Imagine sitting in front of your computer, you have put countless hours into your business and creating your online presence. There you sit, ready to press enter and make it all go live. Do you feel a sense of anticipation or does your mind tell you to wait. 

Just take a moment and consider how much has gone in to this moment. While the world isn’t going to end if you have made a few mistakes, why not take a few moments and just be absolutely certain before you make it all a true reality online.

Ready. Set. Double Check!

Before you launch, consider the following checklist and just go over it really quick to be sure that everything is truly ready to be live. This will allow for your site to work well and chances are that you will be more successful if you have everything on point beforehand. The checklist is comprised of multiple sections in order to ensure quality content, functionality, and ease of use. 

Content Checklist

Content is often the section that people pay most attention to when checking their website. Be sure to ask yourself if the content on your page answers all of the questions that a prospective viewer may have. You want the words of your page to be dynamic, engaging and with meaning. Additionally, you want a continuity throughout your website that directs the viewer what to do. 

Run through all of the content on your website and make sure the following areas are addressed before moving on to the next step of the checklist. 

1. Read through ALL Content
   • Proof all content and be sure there are no grammatical errors and make sure that punctuation is correct. 
2. Browse headlines
   • These should be capitalized and there should be a standard flow for content that directs the reader to the section for a purpose. 
3. https://www.pingdom.com/
   • Clear areas of repeat phrases or extra words that are not needed. 
4. Review for hidden text or javascript
   • Check through script and if you find any hidden script or java then remove it. 
5. Remove dummy or testing text
   • Make sure there isn’t any lorem ipsum or other filler content such as testing script.
6. Review Forms and User Input Boxes
   • Make sure that content is clear and direct in these sections.
7. Review for legal disclaimers or required texts
   • If your page requires disclaimers or other legalese, this is the time to double check that it is all in place and proper wording is used. 
8. Perform a keyword and SEO search
   • Know the keywords that viewers will be using for your page to optimize SEO. Google has a solid keyword search tool but there are others out there like Keywordtool.io that are completely free and pretty handy.
9. Get a second proofreader… or even a third.
   • Ask a trusted friend, and if possible, a professional editor to read through your site. 
10. Verify company and contact details.
    • Check for accuracy AND uniformity. Your phone, address and business name should be listed the SAME way on your website as well as all over the web. This means going away from your own site and checking social media such as Facebook or Twitter as well as networking sites and customer review sites. 

Design Checklist 

Design is important because it is what draws the eye for most viewers. Research suggests that design is just as, if not more important, than the actual words on your page. Better design and proper use of design elements can engage potential viewers. Additionally, people are more likely to stay on your page longer if it is pleasing to the eye. 

The following checklist includes elements for design that need to be working and in place before launching a website. 

1. Enable responsive design 
   • Responsive web design (also referred to as RWD) should be allowed for your website. It is designed to allow for optimal engagement with the web viewer. If you don’t have this capability, reworking your page may be required. Consider utilizing a bootstrap framework and RWD tools such as Studio Press to engage this element. 
2. Check for favicon
   • Your site should have a favicon in the top left corner of your page tab. If it is there and set to go, then so are you for this step. If you don’t, then you need to create one. For most sites, one favicon for the entire site is fine and it is a simple step that requires adding the favicon.ico file to the root network. 
3. Prepare for errors
   • It happens, your website may be down someday or links and pages may not function properly. For this reason, be sure to have a useful 404 error page with content and design that directs users back to the home page if they run into any issues. 
4. Review images
   • All images should either be free for public use or owned by your company. Ensure that they are legal to use before posting to avoid issues down the line. 
5. Look into links
   • Take a moment and test all of the links on your page, including linked images to make sure that they are functioning properly. 
6. Size logos
   • Make sure logos and banners are all sized to fit multiple browsers. 
7. Optimize images
   • If you are using wordpress, you can use a plugin like Optimole. Alternatively, you can use Smushit and save your images. Another option is to use a CDN (content delivery network) like Cloudflare. Either way, optimizing images will save bandwidth and make it easier for your website to load for the viewer. 
8. Include social media, calendars or other needed reference links
   • People are more likely to use these links if there is an icon or eye catching design. Make sure that the proper links and images are there on your website and working properly. 
9. Quality assurance
   • The ultimate reason for having engaging design on your website is to ensure an optimal user experience. Review all design elements and make sure that they are pleasing to the eye. 

Testing and Tracking

This section ensures that your site is working optimally. Follow through the checklist and see how your page rates for speed and functionality. 

1. Go through the entire website for functionality
   • You can do this yourself or use a site such as usertesting.com 
2. Test site speed
   • Speed is essential for all websites these days. Testing the speed of your website is easy. Google has a plethora of tools for this or you can try a private marketing site, designed to boost speed and usability such as Pingdom or RapidSpike.
3. Review tags
   • Make sure that tags are labeled and linked properly with the appropriate word counts. Meta Tags should be no more than 165 characters and title tags should stay below 65 characters. 
4. Compare links to competitors
   • To ensure that you are as competitive as possible review your own links as compared to competitors. While this can be done on your own, it can be a time consuming process. Instead, consider using a site such as MajesticSEO or MOZ Link Explorer to review the domains of the competition.
5. Review pages for redirection and active links
   • Make sure all pages are redirecting to where they are supposed to and that links go to active pages. 
6. Fix broken links
   • While reviewing redirection, if you find any dead or broke links, fix them now. There are many free platforms that can review any site to help with this. 
7. Test user input boxes and emails
   • You should have checked to make sure that these are present, but now you want to be sure that they are active and correct. Send test emails or input into forms and verify that they are going into the right accounts.
8. Verify administration and backups
   • Whether it is only you or you have a host of help for administrative tasks, be sure that your website is set up so that there are notifications sent if there are errors. If your hosting site doesn’t have tools to do this, consider Pingdom or SiteUpTime to help with needed notifications. 
9. Set up analytics
   • Make sure your site is set and ready to go with Google analytics. 
10. Perform split testing
    • You can use the Google analytics tool as well for split testing. Sometimes called A/B review or AB testing, when you are reviewing. 
11. Add site to Google webmaster or Bing webmaster tools
12. Validate coding
    • Ensure all coding is running smoothly. W3 Validator can do this for you but you may also want to check out other validation tools as well, depending on what you have going on on your site. 
13. Allow for disabled javascript
    • Since website users will often run their browsers without javascript enabled, be sure to have this feature turned off on your site so that it can run without it. 
14. Feature an RSS script
    • If you have a feed (and you should when you have a blog) then you want to make sure that there is an RSS feed available and easily accessible by your users. 

Marketing Checklist

What is the point of launching your site if no one knows about it? Be sure to have your press release and other marketing aspects in place before your site is launched to make sure that people see your site. 

1. Blog
   • A blog should not be an afterthought. Have blogging ideas in place and some written content for this space on your page before the launch. This will help to get more keyword search hits to your page and increase SEO. Plus, it creates a more finished look to any website. 
2. Write your press release
   • When the site is launched, you’ll want to announce it. However, it is good to have a few press release writings together before the big day. A week or two before, you can announce on social media and press sites that your page is coming to get people familiar and excited. 
3. Utilize all available social media
   • Most companies have a social media presence (or they should). Make sure you have appropriate pages for your business and utilize all social media available. Review your industry and look at competitors and make sure that your site is on the same pages as they are. 
4. Include your website on your social media and networking sites
   • On top of having social media sites available and linked to your website, be sure that your website is listed on all of them. 
5. Register your brand 
   • KnowEm is an excellent way to make sure you have your brand across the web. This will help you to avoid confusion for users or lacking continuity of your name. 
6. Automate syndication
   • WordPress allows you to do this with plugins, but you can do it on your own if you’re using a different platform. Make sure that you have as much automated as possible. 
7. Use social bookmarking tools 
   • Sites such as reddit and Digg can get you loads of traffic.
8. Utilize site directories
   • Submit your site to as many site directories as possible. Some popular ones include Yahoo directory, JoeAnt, and Yellow Pages. Additionally, for specific industry businesses there are specific sites such as Angie’s List and TenList.com.
9. Include your site on your signatures
   • Make your email signatures work for you and make sure to add our website to your 
10.  Incorporate SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 
    • While your website should have a natural flow to the content, you should always consider SEO where it can fit naturally. 

Go Time!

Congratulations! Now that you have reviewed everything, you should be ready to launch. Once launched, it is a good idea to double check links and content to see how it appears live. Additionally, keep an eye on analytics and tracking tools to keep your site running smoothly.