Do you have a website ready to unveil to the world? First, congratulations on all the hard work so far! As someone who has tested over 3,500 device and browser combinations in my 10+ years as an app specialist, I know first-hand how much effort goes into building an online presence from scratch.
However, don‘t pop the champagne just yet – statistics show that 1 in 5 website projects end in failure within the first year of launch. The sad truth is much careful preparation has to happen AFTER the site development phase and before you release it to the eager public.
But don‘t worry! I‘ve put together this comprehensive launch checklist so you can avoid the mistakes that trip up so many others. We‘ll tackle the essential steps under three phases:
Phase 1: Technical Setup
Phase 2: Marketing Optimization
Phase 3: Maintenance & Improvements
If you follow this 26-step pre-launch process, your chances of success will skyrocket. Let‘s get started, shall we?
Choosing the Right Platform
The foundation for any stable website lies in carefully selecting the underlying CMS (content management system) platform and hosting infrastructure. I help clients on a daily basis navigate their options, so let me quickly break down the pros and cons of some top contenders:
WordPress
Pros:
- Open source and free
- Over 50% market share
- Feature rich extensions
- Easy customization
- Top SEO capabilities
Cons:
- Potential security vulnerabilities
- Limited built-in features
- Less enterprise scalability
Joomla
Pros:
- Powerful native features
- Extensive multi-lingual support
- Top notch access control
- High scalability
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve
- Less SEO capabilities
- Smaller developer community
Drupal
Pros:
- Very customizable
- Enterprise level scalability
- Sophisticated built-in features
- Robust security
Cons:
Not intuitive for beginners
- Complex site building
- Costly developer resources
Now in terms of hosting, you‘ll need to weigh factors like monthly cost, server resources, customization flexibility, and future growth needs. For most small sites, a managed WordPress host like WP Engine or Kinsta hits the sweet spot. They handle all your IT and DevOps burdens so you can focus purely on content and digital marketing.
If you foresee aggressive visitor or operational growth down the road, investing in a dedicated server host or cloud platform now means less migration headaches in the future.
The right technology decisions provide the foundation for all subsequent success. Never hesitate to consult expert resources like myself when evaluating options.
Designing and Developing Your Website
With the backend platform settled, let‘s shift our focus to the visual presentation and interactivity that your visitors will actually see and engage with.
Mobile internet consumption officially overtook desktop last year, so responsively designed mobile-first sites are now non-negotiable. Thankfully excellent free tools like Figma, Canva, and Balsamiq make it easy to mockup prototypes and get feedback prior to any coding.
Hiring a professional web development agency is advisable unless you or your team has exceptional hands-on experience. There are just so many technical nuances around site migration, custom functionality, integrations, and performance optimization where experts add tremendous value.
I guide my clients to ask vendors the tough questions around process transparency, project scoping, site maintenance policies, SEO best practices etc. to align expectations from the get go. Setting clear goals, budgets and requiring sign-offs during each phase goes a long way towards a successful collaboration.
And finally, don‘t even think about launch until EXTENSIVE real device testing has occurred across multiple browsers and operating systems. Over 50% of sites still exhibit mobile compatibility issues so underestimate cross-device verification at your peril! Services like BrowserStack provide quick and affordable access to thousands of mobile devices from Samsung, Apple, Huawei and more to catch rendering problems.
Let‘s move on to another area ripe for optimization…
Creating Compelling Website Content
You hear it all the time – "content is king!" But what makes for GREAT web content that engages visitors and compels action? Here are my top content creation tips:
Conduct keyword research to identify topics and questions your audience cares about. Optimized content that targets these searches drives relevant organic traffic.
Employ writing tools like Grammarly, Hemingway App, UpContent to improve readability. Visually break up large blocks of texts with headers, images, embedded media for enhanced scannability.
Create irresistible visuals – Canva, Venngage, Piktochart help generate sleek INFOGRAPHICS better than any designer! Include them in blog posts, guides, and resource pages.
Studies show articles with images get 94% more views.
Repurpose and expand top-performing content into new formats like videos, podcasts, ebooks using apps like SnapApp, WP2Social, Uberflip. Great for franchise sites or regional locations too!
Import existing content from old sites, PDFs, Word docs into your CMS using tools like Automatic or SEO Content Machine. Easy way to quickly bulk up blog and resources.
Distilling complex topics into digestible modules supported by eye-catching media boosts comprehension and sharing. Now let‘s tackle pre-launch testing…
Comprehensive Pre-Launch Testing
After the site develops and content gets created, thorough evaluation across key areas MUST occur before officially launching.
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Start with functionality testing by manually verifying critical user flows – account signups, contact form submissions, ecommerce purchases etc. Tools like Lamdatest also auto-generate test cases.
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Perform cross-browser checks on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE Edge on both desktop and mobile. Leverage cloud services like BrowserStack to access 3000+ browser/OS variants.
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Speed test using WebPageTest, GTMetrix, Chrome DevTools to catch page bloat. Optimize images, enable compression, implement caching until time thresholds are met:
- Time to First Byte < 200 ms
- First Contentful Paint < 1 second
- Time to Interactive < 5 seconds
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Fix any broken links flagged by bots like Relink, Dr. Link Check via 404 scans. Double check your XML sitemaps as well.
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Conduct security audits using tools like Acunetix, Burp Suite to uncover vulnerabilities BEFORE hackers exploit them. Work with server admins to setup WAF, isolate admin access, implement rate limiting against DDoS attacks etc.
I have more comprehensive testing checklists here with device coverage, use case scenarios and optimal software stacks based on site types and budgets. But diligently working through those above establishes a quality baseline for a public reveal.
Now let‘s get your marketing ducks in a row…
Optimize Marketing Assets
With a polished fully-functioning site now at the ready, amplifying its visibility through savvy digital marketing separates the successful sites from the forgotten ones.
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Ensure all site pages have properly optimized metadata. Craft compelling title tags under 60 chars, meta descriptions between 50-160 chars, sprinkle in relevant keywords. These snippets are critical for on-page SEO and click-through-rates.
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Submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console for indexation. Display an HTML sitemap on site to facilitate navigation. Users love and reward intuitive IA!
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Install social media share buttons so visitors can easily promote your content. Support Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest at a minimum.
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Set up Google Analytics for visitor tracking, campaign and channel reporting, goal conversion monitoring, plus tons of insight around content performance, site flows, optimizations and more! Also create compelling GA dashboards tailored to various stakeholder needs.
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Proactively reach out to industry influencers and journalists with pre-launch PR announcements. Look for relevant blogs and sites accepting contributor posts. Submit to relevant directories and bookmarking sites. You want articles, social buzz and backlinks driving visitors from day 1!
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Prepare tailored site launch email campaigns. Offer exclusive discounts or perks to existing customers and newsletter subscribers. Craft social updates across FB, Twitter, Instagram etc. Good content marketing always amplifies efforts.
Post Launch Follow-Up and Improvements
Launch day itself feels monumental. But as the first few days and weeks unfold, continuous monitoring and upkeep quickly surface areas needing refinement. You definitely want to:
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Review site analytics daily, drilling into traffic sources, top pages, conversions, sales data, technical issues, visitor feedback/questions etc. Create scheduled reports to share evolution updates with stakeholders.
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Actively collect qualitative feedback via surveys, calls, support tickets. Identify enhancements that emerge from actual user experience. What points of friction or confusion do they encounter?
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Regularly audit security infrastructure because malicious threats evolve quicky. Update plugins/themes, apply security patches, modify firewall rules according to latest attack patterns. Ongoing vigilance is key.
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Foster recurring community engagement through email nurture streams, loyalty programs, social conversation monitoring etc. Stimulate repeat visits and heightened satisfaction through highly personalized experiences.
Every successful site constantly evolving based on hands-on user evidence and holistic business data signals. Regular listening and improvement sustains growth well past launch week novelty!
Let‘s wrap things up…
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
And there you have it – a complete 26-step website launch checklist to help set your online venture up for prosperity after you hit publish!
Now no technique or tool alone guarantees success. But diligently working through this 3-phase process – 1) Technical Setup, 2) Marketing Optimization, 3) Ongoing Maintenance – puts the odds resoundingly in your favor.
Over 90% of site failures stem from incomplete quality assurance, security negligence or lack of consistent visibility driving real visitor traffic. So be sure NOT to overlook factors off direct conversion goals alone. Holistic optimization across technology, content, online visibility and ongoing nurturing all feed into sustainable digital growth.
You obviously have the motivation and commitment for web success since you made it to the end of this epic guide! Feel free to contact me here for any personalized launch advice tailored to your specific business challenges or constraints. I live for this stuff as you can probably tell!
Now off you go to stick to that ambitious launch schedule we‘ve outlined together today. Remember, Rome wasn‘t built in a day but they DID have a plan! 😉
