WooCommerce store launch checklist
On a hosted platform, much of what makes a store ready is handled before you arrive. On WooCommerce you host the store, so this WooCommerce launch checklist includes the items no platform will tick for you.
Is the hosting ready for real orders?
Open several pages of the store, including the checkout, and confirm that each one loads over a secure connection, with the padlock showing in the browser. Check that every form of your address opens the store and lands on one single address. Then confirm that automatic backups are switched on, stored away from the server, and include the database, because from today the database holds orders.
Is payment switched from test to live?
Payment plugins normally have a test mode, used during the build so that no real money moves. A store launched with test mode still on accepts orders that are never paid, and it can go unnoticed for days. Switch each method to live with your real account details, place one real order with each, and refund it. Check that the amount, the currency and the order status all come out as they should.
Do the store emails arrive?
Order confirmations sent straight from a web server often land in spam, or do not arrive at all. Place an order using an address at each of the common email providers and see where the message ends up. If it is filtered, ask your host or developer to set the site up to send through a proper mail service. Read the emails too: your logo, your language, a reply address that someone actually opens.
Can search engines see the site?
WordPress has a setting that asks search engines not to index the site, and it is commonly switched on while a site is being built. Left on after launch, it keeps the store out of search results with no visible sign that anything is wrong. Find it in the reading settings and make sure it is off. If the store was built on a temporary address, check as well that no links still point there.
What is left over from the build?
Test products and test orders, sample pages that came with the theme, discount codes made for trials, plugins installed to compare and never removed. Go through the user list as well: every administrator account that is no longer needed should be removed or lowered, and the remaining ones should have strong passwords. A new store with spare administrator accounts has doors open that nobody is watching.
Who looks after it from tomorrow?
Launch is the day responsibility starts, not the day it ends. Before you open, name the person who will apply updates, the place where backups are kept, and the routine for checking the checkout after each update. Write down the renewal dates of the domain and the hosting. A self-hosted store that nobody is assigned to will work well at first and then, one day, will not.
How I handle it
A store I build is designed in Figma, approved by you, built on WordPress with WooCommerce and Elementor Pro, and handed over with the dashboard so you edit products, prices, text and images yourself. Support begins on the day the site goes live and lasts 180 days, covering anything that breaks, anything that differs from what was agreed, and questions about editing. Tell me about the store you are preparing to open.
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