Your new website will not be available to the public until you launch your site. In this guide you will learn how to launch your site and what you can do after the site is live.
In this guide
Before your website goes live, visitors will encounter a “Coming Soon” page if they visit its address. You should check the following before you decide to launch, or publish, your site to the public.
- Confirm your email address.
- Make sure your domain is your site’s primary address. If you have not selected a domain name, you can register a new one, connect an existing domain, or transfer in one you already own.
- Review your site’s content, like your site’s title and links to social media.
- Ensure your visitors have a way of contacting you and they can navigate your site.
While you are logged into your WordPress.com account, you will see your site’s content. To see what your visitors will see, use an incognito window or another browser where you’re not logged into your account and visit your site.
Now that you’re ready to publish your site, follow these steps to make your site live:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- Navigate to Settings → General (or Hosting → Site Settings if using WP-Admin).
- Locate the “Launch site” section.
- Click the “Launch site” button.
Congratulations! Your site is now live.
⚠️
If you don’t see the “Launch site” section, your site is already launched. Instead, you will find a “Privacy” section where you can modify the privacy settings for your site.
Here are some common next steps now that your site is live.
Try checking out your site like a regular visitor would. Use a browser where you’re not logged into WordPress.com and check it on a phone too. This way, you’ll see exactly what your visitors see. Click around, test out links, buttons, and any contact forms to ensure everything behaves as you want it to.
Now, it’s time to announce that your site is up and running! Our guide on boosting your site’s traffic will walk you through various strategies, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and promoting your site on social media.
Once you launch your site, the section “Launch Site” will change to have the title “Privacy”. You can un-launch your site in the privacy settings by following these steps:
- Visit your site’s dashboard.
- Navigate to Settings → General (or Hosting → Site Settings if using WP-Admin).
- Locate the “Privacy” section.
- Select the “Coming Soon” radio button.
- Click the “Save settings” button.
Visitors will once again see the “Coming Soon” page, and you will continue to see your site’s content while you are logged into your WordPress.com account.
