WordPress Technical Checks Before Launch

A WordPress website can look finished and still carry unresolved technical issues right before launch.

This page groups the technical checks that matter before publishing or delivering a website. For a process-focused overview, see this WordPress pre-launch checklist. PreFlight helps verify many of these checks automatically before go-live.

What should be checked before launch

Launch checks matter because technical gaps often stay hidden until a website is public. Indexing controls, redirect behavior, metadata consistency, and exposed endpoints can all affect search visibility, reliability, and trust after release.

A technical review should be part of delivery, not an afterthought. Running the same checks each time creates a repeatable process with fewer surprises in production.

Technical checks included

Indexing status

Confirm the site is not unintentionally blocked from search engines before launch.

Available soon

robots.txt

Review crawl directives to avoid blocking important content by mistake.

Open check

XML sitemap

Verify the sitemap exists, is accessible, and reflects current URLs.

Available soon

HTTP to HTTPS redirect

Ensure traffic is consistently redirected to the secure canonical version.

Open check

Homepage response

Check that the home URL responds reliably with the expected status code.

Available soon

WordPress installer exposure

Confirm installer endpoints are not publicly accessible after setup.

Available soon

XML-RPC exposure

Review whether XML-RPC is exposed and required for your setup.

Open check

Title and meta description

Validate key metadata outputs so snippets remain clear and intentional.

Available soon

Canonical tags

Verify canonical signals point to the correct final URL version.

Available soon

Open Graph tags

Check social metadata so shared links render the right preview data.

Available soon

Basic performance signals

Review baseline signals like response, compression, and cache headers.

Available soon

Visible security signals

Inspect visible baseline security indicators before public release.

Available soon

How PreFlight helps

PreFlight helps teams review launch-critical technical signals before client delivery or go-live. It is built to catch issues early and support a cleaner release process.

It does not replace full specialized audits, but it helps cover the practical checks that commonly break launches.

Use a repeatable technical review process

Run a pre-launch check before every release so critical technical issues are identified while they are still easy to fix.