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Magento Tips For Your Clients Website Launch

Magento Tips For Your Clients Website Launch

After you have spent months building incredible functionalities on your client’s Magento website, how do you ensure the launch goes smoothly? You’ve probably factored in all the aspects necessary for a successful launch, but it is critical to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

We’ve compiled a pre-launch checklist for you to go through before launching.

Basic Configuration

Check the store front and admin URLs to ensure they work properly. These need to be updates to ensure they do not refer back to the staging site. Do not forget the trailing forward slash.

 

Disable Unnecessary Modules

Before you launch, turn off all modules that are not in use. These include Mage_Newsletter, Mage_Rating, Mage_Tag, and Mage_Wishlist.

 

Favicon

Favicon reinforces visual branding, giving your website its unique identity. The favicon also gets displayed each time a visitor bookmarks the site. Some browsers even pick up favicon automatically if you save it in the root as favicon.ico.

 

Prepare HTML Head

Changing the settings for the HTML head is one of the most important things to do before your launch. Do not leave the original settings in HTML head. Change the title, set Meta description and keywords which are critical for effective SEO.

 

Product Placeholder Images

Magento features default placeholder images for  products and catalogues. However, you can create a default set of images for your website. When a product does not have an image, the placeholder image is displayed.

 

Correct Store Information

Find and change your store information using System > Configuration > General > Store Information. Your business email address can also be changed using System > Configuration > Store Email Addresses.

 

Change Admin URL

Changing the admin page URL is important for security purposes. You can change the Admin URL via admin panel by going to System > Configuration > Advanced > Admin Admin Base URL.

Choose a strong username and password to keep your store safe.

 

Tax Rules

Taxation can be a complicated process. Product Taxes can be designated via specific products, regions, or buyer country. Before launching, recheck to ensure you did not miss anything during development. Change tax settings by going to System > Configuration > Sales  > Tax > Tax.

 

Edit Default 404 Error Page

Most sites often overlook the default 404 page. The 404 page should be representative of your brand’s voice and give a clear message to visitors. Editing the page gently guides your customer back to where they need to be.

 

Contact Information

Double check that the store information and email addresses provided are correct. Follow System -> Configuration -> General and System -> Configuration -> Store Email Addresses to cross-check your contact information.

 

Titles and Meta Data

The page title cannot be overlooked as it influences search engine optimisation. It also allows users to know what page they are on. Ensure page titles correspond and relate to each page and its contents.

Meta descriptions and keyword tags are also influential on SEO so they should also be included. Change the description of each web page to relate to the page content. Google displays the meta description in the search description.

Other tips to remember before you launch include:

 

  • Transactional emails
  • Transaction email template
  • Payment methods
  • Speed check
  • Database backup
  • Log cleaning
  • Analytics
  • Caching
  • Google sitemap
  • Google base
  • Maintenance flag file
  • Index management

 

When going live, ensure your site is bug-free and properly edited. Make sure you are satisfied with the staging site before going live. Contact Codeias to get regular development tips and get any help you might need before you launch your site. Reach us on call us on 01257 758 078 or email us at enquiries@codeias.com.

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