Post-Launch Work

@ricksconcepts

Who is this guy?

@ricksconcepts

  • My name is Rick Shaw
  • Web Designer for Francis Tuttle Technology Center
  • Owner of Ricks Concepts (freelancing gig)

Why is this guy talking to us?

@ricksconcepts

Web Design is a fun but stressful gig.

Knowing how to handle clients & the administrative side can help ease the mind

Honestly I have no idea.

The wife always calls me "smart".

Not sure what she means though..........

What do I do now?

@ricksconcepts

Your newest project is now live!

@ricksconcepts

The process is not done though........

What do I do now?

@ricksconcepts

Have you thought about Secured Encryption?

Google Search Console

Security

What do I do now?

@ricksconcepts

Google Analytics

Product Keys

Backups

Caching

What do I do now?

@ricksconcepts

OH YOU DID!?

crap....

Fin

@ricksconcepts

Just in case you didn't.....

@ricksconcepts

@ricksconcepts

I'll tell you about my post-launch list

In the hopes that it helps

Because web to me is all about making life better

Plus it gives you more of a robust product to offer

Rick's list

@ricksconcepts

Rick's List

@ricksconcepts

Everyone's list will be different but these are what's in my post launch list. In no particular order

  • Setup Encryption
  • Configure & Link Google Search Console
  • Submit sitemap via Google Search Console
  • Configure iThemes Security Pro
  • Update product keys
  • Setup Backupbuddy
  • Configure & Link Google Analytics
  • Setup Dynamic Caching
  • Validate PHP 7.0
  • Delete staging ground
  • Search and Replace

@ricksconcepts

Quick Personal Story

I left this on here from my last presentation......I still don't remember what the story was.

Don't be scared of forgetting things because it may happen but it's ok. Just keep moving forward!

Major Points

@ricksconcepts

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Create an account specifically handling your Analytics & Search Console

First important fact (in my opinion)

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Google Analytics

 tracks and reports website traffic

https://analytics.google.com

Google Search Console

(AKA Google Webmaster Tools)

 indexing and visibility optimization

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Why do I need Google Analytics?

Tracks your visitors (not the creepy way)

Discover search terms that visitors found you by

Find out why visitors leave your site

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Why do I want Google Search Console?

Link errors

Google crawl errors

Responsive Testing

Sitemap Upload

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Plugins to use to link your site to

either search console or to Google Analytics

no logo?

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

Plug for a plugin

Yoast allows you to modify how posts will look when you post them using social media. Handy thing to put in the tool belt.

Google Stuffs

@ricksconcepts

cough cough Google has been hyping about social media cough cough

Lock it down!

@ricksconcepts

Lock it down

@ricksconcepts

Today security is becoming a bigger issue and not having some sort of protection for your site could hurt you.

Having some type of plan using a security plugin, an SSL certificate, and sitewide backup system in place is a great start

Lock it down

@ricksconcepts

Multiple security plugins out there but these are the top two from my own interactions with them.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/

Lock it down

@ricksconcepts

Multiple security plugins out there but these are the top two from my own interactions with them.

Lock it down

@ricksconcepts

Encrypt it and forget it......wait no that's not right.

Sources are stating the having a "Secured" website is becoming the norm for website development.

Plus Google stated in 2014 that having a secured website will be considered a positive ranking factor.

There's a lot of data and information that goes into this. I'll give you links to look over. :D

Lock it down

@ricksconcepts

Changeover &

Speed

@ricksconcepts

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Sometimes not everything will transfer over to the live site. I always check these Keys and PHP versions to make sure

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Caching has a lot that goes it. With the right plugin you can increase overall quality of the site.

Things to consider when picking a plugin

  • Page size
  • Load speed
  • Minifying Code
  • Server requests
  • and more!

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

I know it sounds silly but if you have forms.

Change the email address that it's attached to. :)

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Verify redirects are put into place

You may change URL's while building a new site but forget to set redirects

However leaving these out can give users a bad experience by showing them 404 error pages

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Side note about redirects and searchability

Google Webmaster tools will help with finding any broken links you may have

Make sure that Google can properly crawl your site. Google Analytics will show you if it's able to be crawled if you do a "Live Test"

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Speaking of 404.......

I enjoy seeing these.....the ones I'm intentionally looking at anyway.

Don't be scared to be funny and creative with these. It helps defuse a not fun situation for the user.

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Something that I have found that started causing me problems is using a subdomain to build websites instead of the actual domain

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

After I would transfer a site over I'd go back over it with a Search and Replace plugin and swap out the old domain for the new one.

Backup your site before you do this

Because it may break your site

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Once you're done launching your site and you're 100% sure you don't need it anymore then delete the development site.

My reasoning behind this is:

  • ​Outdated/Non Updated plugins, themes, core can cause security issues
  • Server Resources are used for a site that's not live
  • It's one less thing that you're not needing to have to handle

Changeover & Speed

@ricksconcepts

Finally.......Turn off Maintenance Mode if you were using it.

Fin

@ricksconcepts

Post Launch Work

By Rick Shaw

Post Launch Work

OKC WordPress UserGroup talk on 27Jul17

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