Website Prelaunch Checklist

Launching a website is an exciting step. However, it can be easy to miss a step or two in the process in all the last-minute touchups. We promise that if you devote that little bit of extra time to answering these six questions, you will be that much more confident your website is ready to meet the world.  

1. Do You Have the Domain/Hosting Information?  

Launching a new website will require a domain name and a web hosting account. Teams will need to purchase a domain name for rights to use the name over a specific period of time and a web hosting service to store the site’s files. Unfortunately, while many have taken these steps, they do not have the proper login credentials for their domain registrar or hosting provider. In other cases, teams have set up 2-factor authentication and forgotten whose device will receive the code or cannot reach this person to get it. Without this information, you won’t be able to redirect your domain name to the new website at launch time or upload it to the server. For these reasons, this is one of the most critical pieces of information required for launching a website.  

To help mitigate this closer to launch day, our team ensures this is one of the first steps we take when engaging in a new website project. Since this information may take some time to gather, completing this step early will ensure there are no delays in the go-live date.  

2. Are Website Forms Set Up Correctly?  

On your website, you might have forms sent up for your visitors to contact you with questions about purchasing your offering, partnering with you or other general inquiries. To ensure you don’t miss any submissions, consider who the form submissions are being sent to. Are they being sent to a valid email address of the correct team member? If so, have you tested it to ensure the submissions are being received in good order.  

Perhaps you are using a customer relationship management (CRM) system such as HubSpot. In this case, have you confirmed the forms are connected and creating the proper data properties?  

3. Did You Disclose Your Privacy Policy & Terms & Conditions?

With Privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) website owners must declare how user information on your website is gathered and used. This is typically linked in the footer of a website, such as we have on our own website.  To ensure your Terms of Use and Privacy Policy provide the coverage you need, it is recommended that you work with a lawyer. 

4. Have You Compressed the Images on Your Website?

It is no doubt that you want your website to rank on Google’s first page. But did you know that with Google’s new algorithm, one of the major contributing factors is the speed at which your website loads and images are one of slowest. Therefore, by compressing them to their full extent, you can significantly improve your page speed. Although this step should be taken at the beginning of the project, many often forget or wait until right before their launch to do so.  

The Roadmap team uses a tool called ImageOptim for this step of the process. We’ll admit the results are mind blowing!  

5. Have You Tested Your Website on All Devices and Browsers?

Your website may display differently depending on the device or browser a visitor is using. To ensure that you are offering a consistent online experience, have someone not involved with the project test it out. Having someone not involved in the project is ideal since they are more likely to catch something you and your development team may miss since they are working so closely on it.  

If you don’t have all the different browsers installed or multiple devices handy, don’t worry. Services like BrowserStack are designed for you to do just this. 

6. Have You Set Up Page Redirects?

You may have built up a dedicated and loyal following. To help them find the new pages on your website, ensure that you have adequate website redirects in place. A redirect will tell Google where the page from your old website is now residing. This step is crucial since nothing is more frustrating than receiving a “page cannot be found” (404) error.

For help setting up your website or helping you prepare for your next website launch, give us a shout!