The Ultimate New Website Checklist

Launching a new website can be a big undertaking. It can be a hectic time, and you want to make sure that nothing slips through the cracks. That’s where we come in! Check out this new website checklist and make sure that your site is in tip-top shape!

1. Your website was started with the end goal in mind.

Ask yourself what your goals are and if the website is helping you meet them. If not, change it.

2. Website is optimised for your target market.

What is your target audience? Does the website make sense for them? Is it reaching them?

3. All required functionalities are on your website.

Are there specific functions you need on your website? For example, if you’re an e-commerce site, make sure you have a shopping cart. Ask yourself what specific functionality you need and make sure to include it.

4. All the copy and content is updated, accurate and has been proofread.

Check for spelling, grammar, capitalisation, punctuation, and recurring phrases.

5. Contact details are readily available and accurate.

Make sure your contact details are visible on every page with a strong call to action attached.

6. Website is responsive on multiple devices.

7. There are no loading errors on images and videos.

8. The colours used on your website are complementary.

Typography and colour choices make sense and complement each other.

9. Copy can be read easily on all devices.

Ensure the body text of your website can be easily read on desktop and mobile devices.

10. All links work and lead to the right places.

There are many free tools you can use to review your links in the most efficient way possible. One of our personal favourites is this free Chrome extension Check My Links.

11. External links open in a new tab-you don’t want to lead people away from your website!

Installing a WordPress plugin like “Open external links in a new window”, can do this for you.

12. Copyright dates are present and accurate for the current year.

13. The website is compatible across different browsers.

Including Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

14. Website analytics are in place to report website visitors and their activity.

Make sure your Google Analytics tracking link (or alternative analytics provider) has been correctly added to your website.

15. Forms are submitting data correctly.

Make sure you know where the data is stored and the relevant staff member gets a notification once a form has been submitted. Having an email autoresponder to the person who submitted the form also a must.

15. Load times for pages are optimised.

Check Google PageSpeed Insights to find out how you can better optimise your website for speed.

16. Test your site speed, adjust accordingly.

17. Company logo links back to homepage.

18. Design in place for handling errors, such as a 404 page.

19. If you have social media icons, make sure they work and are linked to the proper account.

Social Media sites are also constantly changing their logos, so ensure that the social media icon present on your website features the recent version of their logo.

20. Pages have unique titles and meta descriptions, which is crucial for SEO.

Ensure your meta descriptions are up to 155 characters long, and your titles are no longer than 70 characters in length. Also avoid using the same keyword twice.

21. Content includes keywords you would like to rank for.

The titles, meta titles, headings and body should all contain keywords.

22. Images are properly tagged.

The name of your images should also be changed to reflect what the image is, or what purpose it serves. For example: your logo image should be named “[Company Name] Logo”.

23. Hidden content (like alternate text for images) is present.

24. Use canonical URLs.

Make sure you’ve submitted your preferred URL to Google. For example: www.whitehatagency.com or whitehatagency.com

25. 301 redirects are in place to redirect old pages to new ones.

26. The website is backed up and securely monitored.

27. Check if your site needs a privacy policy present or a declaration of cookie usage.

28. Test everything, then test it again.

It’s important to run multiple tests on your website, from different browsers and computer types. Don’t be afraid to get your coworkers involved!

The truth is, there’s no perfect formula for building a website. Just make sure that the website makes sense for your business needs and that it fulfils all of your needs. If you have any questions about how to start a new website or what website components you may be missing, don’t hesitate to contact us on hello@whitehatagency.com.au!