Launch checklist

A marketplace only gets one first impression. Before you tell people about your site, run through this list. Most steps take a few minutes, and together they make the difference between a site that looks like a test and one that people trust with their listings.

You can work through the list with your site hidden: switch on maintenance mode and only you and your team can see it. Switch it off when you’ve ticked everything.

1. Name, description and region

In Settings › General, check your site name, its description (search engines show it under your name), your time zone, date format and currency. If you created the site with the sign-up questions, most of this is already filled in.

See General settings and Currency and price format.

2. Categories (and locations)

Categories are how members browse and how they file their listings. Replace the starter categories with your own: a handful of clear top-level categories works better than dozens of empty ones. If your listings depend on where things are, add locations too.

See Categories and Locations.

3. Listing form

Decide what a listing needs: which built-in fields to show (price, phone, address, website…), any extra fields for your niche (make and mileage for cars, bedrooms for property), how many photos, and how long listings stay up.

See Listing page and form fields, Custom fields and Publishing options.

4. Who can post, and moderation

Choose whether new listings go live straight away or wait for your approval, and whether people must register before posting. On a new site, approving listings yourself is a good way to keep spam out.

See Moderation and Fight spam.

5. Look and feel

Pick a theme, add your logo and favicon, set your colours and check the home page on a phone as well as a computer.

See Themes, Theme options and Logo and favicon.

6. Pages: About, Terms and Privacy

Members look for who runs a site and what the rules are. Write a short About page, your terms of use and a privacy policy, and add a contact page so people can reach you.

See Pages, Contact page and Cookie consent and privacy.

7. Emails

Your site emails members when they sign up, post, get a message or pay. Check the sender name and address in Email, send yourself a test (sign up with a second email address) and read the main templates in your language.

See Email settings, Email templates and Make sure your emails arrive.

8. Payments (if you charge)

If you’ll charge for featured listings, posting in certain categories or memberships, connect a payment gateway and make one test payment.

See Take payments on your site, Featured listings and promotions and Membership plans.

9. Your first listings

An empty marketplace puts people off; marketplaces that reach five listings are far more likely to take off. Delete the example listings created at sign-up, then post at least five real ones yourself, or import them from a spreadsheet. Post one as an ordinary member too, so you see the form your members will use.

See How members post a listing and Import listings from CSV.

10. Your address and search engines

Connect your own domain if you have one (it’s worth doing before you promote the site, so links and search results use the final address). Then generate your sitemap and add your site to Google Search Console.

See Connect your own domain, Sitemap and SEO for your marketplace.

Launch day

1. Switch off maintenance mode in Settings › General.
2. Open your site in a private browser window, as a visitor would see it.
3. Sign up as a new member, post a listing and send a message to make sure every step works.
4. Tell people: see Promote your marketplace.

Related guides

• A tour of the admin panel — the setup guide on Home tracks three of these steps for you.
• Analytics — watch views and sign-ups after launch.
• Plans and billing — choose a plan before your trial ends.