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October 31st, 2018 ×

Pre-launch Checklist

Wes Bos

Wes Bos Host

Scott Tolinski

Scott Tolinski Host

or
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode Wes and Scott discuss their pre-launch checklists. They talk about performance, accessibility, compatibility, SEO, analytics, and more - all the things you should check before launching something to the world.

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Show Notes

1:45 - Overall

  • Let robots do the work for you - use auditing tools

2:58 - Performance

11:43 - Compatibility

  • Test on actual browsers that need to be supported
  • Ask people to check on their devices
  • Use a service like Browserstack
  • Browser resolution and ratios
  • Cache busters

16:00 - Sales / Credit Cards

  • Use package.lock
  • Have multiple people test your checkout
  • Make sure your company name is listed on customer's credit card bills
  • Have a phone number listed for disputes

24:55 - Tips from the Trenches

  • Secure API endpoints
  • Scale up server just in case
  • Early access
  • Soft launch
  • Make sure URLs are correct - no "localhost:3000", etc.

31:25 - Content

  • Check spelling and grammar
  • A working 404 page
  • Check for leftover placeholder text → launching with lorem ipsum is not good

34:39 - Accessibility

  • Alt text
  • Run color contrast checker
  • Run Lighthouse
  • Correct tab order
    • Use the site with keyboard only and make sure it’s a good experience

37:35 - SEO

  • Sitemap created and uploaded to Google Webmaster Tools
  • SEO checkers
  • Meta tags
  • Correct heading hierarchy

41:55 - Analytics

  • Google analytics
  • Facebook tracking pixel
  • Drip

43:23 - Server config & access

  • .htaccess
    • redirects where needed
  • robots.txt
    • prevent indexing of some pages
  • Enable GZIP
  • Caching
  • Cloudflare or other CDN

46:12 - Company Processes

  • Make sure tests are passing
  • Git issues are closed
  • Merge pull requests
  • Write documentation on processes (readme, etc.)
  • Deploy to staging environment and test production build
  • No unwanted logs or errors left in production build
  • DNS Propagation

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

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