Pre-launch phase of web design project
When you finished a project (development and design), and the client says “Great, everything is fine now!“, there is an essential step for a web design agency. It’s time for the pre-launch checklist. In this article, I will address all the things that should be done before website launch.
Functionality, CSS/ HTML and Design
- Test all web forms on your site, and check if email arrives at the right place.
- Check social share functionalities
- Test all 3rd party components such as marketing automation software, newsletter forms – software, ticketing software, chats, etc.
- Check site speed score with the following tools (Set up your standard. You should talk with agencies about site speed and importance for your company):
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
- For example – WebShops (WooCommerce), check all steps from customer order to delivery. There are few steps with automating emails!
- Validate CSS https://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
- Validate HTML Markup https://validator.w3.org/
- Check Responsive Web Design: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
- Add a favicon
- Optimize images: http://compressjpeg.com/ or https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit
SEO
- Install the SEO plugin. For WordPress, we use Yoast SEO – in my opinion, the best one. https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
- Set title, tagline and implement meta descriptions
- Create a sitemap – it is important because of a search engine:
https://kb.yoast.com/kb/enable-xml-sitemaps-in-the-wordpress-seo-plugin/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
- Also, don’t forget about setting up important keywords (Yoast also) for each blog post. Check example:
LEGAL STUFF and FAQ
- Put company details on your site (VAT, city, address, etc.)
- Create cookie policy (EU) http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/basics/legal/cookies/index_en.html
- Implement terms and conditions, don’t forget about GDPR and about GDPR again. 🙂
- A return policy is also important!
- Credit card and all terms regarding credit cards
- Check all local requirements (depending on country). For example – WebShops (WooCommerce), in some countries invoice should be generated automatically in PDF and should be included in automating email!
- An exact number of items (not) available for purchase in webshops could also be a big issue if not shown correctly. Why? In some countries, you can get penalties If you show a wrong number (for example, a customer is not able to buy your product)
FROM TEST TO PRODUCTION
- Move site from test to production
- Configure backup
In the next article, I will write about Launch – Phase!
