Blog Launch checklist

I’ll start off by listing the items on the checklist before I expand further. This is going to be one long post so you may want to grab some coffee or download the PDF file to print and read at your leisure.

1. Choose a Good Domain Name
2. Evaluate WordPress Recommended Hosting
3. Change the WordPress Default Theme/Template
4. Update Permalinks to Create Search Engine Friendly URLs
5. Ditch the WYSIWYG Editor
6. Change Date and Time Option
7. Update Akismet
8. Expand Ping List
9. Install and Configure Redirection Plugin
10. Install and Activate SEO Slugs Plugin
11. Install and Configure All-in-One SEO Plugin
12. Install and Configure Robots Meta Plugin
13. Improve Navigation with the Breadcrumbs Plugin
14. Improve Pagination with Pager Fix
15. Install and Configure Super Cache Plugin
16. Validate your Blog or Website
17. Grade Your Blog or Website With Website Grader
18. Browser Compatibility Check
19. Add Google Analytics
20. Make Your Blog or Website Social

1. Choose a Good Domain Name

Do you have a good domain name? Skip this part if you already have a good domain name that you want to use.

• A good domain name should incorporate some of your main keywords and be easy to remember.
• Nameboy is a fantastic service for brainstorming and buying domain names. OneLook is not a domain registrar but is another great service that can be used for brainstorming domain names.
• After deciding upon a domain name, register it with a service like Nameboy, GoDaddy or NameCheap.

2. Evaluate WordPress Recommended Hosting

Do you have a good hosting provider? Skip this part if you already have a web host that you are satisfied with. Some of the important criteria to evaluate hosting providers are as follows:

• Disk space
• Bandwidth per month
• Number of email accounts provided
• One click installer for WordPress like Fantastico or SimpleScripts (especially useful if you are non technical)
• Price Plans
• Number of databases (useful if you intend to host more than one WordPress installation per account)
• Add-on domains (useful if you intend to host more than one domain per account)
• Demo login is important if you want to familiarize yourself with the hosting control panel interface.
• Customer service factors like 24/7 customer service via telephone, live chat or email is important. Especially if you live in a different timezone, 24/7 support is vital.
• Reliability can be gauged by the number of issues reported on public websites like Google Groups and WordPress.org support forums. However, this cannot be absolutely accurate because the number of problems is usually directly proportional to their number of customers. Additionally, check whether they have a server status monitoring system.

WordPress recommends the following hosting providers:

1. BlueHost
2. DreamHost
3. HostICan
4. ANHosting
5. Media Temple
6. Laughing Squid

Disclosure Note: The hosting provider links (except Media Temple and Laughing Squid) are affiliate links through which I will earn a commission. However, if you buy hosting from my links I’ll provide you with 2 hours of technical setup for free.

3. Change the WordPress Default Theme/Template

To make your website or blog to look unique, here are a few options to consider:

• Hire a WordPress professional at eLance or Rent-A-Coder to create a custom theme or template. However, looking through the premium and free themes would be a great way to determine what exactly you want for the design of your website or blog.
• A good starting point would be premium themes that cost less than $100 in most cases. These themes can form a good base should you decide to customize the template yourself or hire a WordPress professional at eLance or Rent-A-Coder. Unlike free themes, premium themes provide support services and free upgrades.
• If you can’t find a premium theme that meets your needs or if you don’t want to pay for a premium theme then consider free themes. However, finding a good free theme is like looking for a needle in a haystack. For free themes, check out WordPress Extend.

Still can’t find a suitable theme? You can get ideas from other blogs or you can hire a WordPress professional via eLance or Rent-A-Coder.

4. Update Permalinks to Create Search Engine Friendly URLs

By default, WordPress creates ugly URLs like http://example.com/?p=345 which is not exactly ideal. However, creating a user and search engine friendly URL is not difficult at all. Here’s what you do:

1. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
2. Click the “Settings” link on the left sidebar followed by “Permalinks” link.
3. Choose any structure apart from “Default”. I like to use the Custom Structure of “/%postname%.html” that makes my URL look like http://example.org/postname.html
4. If the permalink doesn’t work then it is most likely because of the .htaccess file permission issues (assuming the server is Apache). Open the .htaccess file and add the following code (if WordPress is installed in the root directory):

   # BEGIN WordPress

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

   # END WordPress

5. Open the .htaccess file and add the following code (if WordPress is installed in a directory called ‘blog‘):

   # BEGIN WordPress

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteBase /blog/
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
   RewriteRule . /blog/index.php [L]

   # END WordPress


5. Ditch the WYSIWYG Editor

By default, WordPress provides a visual WYSIWYG Editor to edit content. I strongly recommend to turn this visual editor off because a lot of times it creates unnecessary extra code especially when you copy and paste from word processors like Microsoft Word. Do the following to turn the visual editor off:

1. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
2. Click on your profile name link on the top right corner of the administrator’s interface.
3. Uncheck the “Use the visual editor when writing” box and click the “Update Profile” button.

6. Change Date and Time Option

By default, WordPress is set to the UTC timezone which is most likely not your timezone. Do the following to change the date and time option:

1. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
2. Click the “Settings” tab followed by “General” link.
3. Scroll down to “Timezone”, “Date Format”, “Time Format” and “Week Starts On” settings and change it according to your timezone and preferences.
4. Click the “Save Changes” button.

7. Update Akismet

Comment spam is a nuisance for WordPress blogs and websites. Spammers usually use automated software to post comments that promote their commercial services. Akismet (comes bundled with WordPress) is the plugin of choice to protect against comment spam.

1. Log into your WordPress account.
2. Click on the “Plugins” link on the left side of the Dashboard.
3. Click the “Activate” link for Akismet.
4. A note saying “Akismet is almost ready. You must enter your WordPress.com API key for it to work.” will be displayed.
5. Open a new window and go to www.wordpress.com and sign up at http://wordpress.com/signup/. At the end of the registration, an API key will be emailed to you.
6. Go back to the WordPress administrator and click the “enter your WordPress.com API key” link.
7. Enter the API Key and click the “Update options” button.

Now your WordPress website or blog is protected against comment spam.

8. Expand Ping List

By default, WordPress only pings one service and does not notify other blog directories and search engines that your website or blog has been updated. So it is a good idea to expand this list and notify more services.

1. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
2. Click the “Settings” tab followed by “Writing” link. Scroll to the “Update Services” box and enter the list of ping services here.
3. Click the “Save Changes” button.

Check out Setting up your WordPress ping list for details on how to use a plugin to prevent your blog from over-pinging.

9. Install and Configure Redirection Plugin

The Redirection Plugin is important for SEO purposes. Whenever a URL changes for whatever reasons then it creates an issue with search engines. For instance, lets say http://example.com/category/postname changes to http://example.com/category/name-of-the-post and the former URL has already been indexed by the search engine. Then there will be SEO consequences. The Redirection Plugin comes in handy in such cases to do a 301 redirect which means that it tells the search engine that http://example.com/category/postname has permanently moved to http://example.com/category/name-of-the-post. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download Redirection Plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link and click the “Activate” link for the Redirection Plugin.
4. After successful activation, click the “Manage” tab followed by “Redirection” and “Options” link.
5. Under “URL Monitoring” set the values to “Modified Posts” and click the “Update” button.

10. Install and Activate SEO Slugs Plugin

The SEO Slugs plugin removes common words like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘in’ from URLs to improve search engine optimization. For example, http://example.com/category/how-to-install-wordpress becomes http://example.com/category/install-wordpress. Do the following to activate the plugin:

1. Download SEO Slugs plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link and click tthe “Activate” link for the SEO Slugs plugin.

Note: Please do check out other slug plugins as well.

11. Install and Configure All-in-One SEO Plugin

All-in-One SEO Plugin is one of the most comprehensive and popular SEO plugins for WordPress. It optimizes titles (titles are very important for search engine rankings) and automatically generates META tags (which can also be over-ridden manually). Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download All-in-One SEO Plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link and click the “Activate” link for the All-in-One SEO Plugin.
4. After successful activation, click the “Settings” tab followed by “All in One SEO” to configure accordingly.
5. You can also manually create title, description and keywords while writing posts or pages in WordPress. Just scroll down to see the options. Please note that certain tthemes like Thesis handles SEO very well and you may not need this plugin.

12. Install and Configure Robots Meta Plugin

The Robots Meta Plugin allows you to set which parts of the WordPress blog or website can be indexed by search engines. For example, it makes it easy to prevent pages like registration, login, search results and categories to be indexed. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download Robots Meta Plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link on the Dashboard.
4. Click the “Activate” link for the Robots Meta Plugin.
5. Click the “Plugins” link followed by “Robots Meta” link to set the configuration. I recommend preventing the following from being indexed:
   • Site’s search results pages
   • Login and register pages
   • All admin pages
   • Author archives
   • Date based archives
6. Additionally, you can manually allow or prevent a post or a page to be indexed while writing posts or pages in WordPress. Just scroll down to see the options.

13. Improve Navigation with the Breadcrumbs Plugin

The Breadcrumbs Plugin is a great navigation tool because users are often lost within a website, especially if they came to an internal page or post via search engines. An example of a breadcrumb would be “Blog Home > Category > Breadcrumbs R Us”. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download Breadcrumbs Plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link on the Dashboard.
4. Click the “Activate” link for the Breadcrumbs Plugin.
5. Click the “Settings” link followed by “Breadcrumb NavXT” link to set the configuration.
6. Open the appropriate file for your theme (usually header.php). This can be done by clicking the “Design” tab followed by the “Theme Editor” link.
   
7. Save the file and the breadcrumbs are now active.

Note: Please do check out other breadcrumb plugins as well.

14. Improve Pagination with Pager Fix

The Pager Fix plugin improves pagination dramatically. This is benefecial because users can directly jump to a particular page plus search engines have access to links for all pages. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download Pager Fix plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link on the Dashboard.
4. Click the “Activate” link for the Pager Fix plugin.
5. Open the appropriate file for your theme (usually index.php). This can be done by clicking the “Design” tab followed by the “Theme Editor” link.
   
6. Save the file and the new pagination is now active.

Note: Please do check out other pagination plugins as well. The new version of Pager Fix may not require you to change code.

15. Install and Configure Super Cache Plugin

The Super Cache plugin significantly speeds up a site. Users and search engines love fast websites. It is relatively hard to configure but once you are done, the increase in speed will be noticeable. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download Super Cache plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder.
   Log in to your WordPress administrator account
2. Click on the “Plugins” link on the Dashboard.
3. Click the “Activate” link for the Super Cache plugin.
4. Click the “Settings” tab followed by the “WP Super Cache” link to configure the plugin.

16. Validate your Blog or Website

It is important to validate your website to ensure that it meets coding standards.

1. Go to http://validator.w3.org/
2. Enter the URL of your website and click the “Check” button.
3. The results will show the total number of errors. If there are no errors then rejoice.

17. Grade Your Blog or Website With Website Grader

Test your WordPress blog or website with Website Grader to mainly check the “On-Page SEO” factors like titles, headings, content, and URLs to improve search engine rankings.

1. Go to http://www.websitegrader.com/
2. Enter the URL of your website and click the “Generate Report” button.
3. Note the results of the “On Page SEO” mainly the following:
   • Metadata
   • Heading Summary
   • Image Summary

18. Browser Compatibility Check

Check your WordPress blog or website with BrowserShots to test the compatibility of the site with various browsers.

1. Go to http://browsershots.org
2. Enter the URL of your website and check the browsers of your choice
3. Click the “Submit” button. Results appear as per server availability.

Note: It is virtually impossible to be compliant with all browsers so focus on the dominant ones like Internet Explorer 6 and above and FireFox.

19. Add Google Analytics

Once the website or blog is launched, analysis and tracking is vital to see where the traffic is coming from and which parts of the site are popular. Google Analytics does a great job of measuring and analyzing traffic but is not the one and only analytics program available. Feel free to experiment.

1. Go to Google Analytics and sign-up or sign-in
2. Click the “Add Website Profile” link and enter the website address and timezone. Click the “Finish” button.
3. A tracking code like below is generated.
   
4. Open the appropriate file for your theme (usually footer.php). This can be done by clicking the “Design” tab followed by the “Theme Editor” link. Note that some themes provide an option to place the code without having to edit the theme.
5. Paste the above code immediately before the closing body tag
6. Save the file and Google analytics is now active.

20. Make Your Blog or Website Social

Make it easy for your readers to share your website, blog, post or page through social media. A plugin for this purpose is Sociable. Do the following to activate and configure the plugin:

1. Download the Sociable plugin and FTP to the server’s “wp content/plugins” folder. Alternatively, search for the plugin via “Plugin -> Add New” option.
2. Log in to your WordPress administrator account
3. Click on the “Plugins” link on the Dashboard.
4. Click the “Activate” link for the Sociable plugin.
5. Click the “Settings” tab followed by the “Sociable” link to configure the plugin. I usually like to display it in posts and pages.
6. Save the changes and Sociable is now active.

Note: Also check out other social media plugins.

Download the more detailed PDF of the Checklist

Please do leave comments, would love your feedback on expanding and making this checklist more useful.

Image Source: sxc.hu

As we speak, the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog or 31DBBB is in its 11^th 13 ^thday (will be updated periodically) and topics covered have been:

1. Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog: In this post Darren explains what an elevator pitch is and why is it important for bloggers followed by the task of writing an elevator pitch for your blog. He makes it easier by even showing you how to write an elevator pitch.
   Note to self: Hmmm, what’s my excuse of not having an elevator pitch for my blog?
2. Write a List Post: Here Darren gives 8 reasons why lists are very popular and lists out the task for the day which as you may have guessed is writing a post list. He gives examples of types of list posts and recommends sharing the list via comments on his post (smart move).
   Note to self: I need to write a list post but what shall I write about?
3. Promote a Blog Post: In this day’s post, I think Darren makes a good point about promoting individual blog posts instead of the blog itself. He lists out 11 ways to promote your blog posts including internal linking, article marketing and social media.
   Note to self: Apart from social media and internal linking, explore whether the other options are viable every time I write a post. A checklist of sorts?
4. Analyze a Top Blog in Your Niche: Success leaves clues and Darren recommends identifying and doing an in-depth analysis of a successful blog in your niche in terms of content, reader engagement, design, monetization, traffic and SEO with two important caveats a) do not become obsessed and b) do not copy.
   Note to self: Whom do I admire in my niche? Identify and then analyze their blogs?
5. Email a Blog Reader: Here Darren shares his strategy of paying personal attention to readers who leave comments on your blog. Three ways of doing this – a) email the reader, 2) leave a comment on their blog (provided they have left their blog address on the comments) and 3) comment on your own blog which shows that you engage the readers.
   Note to self: Thankfully, I’m doing what Darren recommends and I’ll continue to do so as this blog grows bigger and bigger
6. 27 Must Read Tips and Tutorials for Bloggers: Nice list of 27 tips and tutorials as Darren spreads the link love to other notable bloggers like Seth Godin, SEOmoz, Skellie, Chris Garrett, Yaro Starak, Shoemoney, Maki, Liz Strauss, Daniel Scocco and Chris Brogan.
   Note to self: Read the articles and make my own action items. Plus have a goal to get link love from Darren.
7. Write a Link Post: The objective of this day is to write a link post (see Day 6 on how Darren wrote a great link post) and he explains why it is important to link out before wrapping up 6 types of link posts to consider.
   Note to self: Is this post considered a link post?
8. Interlink Your Old Blog Posts: Internal linking is very powerful for SEO purposes but Darren goes a step further
   by giving other reasons to interlink to your older blog posts with practical examples of how to interlink.
   Note to self: Set aside time periodically to interlink especially when the blog grows in size and stature.
9. Join a Forum and Start Participating: Forums are places where your potential readers gather so harnessing the power of forums makes sense. Darren gives three good reasons to join forums with links to two great posts on the power of forums.
   Note to self: Start harnessing the power of forums that I have identified.
10. Set Up ‘Alerts’ to Monitor What is Happening in Your Niche: Darren gives 5 concrete reasons to monitor your niche and shows how to create a Google Alert before ending with a word of caution on ‘over monitoring’. I have found that monitoring Technorati as well as Twitter to be useful in addition to Google Alerts.
    Note to self: Write a post teaching how to create a unified alert combining Google, Technorati and Twitter using Yahoo Pipes.
11. Come up with 10 Post Ideas: Coming up with blog ideas daily can be a major pain and to counter that Darren recommends using older posts as a base and extending it further using tools like mindmapping.
    Note to self: Use FreeMind for generating ideas.
12. Develop an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog: The idea here is to build from the previous day’s task and come up with a weekly schedule. Darren talks about two methods to come up with a weekly schedule based on frequency and theme.
    Note to self: Weekly theme is something I should consider because it’ll give the blog some coherency.
13. Take a Trip to the ‘Mall’ and Improve Your Blog: The idea is to disconnected for sometime and then find inspiration for blog ideas offline. I know a lot of bloggers shudder at the thought of being offline
    Note to self: I’m going to the mall on Monday.