Suppose you want to create an eCommerce store for the first time and you don’t know where to start, then this blog is for you! We have put together a pre-launch checklist for your WooCommerce store so that you don’t make the mistake like others and keep your website user-friendly from the start.
The pre-launch checklist can help you check your entire WooCommerce store performance without any hassles. You can be aware of your site security, checkout process, overall performances, recovery of broken links or sections if present before launching, and many more. You have to ensure your customers will have a seamless experience during the time of purchasing from your website.
Now the question is what things do you need to look for at the pre-launch time. You have got covered! Here you will get 10 pre-launch checklists for your new WooCommerce store. Get started!
10 Pre-launch Checklist For New WooCommerce Store
If you want to be an owner of WooCommerce and planning to create one, then these 10 pre-launch checklists can help you to the fullest. You can be advanced on what to look at carefully before launching your WooCommerce store online. Get all the detail below:
1. Easy Navigation With User-Friendly Interface
When you are making your WooCommerce site you have to be careful about your WooCommerce store site interface and easy navigation. That your customers can easily check out, search, and purchase their desired product by using your WooCommerce store’s smooth interface. So that after launching your eCommerce store your site can easily get recommended and ranked within a short period of time.
2. Get SSL Certificate Before You Launch
You should have activated SSL to make your eCommerce website secure and up-to-date. SSL can help you protect any sensitive information, customer data or credit information, and many more. This is also important because search engines like Google also marked SSL-certified sites as insecure. So it could be harmful for your brand reputation.
3. Responsive Site With High-Quality Content
This is not for your WooCommerce store, for building any type of site, you have to make sure your site is responsive with different devices like mobile, laptop, or other types. This is also true for your website content to be in that responsive mode. Your all types of images, text content section, and the entire site should be responsive for allowing your customers to have a great user experience.
4. Seamless Checkout Process Or Not
Your Add to Cart to Checkout process journey of your website must be fully functional and effective. This is the place where your customers take the instant decision to purchase your product. The checkout process has to be seamless and placed in a way that anywhere they visit your website can reach out here to finalize the purchase.
You have to check whether your products are adding correctly and go to the checkout page or not. So that your customer doesn’t get disappointed or misled with any wrong information, links, or product categories.
5. Take A Look At Your Payment Gateways
You have to integrate with all possible payment gateways that can help your customer to purchase your WooCommerce store products. Before launching your site, on your pre-launch checklist, you have to get this done from the beginning. Check by yourself by configuring the add to cart to the checkout page, choose each payment gateway option, and know if there are any bugs present or not.
If the credit cards or other payments are not valid, this can be recognized by providing the right message. So the entire payment journey should be presented on your pre-launch checklist to assure your customers’ smooth payment process.
6. Include SEO Optimized Content
When you are designing your WooCommerce store, you have to make sure your site content is SEO optimized and interactive. Images, textual context everything has to be under the guidelines of search engines optimization. Check out what you should focus on during the time of your website’s SEO optimization. Entire website content, titles should be well optimized with keywords & headers.
➤Include compelling meta descriptions for each product and page.
➤Make sure your images are optimized with meaningful alter text mostly with keywords.
➤Your permalink should be concise and distinct that can easily be read and understood.
➤An XML sitemap is essential for any type of website. It is essential for your WooCommerce store that will work as a blueprint for your website. And help you rank on search engines with your XML sitemap.
➤To make your SEO-optimized work easy, you can use powerful SEO plugins like Yoast, Rank Math, or other Europe-based related ones. Plugins can help you know where you have to improve your content, focus keywords ratio, links, and many more in detail.
7. Get A Backup Before Launching
Backup is one of the essential pre-launch checklists for the new WooCommerce store that you just have to make it done. You have to get a secure backup for your new website. This is already ensured if your hosting service is Europe-based providers or by using a complete plugin like Jetpack, BlogVault, or other related in advance. You can then have secured all your data, resources, files, etc.
8. Ensure Site Security & Performance
Before launching any WooCommerce store you have to make sure your site is fully secured to launch and will not provide any bad experience to your customers. As your business is eCommerce, you have to then ensure a seamless experience for your customer. And in the meantime be advanced about as an admin what securities & things you should include to make your site faster and secure. Go through the possible checklists that you should have checked about your site security:
➤Ensure Firewall Setup:
Get a firewall setup to secure your ECommerce store for all types of incoming malware. That you can face after launching your website. There are free and paid types of security plugins available. You can check premium Wordfence, WP All in One Security, or Sucuri which is absolutely free.
➤Have Strong Passwords:
Another important thing is as an administrator you have to use strong passwords with characters, symbols to give your eCommerce website a shield. Two-factor authentication is necessary to protect your website from any type of unwanted situation.
➤Protect Site From Any Type of Spam Activities:
Your eCommerce website posts, comments, product reviews should be secured. That can help your site from all types of spamming. You can get a free Disable Comments plugin for WordPress to secure your WooCommerce store for all types of spam comments. Without this Akismet, or any other powerful solution is also available to serve separate purposes. Get one perfect one which is suitable for your store type.
➤Update All Supportive Plugins & Themes:
When you are using third-party plugins, themes for your WooCommerce store, make sure you have always updated those solutions, and it’s most essential to check before launching. And this is because not to process your site slow.
9. Right Legal Infrastructure In Place
The legal infrastructure of your WooCommerce store can let you know your audience how you are going to use your visitors’ or customers’ data and entire policies. It can protect you from any potential lawsuits. You can take advice from any lawyers or experts on how to make your legal infrastructure run your business and maintain customer privacy. You have to get some legal things done that is one of the necessary 10 pre-launch checklists for your WooCommerce store below:
➤Create A Terms & Conditions Page
Get a complete terms & conditions page to describe the journey the buyer and seller send during the time of product purchasing. You can create this by navigating Appearance > Customize > WooCommerce and choose the terms & conditions page to start with.
➤Come Up With Privacy Policy Instructions
You have to include a privacy & policy page to explain in detail how you are going to use your customers’ or visitors’ data. For that create a separate page following the above step that you have been following for the terms & conditions page and build one instantly. It helps you make your online eCommerce business credible & increase your brand value after launching.
➤GDPR Cookie Consent
If your eCommerce business is global and you have to deal with European customers, this GDPR Cookie consent is essential for your WooCommerce store. Other than that you can skip this part. GDPR cookie consent policy is only applicable for Europe-based customers or businesses. That is how you are going to use their citizens’ data that has to be clearly mentioned.
10. Be Transparent About Your Return Policy
If you are sure about accepting returns, then you should have let your customers know the terms & conditions for that transparently. How many days they will get to return any products, how it should look like, the entire money back policy & more.
Now It’s Your Turn To Launch Your New WooCommerce Store
Bonus Tip: How To Add Products In WooCommerce: Step By Step Guide For Beginner [2021]
Congratulations! If you have followed these 10 pre-launch checklists for your new WooCommerce store, you are then all ready to launch your eCommerce store. Then again it would be wise if you cross-check your entire WooCommerce journey in the eyes of real customers like employees, friends, family members. They can easily get feedback before launching your WooCommerce Store.
Hope you find this blog helpful and let us know about your real experience by commenting below. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our blog & Facebook Community to get attached to all WordPress experts.