A website is a vital part of every business. A website can help you to establish your brand, gain new customers, or increase sales. It can be difficult to create a website, and it may seem like you need to do everything. You can design and launch your website quickly with the help of the right resources.
There are many things to consider before launching your website, and having a checklist in place is the best way to make sure everything goes smoothly. To ensure you don't miss anything, we've created a checklist for website launches that groups items into pre-launch and after-launch categories.
If you want your website to look great and be fully functional, the first thing that you'll do is check for any errors or inaccuracies. This includes all page content, downloadable content (ebooks, studies, whitepapers) and premium content (audio, video).
The copy should be accurate, grammatically perfect, and relevant to whatever product or service is being promoted. It should also align with your branding and the look of the site.
It's important to check the consistency and coherence of the entire website. This includes fonts, layouts, formats, and headers. Your images should be properly optimized and sized to fit the web.
In addition, it's important to check that the site works well on multiple browsers and mobile devices. Google has shifted its focus to mobile-first indexing and it is vital that your site be accessible across all platforms.
Test the page loading speeds to ensure that your site is fast and responsive on all platforms. Google PageSpeed Insights reports are a great tool to help you understand how your website is performing.
Lastly, be sure that your site's security is up to date and that all the necessary plugins are installed. This is particularly important if visitors will be able to pay for your services or you plan on storing their personal data.
Once your website has been launched, you will need to make sure that it is promoted on all your social media platforms. Adding buttons that allow users to share your new website with their friends is a great way to drive traffic and boost brand awareness.
Create a buzz about your new site by going "live" on Instagram or Facebook and letting your fans know. You will get an early start on SEO and you'll attract new potential customers.
Before you launch your site, poll everyone involved and come up with a plan for what to do in case things go wrong. This will keep everyone on the right track and help prevent issues. This is a wonderful way to show how much you value your team's hard work and dedication to the project.