A checklist that I use when pushing websites live. This varies from project to project and it depends on the framework, hosting, etc.
On the development server
- Add Google Analytics
- 301 Redirects in a text document
- Generating XML sitemap
- Generate compresses, auto prefixes CSS
- Test meta tags using https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
On the live website
- Backup the old website
- Test the caching
- Copy 301 redirects
- Redirect the development website to the live website to avoid any confusion
- Check email services such as contact forms
- Make sure that the live website doesn’t request any files from the development website, search the page source
- Register the sitemap with Google using Google Web Master Tools
- Backup the new website
- Document hosting details