Launching a brand new website design is an exciting day for a business.
You’ve invested in professional website design services and finally have a site that will help your business succeed; however, don’t rush to the reveal your new custom website design just yet.
Go through this essential checklist first to make sure you’re ready to launch.
Even though your designer will Q/A the site before it goes live, you need to do thisas well.
Make sure this new business site works the way you know it needs to and take care of any issues beforehand so you make the best impression on launch.
1. Test the Website Design on Different Browsers and Devices
The main goal of having a beautiful new custom website design is to reach more people and bring in more customers.
Start pre-launch testing by making sure it works anywhere someone might want to access it.
Test the site on a variety of different popular Internet browsers and on multiple devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops,and more.
2. Proofread Your Content… Again
If there’s one true thing about web design, there can never be too many people looking for mistakes within the content and throughout the entire site.
The more eyes, the better. Even if website design services include proofreading, do it again before the pre-launch just to make sure.
You’ll be amazed at how many tiny mistakes you might catch that have somehow slipped by.
3. Check for Proper URLs and Redirects
If you’re moving content from one website design to another, redirects and URL resolutions are very important to this transition.
Make sure all redirects work and take users to the correct page.
Be certain the site’s URL is standardized throughout. Problems with either will affect SEO and make it harder for visitors to use. Also remember your website address.
4. Is All Placeholder Content Gone from the Layout?
Website design services sometimes use placeholder content so they can design layouts to accommodate for the content that will be there once it’s created.
All placeholder content should be replaced with the actual content before launch.
As a part of the proofreading process, check every page to ensure it contains actual content and that the Lorum Ipsum placeholder content has not been left behind.
5. Test the Page Load Speed of the New Custom Website Design
Page load speed directly affects sales.
Make sure your new, custom website design will help to get more sales by testing the load speed of all pages.
Use a tool that can track load speeds and have the designers look into pages that are particularly slow, as these can work against you, rather than for you.
6. Test for Mobile-Friendliness and Overall Optimization
It has now become essential that a website design functions well on both desktop and mobile units and that it’s well optimized so your site will rank in the search engine results.
Don’t just assume it works while mobile; make sure it does.
With more people than ever using mobile to search and buy, it is critical to both your business and pagerank to have an optimized, mobile-friendly, functional site.
7. Get Feedback from Actual Users
Ultimately, the nicest looking site in the world won’t help a business if visitors can’t use it.
Hiring professional website design services to develop a new site is an important step.
Follow up by having actual users test the finished product and give you feedback.
Only once customers can actually use the new site can you expect to reap the benefits.
Ready to Launch
If you’ve made it through all of this and your new website design looks and functions well, congratulations.
It’s finally time to launch. If you deal with any sticky spots beforehand so your new site functions seamlessly, you’ll get the most from your investment in custom website design!
