# WCH Go-Live Checklist

> Canonical source: [WCH Go-Live Checklist](https://docs.hellowes.com/wch-go-live-checklist/)

A practical go-live checklist covering staging review, production setup, SEO, redirects, DNS cutover, and post-launch validation. Use it to catch common migration issues before they become production problems.

## 1. Staging review

- Review the WCH staging build for broken scripts, styles, embeds, custom head and footer code, and third-party integrations.
- Check the browser console for significant JavaScript errors.
- Replace Webflow-hosted features that stop working on a static site. Site search and CMS pagination, filtering, and Load more all depend on Webflow hosting. Use [Slater Data](https://data.slater.app/) for lists and [Slater global search](https://search.slater.app/docs/global-search) for search. See [Pagination](/pagination) and [Search](/search).
- Remove Finsweet Attributes such as CMS Load More, CMS Filter, and sliders that depend on Webflow hosting.
- Verify paginated CMS lists load and link correctly.
- Check internal links, buttons, downloads, images, videos, and other assets.
- Test all forms: submission succeeds, success and error states work, notification emails arrive, spam protection or reCAPTCHA works, and production endpoints and recipients are configured.
- Confirm third-party scripts work. If a script must load from its vendor rather than a local copy, add it under Excluded URLs in Settings.
- Test key pages in major modern browsers.
- Review mobile and tablet layouts.

## 2. Production environment

- Add a non-production destination and a production destination under Extensions, then Deployments, and turn on Is Production? for the production one.
- Enter your live domain in the Project domain field in Settings. WCH uses it for sitemap.xml URLs, canonical tags, and hreflang links.
- If you use a custom staging domain in Webflow, enter it in the Staging URL field so webhooks tell staging and production publishes apart.
- Fill in the Robots.txt field in Settings. If you leave it blank, WCH copies the robots.txt from your Webflow site.
- Configure production DNS records.
- Confirm SSL/TLS works on both apex and www.
- Choose the canonical hostname (www or non-www) and 301 redirect the other at your host.
- Lower DNS TTL ahead of cutover when appropriate.
- Confirm HTTP to HTTPS redirects correctly.
- Confirm production responses return the expected HTTP status codes.

## 3. SEO and indexing

- Verify sitemap.xml loads and contains production URLs. If you chose a grouped Sitemap structure in Settings, check the child sitemaps too.
- Use Exclude from sitemap.xml in Settings for pages that should not be listed.
- For localized sites, verify hreflang URLs and language and region mappings.
- Verify canonical URLs point to the production domain.
- Review titles and meta descriptions.
- Verify Open Graph and social metadata.
- Verify favicon and site icons.
- Check that no noindex tags remain in your Webflow page settings or custom code. WCH does not add or remove noindex; it publishes what Webflow serves.
- Verify GA4, GTM, pixels, and other analytics are firing in production.
- Verify the custom 404 page works and returns a 404 status. WCH always includes your 404 page at `/404/index.html`; your host must be configured to serve it.
- Submit the production sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

## 4. Redirects

- Export redirects from the 301 Redirects page under Extensions as CSV or JSON. This needs a Webflow Enterprise plan. See [301 Redirects](/301-redirects).
- Configure the redirects at your production host. WCH does not apply redirects; a static site needs the host to do it.
- Spot-check important legacy URLs.
- Confirm redirects use 301 responses.
- Check for redirect chains and loops.
- Verify URLs that previously received meaningful organic traffic or backlinks have an appropriate destination.

## 5. Pre-cutover review

- Complete a final review of the production build before changing DNS.
- Compare important production pages against the existing site.
- Confirm forms, integrations, analytics, and critical user flows are production-ready.
- Confirm production sitemap, robots.txt, canonicals, and redirects.
- Identify the rollback procedure before launch. Every archive on the Archives page can be promoted again, and a GitHub destination has a tag per publish.
- Schedule cutover during a lower-traffic window when possible.

## 6. Cutover

- Update DNS to point the production domain.
- Confirm apex and www resolve to the expected production environment.
- Confirm HTTPS and hostname redirects.
- Confirm the WCH publish and promote completed successfully on the Dashboard.
- Invalidate your CDN cache. WCH does not do this for you.
- Spot-check homepage, key landing pages, CMS pages, and localized pages on the live domain.
- Confirm assets and scripts are loading from the expected production locations.

## 7. Post-launch

### Immediately after launch

- Re-test forms.
- Re-test critical flows and third-party integrations.
- Check the browser console for production errors.
- Confirm analytics and conversion events are being received.
- Re-check sitemap, robots.txt, canonicals, redirects, and 404 behavior.
- Verify several old URLs redirect correctly.
- Confirm CDN caching is serving the current production build.

### First 24 to 48 hours

- Monitor uptime.
- Monitor Google Search Console for indexing or coverage issues.
- Watch analytics for unexpected traffic or conversion changes.
- Check for unexpected 404s and add redirects where appropriate.
- Verify privacy policy, terms, cookie consent, and other required compliance pages are live.
- Confirm your WCH staging URL and any `.webflow.io` address are not being indexed. Set Staging visibility to Private in Settings if the staging site should not be public.