A checklist for getting your shop's website readyfor Black Friday

Tasks that take time to finish.

1. 1

   Look at the expiry date of the site's security certificate (SSL)

   If the certificate expires, the browser shows the buyer a security warning. If the expiry date is within a month after the sale, renew it now.

   Result: The certificate expires at least a month after the sale ends.

   With Chekaav: When you add the SSL certificate to Chekaav for checking, you see the days left and get an alert near expiry (default: 30 days before).

2. 2

   Look at the domain's renewal date

   Check the domain's expiry date and the email address registered with the domain registrar. If the domain expires before the sale ends, renew it.

   Result: The domain expires after the sale ends and you read the registered email address.

   With Chekaav: Checks the expiry date of domains such as .com. This is not possible for .ir.

3. 3

   Make one complete test purchase

   Place a real order: add to cart, pay, return from the payment gateway and receive the order confirmation message. If you have a discount code, try it too. Do it once on a computer and once on a phone.

   Result: An order was placed on a computer and on a phone, both payments succeeded and the confirmation message arrived.

   With Chekaav: If the cart and checkout pages open without logging in, you can add their addresses so their errors are checked. Chekaav does not make purchases.

4. 4

   Ask how many buyers the site can serve at the same time

   A load test means testing the site with a large number of visitors at the same time. Ask the developer or the hosting support for the result of this test: with how many simultaneous visitors was the site tested, and how much did it slow down or return errors? If no test has been done, arrange one. Chekaav does not run load tests.

   Result: The product, cart and checkout pages have been tested with the number of visitors you expect, and you have seen the response times and errors of the test.

5. 5

   List the services your shop uses

   Such as sending SMS, calculating shipping cost and reading stock levels. Next to each one, write how to contact its support.

   Result: The list of services and a contact for each is ready.

   With Chekaav: If a service has an address that can be checked, you can add it too.

Tasks for making sure the site is ready.

1. 6

   Do not make unnecessary changes to the site

   Finish theme and plugin updates, server moves and domain setting changes before this week.

   Result: No unnecessary change is planned until the sale ends. For a necessary change, the time and the way to go back are known.

2. 7

   Decide who is responsible for the site and test the alert

   Decide who is responsible for the site during the sale, and who covers if that person is not available. Write the support numbers for hosting, the payment gateway and the developer in one place. Send a test alert and get confirmation from the recipient that it arrived.

   Result: The names of the responsible person and the backup and the hours they are available are written down, and the test alert arrived.

   With Chekaav: Sends alerts by email, Telegram, Bale or SMS and has a test-send button. The free plan has one alert channel.

3. 8

   Note the site's speed before the sale

   Note how long the product page and the cart take to open, so you can compare during the sale.

   Result: The opening time of two or three important pages is noted.

   With Chekaav: Records the time it takes to receive a response from the site; this is different from the time a page takes to fully appear in a browser. Slow-response alerts are not in the free plan.

4. 9

   Prepare the notice for customers

   Write a short text to publish on the shop's social media if the site has a disruption.

   Result: The text is ready and it is clear who publishes it and where.

   With Chekaav: Has a public status page where customers can see the site's status.

Tasks done on the days of the sale.

1. 10

   Check the site during the sale

   The person responsible for the site should be available at busy hours and make a test purchase every so often (suggestion: every one or two hours).

   Result: Test purchases were made and the result of each was noted.

2. 11

   If the site has a problem, check these in order

   If the whole site does not open: 1) try with another internet connection (for example mobile data). 2) look at the security certificate and domain dates. 3) contact the hosting support.

   If the site opens but purchases fail: 1) send the page's error to the developer. 2) contact the payment gateway's support.

   Result: The responsible person and the backup have read these two lists.

   With Chekaav: Shows the error of each check. In the trial and on paid plans, the result of each check location is shown separately.

   Copy the message for the developer or support

   Hello. The site has a problem. Address: … Since: … What I see: … Which part: the whole site / only cart and payment

3. 12

   If a disruption affected customers' purchases, tell them

   Publish the prepared text and write when the next update will be. You do not need to know the cause.

   Result: The notice is published and includes the time of the next update.

Two tasks for the next sale.

1. 13

   Record how the site did during the sale

   If a problem happened, write when it started, who noticed it and when, and when it was fixed. If no problem happened, note that.

   Result: The note is written.

   With Chekaav: Keeps the start time, error and duration of each disruption.

2. 14

   Decide what needs doing before the next sale

   Go over the note above. If something needs fixing before the next sale, give it an owner and a date.

   Result: The note has been reviewed and each needed fix has an owner and a date.