Website Launch Checklist 2024: Before, During and After Launching

Getting ready to launch a new website is both exciting and overwhelming. So, here’s a simple checklist to make sure you’ve got everything covered before jumping into your new site design.

Check Points Before Beginning Your Site Design:

1. Analyze Your Old Website (If Applicable)

If you are redesigning an already running website, initiate your procedure by carefully examining your existing site. Discriminate between what is working and what is not. This will be of much help in deciding which content is to be retained and which one to give away. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your old website, since it would provide the key to improving your new one.

2. Crawl Your Old Site (If Applicable)

First, before you dive head-first into the redesign, crawl the old site. Use something like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console that would at least help you find where broken links and other technical problems are, so you can fix those and avoid headaches later.

3. Identify Your Goals for the New Design

What do you want to achieve with your new website? Set clear goals right from the start. Knowing what you want will influence every design decision. And don’t forget about how you’ll measure success. Whether it’s tracking conversions, site visits, or user engagement, establish how you’ll measure whether your new site is truly effective.

4. Discover Your SEO Status

For your site to be discovered on Google (and who does not?), SEO is essential. Check your SEO situation before you begin the design. Check Where You Sit in Search Engines and (How You Are Performing) for Traffic You can avoid unintentionally damaging your rankings with the new site design this way and also build upon what is already known to work.

5. Organize Your Current Pages

A well-structured site is easier to navigate, both for your visitors and for search engines. Go through your current site and organize your pages. Decide what pages you want to keep, remove, or combine. Group similar content together and make sure important pages are easy to find.

6. Strategize Your Conversion Paths

It’s not enough to just drive traffic to your site, you also need to convert that traffic into leads or sales. Think about the actions you want visitors to take. Whatever it is, make sure you have clear paths that lead users toward taking those actions. Your design should make it easy for users to follow these paths and convert.

7. Establish a Pre-Launch Page

To build anticipation before your site goes live, you can offer a pre-launch page. This is a great page for building an audience, even collecting emails in preparation for your next marketing efforts. In case you need any expert help related to creating a pre-launch page, then a Website Design and Development Company in Delhi can assist you.

What to Check During the Build Process?

Once you’ve got the design rolling, there are several things you’ll need to keep an eye on. Here’s a breakdown of what to check during the actual build process to ensure everything works smoothly:

1. Make Sure the Text is Accurate and Error-Free

This may sound very basic, but this one is important to ensure all your text is accurate and error-free. Spelling mistakes, wrong information, grammatical errors-add up to an unprofessional site. Then, have someone else look it over, too. Sometimes it’s easy to overlook errors in our own work.

2. Ensure the Copy Aligns with the New Brand

If your site redesign includes a rebranding effort, make sure that the copy reflects the new brand identity. In fact, it should mirror the type of message you want to convey; same with tone, style and language. No matter if you need a casual, corporate or daring tone of voice, the key is to align everything together seamlessly for an effective brand experience.

3. Test the Site for User Experience (UX)

UX is directly related to the ease of your website for its visitors. Go through your site as if you visited it for the first time to see any navigational or layout problem that may be causing confusion for users. If you are looking for a person to guide you, hire a Website Development Company in Delhi.

4. Test Your Site’s Usability

Usability is about ensuring that your site is practical and functional. Check all the interactive elements, like forms, buttons, and links, to make sure they work properly. Test the site thoroughly to ensure everything performs as expected. The easier it is for people to use your site, the more likely they are to stick around and take action.

5. Check for Mobile-Friendliness

Ensure that your website is mobile-responsive, meaning the sites are attractive and function on both phones and tablets. Since Google has favored mobile-friendly sites as a ranking signal, this further makes it integral to SEO.

6. Get Ready for 404 Pages

Eventually, someone will click on a link to a page that no longer exists and hit a 404. Design a custom 404 with links to critical content instead of stranding users. You want your 404 to be a little friendlier. This way, people are less likely to leave in frustration.

7. Make Sure You Have Clear Call-to-Action

If you want people to take action on your website, like buying something or signing up for updates, make it easy for them. Use buttons or links that are clear and noticeable. Don’t give too many options—just keep it simple so visitors know exactly what to do.

8. Test Social Media Integration

If you’re integrating social media features, test them beforehand to ensure they are working correctly. Social media can help drive traffic to your site, so make sure the integration is done right.

9. Apply SEO Prior to the Site Launch

Don’t forget SEO when designing. Make sure you’re also focusing on SEO. Optimize your meta titles and descriptions, keep your URLs clean and easy to follow, and add alt text to your images. In case you don’t know how to get started with that, a Website Design Company in Delhi can help you get everything in place from the very start.

If you follow the above checklist, you cannot miss anything major. In case you want to get professional help, a Website Design and Development Company in Faridabad will walk you through every step to align fully with your goals.