A quality assurance or website launch checklist is used to ensure the deployment of a new website goes as smoothly as possible.
It’s simply a list of checks and tests that need to be performed before or after the website has been deployed to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Let’s take a look at the universal checklist we use at White Peak Digital for all new websites.
Website Pre-Launch Checklist
Before launching a new website, it’s essential to have a solid plan and strategy in place.
Identify your unique selling proposition (USP) to differentiate your website from competitors.
Clearly outline your website’s goals and objectives, whether it’s increasing traffic, generating leads or boosting sales.
A comprehensive website launch checklist can help ensure that all aspects of your website are well executed and aligned with your business goals.
This includes everything from content creation and design to technical setup and SEO.
1. Website Content
Your website content is the foundation of your online presence, making it crucial to ensure every element is polished, professional and error free.
Here’s a detailed checklist to help you deliver exceptional website content that meets user expectations and aligns with your brand:
Remove Placeholder Text
One of the most common oversights in website content is leaving placeholder text like “Lorem Ipsum.”
Replace all dummy text with engaging and relevant content that is tailored to your target audience.
Placeholder text detracts from credibility and can leave visitors questioning your professionalism.
Proofreading
Carefully review all written content for grammar, spelling and punctuation errors.
Mistakes can undermine your credibility and cause visitors to lose trust in your services.
Proofread multiple times or better yet, have a fresh pair of eyes review it to catch anything you may have missed.
Ensure All Links Function Properly
Check that every link on your website, whether it is internal or external, works as intended.
Broken links can frustrate users and harm your website’s SEO performance.
Tip: If you’re worried about harming your website SEO, our Brisbane SEO services can help.
Run link checks regularly, especially before launching or updating your existing site again.
Verify Contact Information
Double check all contact details including phone numbers, email addresses, physical locations and contact form functionality.
Incorrect information could result in lost leads and missed opportunities.
Optimise Media Content
Ensure all video and audio files play correctly and are formatted for quick loading.
Use appropriate file sizes and formats for seamless playback on both desktop and mobile devices.
Proof & Link PDF Files
For any PDF documents linked on your website, ensure they are fully proofed, properly formatted and correctly linked.
Broken or poorly formatted PDFs can leave users with a negative impression.
Customised 404 Page
A customised 404 error page helps retain visitors who land on a broken or nonexistent link.
Include helpful navigation links or a search engine bar to guide users back to the site pages or content they’re looking for.
Implement a Favicon
Your favicon, commonly the small logo appearing in the browser tab, is a small yet crucial branding element.
Ensure it is properly uploaded and displays correctly on all web browsers used.
Confirm Licensing for Assets
For every image, font and plugin used on your website, ensure you have the appropriate licenses on file.
This not only protects your business legally but also upholds professional standards.
Test Across Devices & Browsers
Lastly, review your website’s content and functionality across various devices and browsers to ensure a consistent user experience.
Content that displays well on one platform may need adjustments for others.
2. Design & Development
A well designed and developed website is essential for creating a positive user experience and achieving your online goals.
Ensure that your website is visually appealing with a clean, modern design that reflects your brand identity.
Navigation should be intuitive, allowing users to find information quickly and easily.
Optimise your website for search engines by incorporating SEO best practices into the design and development process.
This includes using appropriate keywords, optimising images and ensuring fast loading times.
A well optimised website not only improves user experience but also enhances your search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to your entire site too.
3. SEO & Analytics
For search engine optimisation and Google Analytics purposes, it’s important that your website covers the following points prior to launching:
- All page titles are descriptive and fewer than 70 characters
- Page meta descriptions are descriptive and fewer than 160 characters
- H1 tags used for page titles (only one per page)
- XML sitemap has been generated and added to root of website
- robots.txt is generated and added to root of website
- Old website URLs are 301 redirected to new URLs
- Website can be accessed by search engines (remove noindex and nofollow)
- Google Analytics and relevant analytics / tracking tools installed
4. Social Media
Your social media account’s is a great way to boost your website’s visibility and prove your credibility.
It is important to have your social media accounts linked to your website, so that users can easily find all of your platforms.
It is vital that your company’s social media account is linked to the correct URL of your website. This ensures that your accounts are integrated across all of your web pages.
5. Website Accessibility
Ensuring that your website’s content is up to standards with accessibility guidelines is necessary when launching a new website.
Your website’s content should include the following:
- Website meets appropriate level of WCAG compliance
- ARIA Landmark Roles specified
- Images use appropriate ALT text
- Semantic headings and structure used
- Links are clearly recognisable and have :focus state
- Alternatives provided for users with JavaScript disabled
- Associated label for all form controls
- Colour contrast tested
6. Browser & Device Compatibility
Ensuring website compatibility across browsers and devices guarantees a seamless user experience for all visitors.
It helps avoid potential issues that could impact usability, accessibility and overall site performance, keeping your audience engaged and satisfied.
- Site previewed in Chrome (Windows & Mac)
- Site previewed in Microsoft Edge (Windows)
- Site previewed in Safari (Mac)
- Site previewed in Firefox (Windows & Mac)
- Site previewed in any legacy or alternate browsers requested
- Responsive design and functionality tested on phone devices (iOS & Android)
- Responsive design and functionality tested on tablet devices (iOS & Android)
- Displays & functions correctly on large resolution monitors (4k or ultra-wide)
7. Website Functionality
Testing website functionality ensures that all features, links and forms work as intended for users.
A fully functional site minimises errors, enhances user trust and supports achieving business goals effectively. It is important to review the following prior to launching your website:
- Forms have been tested and processed correctly
- Required fields have been tested
- Review input validation (character limits, etc.)
- Forms send to the correct recipients
- Forms have confirmation URL or event tracking for submission tracking
- Forms process correctly with JavaScript disabled
- Website search and search results function correctly
8. Site Speed Optimisation
Optimising site speed improves user experience and reduces bounce rates, keeping visitors engaged.
A fast loading website also positively impacts search engine rankings, helping to attract more organic traffic. Before launching your website, you should review the below:
- Images have been optimised for file size and type
- CSS is minified and optionally combined
- JavaScript is minified and optionally combined
- Enable GZIP compression
- Ensure only necessary fonts, weights and character sets are installed
- Run Google PageSpeed Test and optimise accordingly to pass Core Web Vitals
- Incorporate CDN and caching as required
9. Website Security
Prioritising website security protects sensitive user data and builds trust with your audience.
A secure site also safeguards your business from potential threats, ensuring uninterrupted functionality and reputation. Make sure that all of the following elements are implemented before launching your website:
- Secure areas are locked and not accessible by search engines
- Default CMS login URL is changed
- Default CMS username is changed
- SSL certificate requested
10. Testing & Quality Assurance
Thorough testing and quality assurance are essential for ensuring that your website is error-free, functional and meets your online goals.
Begin by testing your website for broken links, ensuring that all internal and external links are working correctly.
Check for slow loading times and optimise any elements that may be causing delays.
Evaluate the website’s navigation to ensure it is intuitive and user friendly. Test all forms, buttons and interactive elements to confirm they are functioning as intended.
Conduct cross browser and cross device testing to ensure your website performs well on different platforms and devices.
By addressing any issues before launch, you can provide a seamless experience for your users.
11. Launch & Deployment
A well executed launch and deployment plan is essential for ensuring that your website is launched successfully and meets your online goals.
Start by completing your final pre launch checklist, setting a launch date and creating a timeline to ensure all tasks are completed on time.
Coordinate with your team to ensure everyone is aware of their responsibilities and deadlines.
Ensure that your website is launched within budget and with minimal downtime. This includes setting up monitoring tools to track the website’s performance and quickly address any issues that may arise.
A smooth and successful website launch sets the foundation for achieving your online goals and driving business growth.
Website Post-Launch Checklist
After launching your website, having a comprehensive post launch checklist is crucial to ensure that your website performs optimally and is ready to deliver the best possible experience to its users.
This checklist covers key aspects that should be addressed to ensure your website’s visibility, security, functionality and analytics are working as intended.
1. Ensure Site is Visible
One of the first steps after launching a website is ensuring it’s visible to search engines.
Start by submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console. This helps search engines understand the structure of your website, allowing them to crawl and index your pages more efficiently.
A well submitted sitemap improves your chances of appearing in relevant search results and attracting organic traffic.
2. Verify Web Fonts Integration
Fonts are a critical design element that directly impacts your site’s visual appeal and readability.
Double check that your web fonts are properly integrated and display correctly on the live site.
Inconsistencies in font rendering can create a disjointed experience for visitors and harm your brand image.
3. Confirm 301 Redirects
301 redirects are crucial when transitioning from an old website to a new one.
These redirects ensure that users and search engines are directed to the correct pages on your new site.
Verify that all 301 redirects are working properly to avoid broken links and preserve the SEO value of your old URLs.
4. Generate & Upload a New Sitemap
After your website has been launched, it’s important to generate a fresh sitemap.xml file to reflect the current structure of your site.
This file acts as a roadmap for search engines, helping them efficiently crawl your pages.
Once generated, upload the sitemap to the root directory of your website and resubmit it to Google Search Console.
5. Set Up Google Analytics
Lastly, integrate Google Analytics into your website to monitor its performance.
Google Analytics provides valuable insights into your website’s traffic, user behaviour and conversion rates.
This data allows you to make informed decisions about future improvements and marketing strategies.
Verify that the tracking code is correctly implemented and test it to ensure it’s capturing data accurately.
Additional Tips for a Successful Launch
While the above checklist focuses on technical and performance aspects, consider these additional tips to enhance your post launch process:
- Monitor Site Speed: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to test your site’s loading time and make optimisations as needed.
- Test Responsiveness: Ensure your website looks and performs well on various devices and screen sizes.
- Review Metadata: Double-check that all pages have appropriate meta titles and descriptions to optimise for search engine visibility.
- Set Up Backups: Implement a regular backup schedule to protect your website from potential data loss.
By diligently following this post launch checklist, you can address potential issues early, improve user experience and maximise your website’s performance.
A successful launch is just the beginning of your website’s journey, ongoing monitoring and updates will keep it performing at its best.
Wrapping Up
That’s it, you’ve made it to the bottom of our Pre & Post website Launch Checklist!
Remember the pre launch checklist, a comprehensive website’s after launch checklist is essential for ensuring everything is functioning as intended after going live.
If you’re interested in learning more about Brisbane web design projects then you should check out our post about 7 Phases Of A Web Design Project.
If you have any questions about this launch checklist or your new website, please feel free to get in touch with us anytime.
To your success,
Jackson
