LAUNCHING A WEBSITE - Our Process

• Verify there is a favicon
• Update all the plugins and files
• Delete unnecessary themes and plugins
• Visually inspect every page and make sure everything looks correct
• View the site on a mobile device and make sure everything works
• Verify the old pages will redirect to the new ones, if necessary
• Test the 404 page and make sure it looks good
• Verify each page has a proper SEO title and description
• Check for a credits link if applicable
• Check live site, make record of Google Analytics ID being used
• Take a screenshot of the old site, for our purposes
• If we are hosting, add this site to the uptime monitoring tool
• Check PHP versions at the staging area and live environment
• Does the new site need an SSL Certificate? If so, deal with that now.

• Export the website using Duplicator
• Upload files to new server
• Extract the website
• Set local host file to test the site before changing DNS
• Search database for any lingering references to test URL
• Configure any plugins that couldn't be done at test location such as payments, newsletters, and others
• If SSL is needed, ensure it is functioning
• Change DNS host record to point to new location

• Check to verify robots.txt isn't preventing search traffic
• Search the database for links to test location, replace if necessary
• Search the site FILES for links to test location, replace if necessary (note that we generally strive to never include hard-coded site links in template files)
• Check PHP version if we're hosting, make sure it's updated
• Verify both www and non-www versions of the site work
• Verify that there is an active theme license, if applicable
• Check to make sure Google Analytics is loading
• Ensure backup, security, and anti-spam plugins are installed and activated
• Verify the correct destination for contact form submissions
• Add captchas to contact forms
• Set up SMTP if applicable
• Set up ReCaptcha on contact forms, if applicable
• Test all contact forms
• Test all site links
• Test old site locations and Google-indexed pages to ensure they are redirecting
• Have client verify everything looks correct
• Alter test location to redirect to live site, if applicable
• Delete any unnecessary users, "Hello World" posts and comments, or other dummy content
• They should have been added to our uptime monitoring tool if we're hosting already, but double-check
• Also if we are hosting, add WP Rocket to this site and make sure the caching works
• Inform client they may cancel their old hosting, if applicable

Bonus - Migrating Site Tutorials