A complete ecommerce website launch checklist

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Launching a new website or an application is often very exciting process with a lot of things to do, approaching deadlines and last-minute changes. In this volume of tasks developers and managers usually forget about many small things that may affect the release a lot. Below is the list of such things we created based on our experience that is used by our team daily.

Website content

  • All text free from spelling errors
  • Page and content formatting appropriate on all pages
  • Placeholder text removed
  • All pages have content
  • Privacy Policy included (Generate one at getterms.io)
  • Print stylesheet exists and tested
  • Favicon created and displays correctly (retina included)
  • Device icons created and display correctly
  • Footer includes copyright statement
  • 404 page exists and informative
  • Correct author is attributed to pages and posts (as required)
  • Contact information is accurate
  • Contact form is linked to a proper email address
  • Media content license is purchased if necessary

SEO

  • Page titles are descriptive and SEO friendly
  • All page titles are unique
  • Meta data included and appropriate
  • H1s used for page titles and only one H1 per page
  • XML sitemap has been generated and added to root of website
  • Robots.txt is generated and added to root of website
  • 301 redirects for existing website are prepared and in place
  • Website can be accessed by search engines (remove noindex, nofollow for pages)
  • Google Analytics and relevant analytics/tracking tools installed
  • Google Search Console is connected
  • All images have alt tags with unique text
  • Google Rich Snippets are configured

Social

  • Open Graph tags included across website and appropriate? (including images where possible)
  • Social accounts integrated, linking to correct URLs and use API for integrations

Markup

  • HTML has passed validation (or known issues noted)
  • CSS has passed validation (or known issues noted)
  • Bonus: CSS tested on CSS Lint (to hurt your feelings)
  • Site links have been tested and resolve correctly
  • JavaScript is error free
  • Website passed Google Page Speed Insights report

Accessibility

  • Website meets appropriate level of WCAG compliance
  • ARIA Landmark Roles specified
  • Semantic headings and structure used
  • Links are clearly recognisable and have :focus state
  • Images use appropriate ALT text
  • Alternatives provided for users with Javascript disabled
  • Forms have logical layout
  • Associated label for all form controls
  • Colour contrast tested
  • Website accessibility has been checked with Total Validator Pro or WAVE and issues resolved (exceptions noted)

Functionality

  • Forms have been tested and processed correctly
  • Required fields have been tested
  • Review input validation (min/max lengths, character limits)
  • Forms send to the correct recipient
  • Forms have confirmation URL or event tracking so submissions can be tracked
  • Forms process correctly with JavaScript disabled
  • Website search and search results function correctly
  • Payments switched to live mode
  • Automated emails configured and formatted

Optimization

  • Images have been optimised
  • CSS is minified and combined
  • JavaScript is minified and combined (as much as possible)
  • Ensure only necessary fonts, weights and character sets are installed
  • Incorporate CDN / Caching as required

Security

  • Secure areas are locked down and not accessible by search engines
  • Default CMS login URL is changed
  • Default CMS username is changed
  • SSL Certificate is requested

Post-launch

  • Ensure site is visible to search engines
  • SSL certificates successfully installed
  • Images, media and links reference live URL
  • Webfonts integrated and working correctly on live site
  • Webfonts set to production (as required)
  • 301 redirects are in place and working correctly
  • Website URL has been submitted to Google
  • Generate a new sitemap.xml and upload to root
  • Site added to Google Webmaster tools and sitemap submitted
  • Analytics has been setup and integrated into website

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