering.
Security for WordPress Website Launch Checklist
12. WordPress Admin Username Is Not “admin”
The default “admin” username is the first thing brute-force bots try. Create a new administrator account with a non-obvious username, assign all content to it, and delete the original “admin” account before launch.
13. All Passwords Are Strong and Unique
WordPress admin, hosting control panel, database, and email accounts should each have a unique password of at least 20 characters generated by a password manager. Reused passwords across accounts are a single-point-of-failure security risk.
14. Two-Factor Authentication Enabled
Install WP 2FA and enforce two-factor authentication for all administrator accounts. This prevents account takeover even when credentials are compromised in an unrelated data breach — which is the most common route into WordPress admin panels.
15. Login Page Protected or Relocated
The default /wp-admin/ URL is hit by automated bots constantly. Either relocate it with WPS Hide Login or add an IP restriction in .htaccess so only your office IP can access it. Either approach stops the majority of automated login attacks dead.
16. Daily Backup to Offsite Destination Running
UpdraftPlus configured to back up daily to Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3. Test a restore from the backup before launch — not after. A backup you have never tested is not a backup you can rely on.
GDPR and Legal for WordPress Website Launch Checklist
17. Cookie Consent Banner Configured and Compliant
If your site uses Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, HotJar, or any non-essential tracking, you need a cookie consent banner that gives users a genuine, frictionless choice to decline. CookieYes is the most common solution for Irish WordPress sites. Pre-ticked boxes and “by continuing to use this site you accept cookies” banners are not compliant — the Data Protection Commission has been explicit about this.
18. Google Analytics Only Fires After Consent
Verify in GTM’s preview mode that your GA4 tag does not fire for users who decline analytics cookies. This requires consent mode configuration in Google Tag Manager — it is not automatic and many WordPress sites get this wrong.
19. Privacy Policy Page Exists and Is Linked From Every Page
A privacy policy explaining what data you collect, how you use it, how long you retain it, and how users can request deletion or correction is legally required for any Irish business website that collects personal data. Link it from the footer of every page.
20. Contact Form Data Handling Is Documented
If your contact form stores submissions in the WordPress database, this data must be covered by your privacy policy with a stated retention period. Set a calendar reminder to purge old submissions on schedule, or configure automatic deletion through your form plugin.
21. Terms and Conditions for E-Commerce
WooCommerce stores must display terms and conditions that customers accept before purchase. Configure this under WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Account & Privacy, linking to a dedicated T&Cs page.
Content and Functionality for WordPress Website Launch Checklist
22. All Contact Forms Are Sending Correctly
Submit every form on the site and confirm the notification email arrives — test from a non-admin email address. If forms are sending via PHP mail, configure WP Mail SMTP connected to a transactional email service (Postmark or SendGrid) before launch. PHP mail goes to spam on most hosting environments.
23. All Links Work
Run the site through Broken Link Check and fix every broken internal and external link. Broken links are a minor negative signal for SEO and a meaningful negative signal for visitor trust.
24. Mobile Verified on a Real Device
Test on a real iPhone and a real Android device, not just browser emulation. Emulators miss real-world font rendering differences, touch target size issues, and viewport quirks that appear only on physical hardware.
25. 404 Page Is Branded
A custom 404 page that links back to the homepage and key service pages keeps visitors on the site when they hit a dead URL. WordPress’s default 404 is functional but tells visitors nothing about your brand.
26. Placeholder Content Removed
Search the site and database for “Lorem ipsum” before launch. Placeholder text in live content undermines credibility and confuses search engines about page relevance.
27. Favicon Set
Set under Appearance → Customize → Site Identity. A missing favicon makes the site look unfinished in browser tabs, bookmarks, and mobile home screen shortcuts.
Post-Launch: What to Do in the First Week
Immediately after going live: submit your sitemap to Search Console and request indexing for key pages directly. Set up UptimeRobot (free) to monitor uptime and alert you if the site goes down. Confirm your backup ran on schedule. Monitor Search Console for crawl errors daily for the first two weeks. Most new sites take two to four weeks to begin appearing in Google results for branded searches — plan your launch communications around this timeline rather than expecting immediate visibility.
If you would like a developer to run through this checklist on your site ahead of launch, we offer pre-launch audits for WordPress sites going live anywhere in Ireland. Get in touch to book one →
