The only website launch checklist that you will ever require

It can be exciting to launch a website, but also stressful. Even small problems that may arise during a launch can have huge consequences.

Lost leads can be caused by forms that aren't working. Users can be frustrated by slow loading times. The 88% of online consumers who have had a negative experience with your site will not return. It's easy to overlook important steps when launching a site.

It is crucial to have a checklist for website launches to make sure everything runs smoothly.

We have compiled all the important information you should be aware of before, during and after your website launches. This is the ultimate website launch checklist for anyone who's about to launch a site.

Quick Take-Aways

• With steps such as a website audit, goal setting sessions, and a comprehensive work plan, you can help lay the foundation for a successful website launch.

• Attention to detail, thorough proofreading, testing and review will ensure that small errors don't have a larger impact.

• Site security is essential for avoiding data breaches and defamation.

• The key to making sure your website ranks high on search engine results pages is technical SEO auditing.

• Web analytics provides actionable insights that allow you to continuously optimize your website's performance.

This is the only website launch checklist you will ever need

Analyze your website and make a document

There is a reason why you have decided to launch a website. You don't want it to be a waste of time. It's a smart idea to review your existing website and identify its strengths and flaws before you begin the new launch process.

What are the most important things that you want to preserve for your new website? What should you change? What metrics are failing and which ones are performing well? These questions, and others, can help you find the best path to launch a new website that boosts your overall business performance.

This step-by-step guide will help you start analyzing websites.

Set goals

Once you have an in-depth understanding of your website, it is time to focus on your new website.

Recall the original question: Why did you launch a website? Next, consider the lessons you gained from your website analysis. These insights can be used to help you set goals for your site.

The SMART goals framework is a good way to set goals. It ensures that your goals are precise, measurable and attainable. Your goals should be SMART to allow for easy analysis when you need to evaluate performance.

Source: Image Source

Make a work plan.

All those moving parts that we talked about before? There is a way to ensure that they are all documented, tracked and evaluated throughout the website launch process.

A work plan with roles, responsibilities and deadlines will keep your project team on track and accountable.

It doesn't mean you have to create a work plan from scratch. You can find a variety of proven work plan templates that you can download and modify to suit your project needs.

Template Archive offers more than 30 templates that you can download.

Select a CMS system

During your website analysis and goal setting, you probably evaluated your CMS (content management system) during the process. Before you begin the website launch process, it is important to make a decision about the CMS system that you will use. You will be making choices during the launch that impact both design and functionality.

WordPress is the most popular CMS. However, there are many other options such as Drupal and Joomla.

This guide will help you choose the right CMS for your website.

Make sure you proofread the copy and then go back to it.

Simple grammar errors and other errors can have a significant impact on your copy. Although it may seem like an easy mistake that can be overlooked, the research shows otherwise.

An online survey by a London-based digital marketing agency found that over 42.5 respondents said spelling and grammar errors would make them more offended than any other mistake made by brands online.

Image Source

Although it might seem extreme, it is understandable. Consumers want to make a purchase from a trusted and professional brand. It is easy to make spelling mistakes, so putting them on your website shows carelessness. Make sure to proofread your website before you launch it. Better yet, have multiple people proofread it and each one do it twice. Although it is time-consuming, the results are well worth it.

Your UX is ready to go

Your website is your first impression to potential customers. You only get one. To ensure that your customers have a great experience, make sure you test your website before it goes live.

The following should be included in your UX test:

• Test your website on a tablet, a smartphone, or pc.
• Ensure page loading times are correct
• Verify that all audio, video, and images are functioning properly
• Testing your website on multiple browsers
• Test all forms and download links
• All internal and externe links should be tested

There are many things that can happen between your final pre-launch testing and your official launch. You can test both before and after the launch to ensure that you are able to quickly fix any issues before your visitors notice them. This will also reduce the chance of them having an impact on your site's performance.

Look for third-party integrations

Many third-party plug-ins and software are used to support sales and marketing functions on modern websites. You should compile a list of all third party integrations that you use and make sure to test them before and after your website launches. Failure to do this could cause website functionality problems and even data loss.

All placeholder content should be updated

This one is easy to forget. It's possible that placeholder images, captions and headings were used during the building of your website. You may have intended to replace them once the design is finished.

As you did with your proofreading copy, it is a good idea for multiple visits to your website (and possibly with multiple people) to ensure that no filler content was replaced with the actual.

Make a sitemap

Sitemaps can be a powerful tool to view the architecture of your website from a high-level perspective.

Two important reasons to create a sitemap before you launch a new website are: It allows you to analyze the sitemap to ensure that your site's architecture is in line with your strategy. It can also be used as a reference document and can be modified to reflect changes over time.

Sitemaps have other benefits such as helping to improve your SEO rankings, and making it easier for search engine crawlers to crawl your website.

Sitemaps can seem intimidating, but they don't have to be complicated. A simple flowchart like the one below is sufficient for most cases.

Source: Image Source

Quicksprout has a guide that will help you create sitemaps in just five steps.

Secure your home with security measures

Although it's not the most glamorous aspect of launching a website, security is crucial. Security breaches can lead to data breaches, broken pages, and even a website crash.

Your web launch plan should include steps to secure your website. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Where are passwords and site credentials stored?
• Who will have access passwords and site credentials
• What is the site backup plan? What is the address?
• How can we ensure that our data is safe during transit?

Security breaches can have more serious consequences than just unfortunate website problems. They can also severely affect consumer trust in your brand. Learn more about security concerns for websites here.

Your technical SEO should be checked

A solid technical SEO strategy is essential to make sure your website is crawled by search engines and ranked. We all know that your brand is virtually invisible if it's not ranked. Before you launch your new website, make sure you audit your technical SEO.

An official technical SEO audit is the best approach. As a resource, we recommend Hubspot’s technical SEO guide.

Install analytics

It's easy to monitor your website analytics. Web analytics is more than just a way to monitor performance. Analytics can be used to gain actionable insights and help improve your content. This will lead to more leads and better conversion rates.

Analytics insights can help you optimize your most-performing content, remove or update content that isn't delivering results, align your website architecture to target keyword search queries, and better target your content. We take a deeper look at web analytics and their value.

If you haven't already, make sure to set up Google Analytics immediately after your site launches. It's free for most features and provides valuable data. This SEMRush beginner's guide will help you get started with Google Analytics.

Great content can boost the performance of your website

Our Content Builder Service can help you get more visitors to your website by publishing quality content consistently. Our SEO specialists and writers can provide you with optimized content that is ready to publish every week for up to a year.

Get in touch with me to set up a consultation and receive a PDF copy of my books for free. Get started today and you'll be able to generate more leads and traffic for your business.