Summary
TheWebflow (re-)launch checklist helps you prepare for a successful website relaunch. The article describes how to thoroughly test your website in order to identify and fix potential problems or errors. The checklist is divided into three main categories: SEO, technology and content. Each category contains specific tasks that should be completed before launch to ensure that the website is running smoothly and is optimized for search engines. The article can be read in about 10-15 minutes.
Why is a checklist important?
A comprehensive website launch checklist can ensure that all aspects of your website have been carefully reviewed and optimized before launch. It allows you to identify problems or errors early on and fix them accordingly. When launching your site, always allow enough time for everyone involved to test and optimize the site.
What is the Website Launch Checklist?
This checklist is designed to help you launch your website successfully. The checklist is divided into three main categories: Content, SEO and Technology. Each category contains specific tasks that you should complete before launch to ensure that your website runs smoothly and is optimized for search engines.
Content checklist
Make sure that all the content on your website is complete, correct and error-free. Look for spelling and grammar mistakes, broken links and missing pages.
- Texts: Make sure that all the content on your website is complete, correct and error-free. Look for spelling and grammatical errors, broken links, and missing pages. Use appealing and meaningful headlines that clearly and concisely summarize the content of your website.
- Images and videos: Check all images, videos and other media to make sure they are of good quality and have been compressed to the correct size and resolution.
- Helpfull Content: Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page to answer frequently asked questions and provide quick help to visitors.
- Legal: Review your website's terms of use, privacy policy, and other legal agreements. Make sure they comply with applicable laws and regulations.
- Plan the launch: Plan and prepare for the launch. Consult with your team, set a date and time, and create a launch plan that includes social media advertising and other marketing activities.
SEO - Checklist
Check if title tags, meta descriptions and keywords are in place and if the structure of the website is search engine friendly. Here is the whole search engine checklist:
Keyword research
Conduct a detailed keyword research to find the most relevant and profitable keywords for your website. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush.
Title Tags
Optimize the title tags of your website. Make sure that each tag is unique, descriptive and contains the target keyword. The recommended length is 50-60 characters.
Meta description
Write meaningful meta descriptions that encourage users to click on your website. Include the target keyword and make sure it is 150-160 characters long.
Header tags
Structure your content with header tags (H1, H2, H3) to make it easier for users to read. Make sure that each header tag contains the target keyword and is used in a logical hierarchy.
Internal linking
Link to other relevant pages on your site to create a clear structure and help search engines understand the context of your content.
Image optimization
Optimize your images by compressing them to reduce file size, adding descriptive alt tags, and including the target keyword in the file name.
URL structure
Make sure your URLs are meaningful and contain the target keyword. Use hyphens to separate words and avoid numbers and special characters.
Website speed
Optimize your website's loading speed by compressing images, reducing code, and using a content delivery network (CDN) to shorten server response times.
Schema markup
Add schema markup to your website to help search engines better understand the context of your content and improve your search engine results page (SERP).
Google Search Console
Set up Google Search Console to monitor your website's performance and identify issues that could affect your search engine rankings.
Technical checklist
Test your website thoroughly before and after launch. Use testing tools to identify problems or errors, and make adjustments if necessary.
- Code validation: Check your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code for errors and make sure it follows best practices.
- Performance: Optimize the performance of your website, including loading speed, caching, and resource optimization.
- Security: Make sure your website is secure. Implement SSL, use strong passwords and perform regular backups to avoid data loss.
- Analytics: Install and configure web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to
- Testing: test your website thoroughly, including functional testing, usability testing, and cross-browser testing.
Conclusion - This is why a website (re-)launch checklist is essential
Launching a website can be a very complex affair, with many different aspects to consider, including SEO, technology, content, security, and more. Without a comprehensive checklist, important aspects can be overlooked, which can have a negative impact on the user experience, security or search engine ranking.
A well-structured checklist gives the website team clear guidance on what needs to be done and what aspects need to be considered. A thorough review of the website before launch can help identify and fix any potential problems or errors before the website is made available to the public. In this way, costly mistakes and negative effects on search engine rankings, usability and security can be avoided.
