Your Drupal website is ready, tested for all flaws, resolved, and ready to launch! But, you feel something is still missing?
It’s normal to feel anxious after you have tirelessly worked hard on your Drupal website. To end all your second thoughts, we have compiled a complete checklist for your Drupal website maintenance to check for any unforeseen issues before the launch.
Let’s get rolling.
Quick check for 404 errors and broken links
The presence of 404 errors, broken links, and images on your newly launched Drupal website can cause significant trouble in achieving a good page rank and page load speed. These weeds need to be removed from your website thoroughly.
Search 404, a Drupal module, will help you find more content that the user has searched for, like in the form of search-based results on the URL. Another way to tackle the same is to turn error reporting off. With this, the errors are noted down on the log but are not displayed to the users.
You can turn the reporting off by following the below-given steps.
Configuration > Development > Logging and errors > None
This way, you can handle 404 errors without hindering the customer experience on your Drupal website.
Secure your Drupal website from hackers
Keep a check on the warning messages you receive for your group and website to eradicate any security risks. Ensure that your Drupal website is up to date along with the security patches and releases.
From modules to the core or any other security update, make sure that everything is up to date so that your critical data of the business is completely safe. If you want to check for security updates manually, you can do so by following up the REPORTS section and then checking out the AVAILABLE UPDATES option.
While using Drupal 7 and 8, you don’t have to worry about checking for security updates manually, as these are sent automatically to you for modules that are enabled.-
If you further wish to robust the security on your Drupal website, utilize AES algorithm modules that provide encryption and decryption. You may hire Drupal Developer to implement such modules on your website.
Tip:
Never grant permission to any anonymous users as it can harm your system.
Cron configuration
Cron, an automatic schedule that is set to work during intervals to perform specific server tasks. These specific tasks include updates check, retrieving feeds, routine maintenance tasks, re-indexing of search mechanisms, and others.
Make sure to configure it properly so that there is no bloating of the database and a minimum website loading time is maintained. Apart from this, cron configuration is also necessary for security and performance reasons.
Backup first
It’s better to be prepared than to take measures after the damage has been done. However, secure you get your website, they always lead to a slight possibility of a threat or sudden hack that can disrupt your Drupal website.
Thus, it is recommended by experts to always get a code or database backup. You never know when a security threat may knock down your website. So, while you get Drupal Web Development done for your website, always ask the agency to provide you with the source code of your website.
Many hosting providers are also known to offer backup options in their additional packages. Make sure that your Drupal website is backed up each day as it ensures that your website can quickly get back on the road in case of any mishap.
Cross-browser testing of your Drupal website
Perform a routine test of your Drupal website across various browsers and devices before putting it forward to the web. It is highly recommended in this case if you are also planning to invest in marketing campaigns behind the launch.
It will help you ensure that your Drupal website is accessible to your potential customers across all search engines and devices. You can also take assistance various for mobile responsive or cross-browser testing. To start with, you can check out Google’s developer tools that reside a full suite of browsers.
Quick checkpoints
- To boost the performance of your website, configure caching for modules in a Drupal website. Some of them are turned off by default, so make sure that they are turned on.
- Check if all the contact forms are functioning well so that you do not miss out on any potential leads for your business. This check should be performed at least once a week regularly.
- You must provide an ALT tag for every image on your website. It will help the search engines learn about what the images are. While using Drupal 8, you can rest assured of missing out on this point as it is by default obligatory for every image on your website. No images can be added without an ALT tag in Drupal 8.
- Content is the key to retaining a customer on your website. Make sure that it is arranged and displayed accurately and no dummy text is left anywhere on the pages.
- Acquire your SSL Certificate for the website, which is a standard procedure for attaining security on your Drupal website. Without it, even the users and search engines will have second thoughts in trusting your business.
It’s a wrap!
With all these points checked in your ready-to-launch or newly launched Drupal website, you can take a sigh of relief. You can rest assured of your top-notch online presence and can carry on with routine website maintenance for its optimum performance. Visit here
Kudos on your new beginnings!