The pre-launch checklists below ensure accuracy and accountability by requiring names and dates, not just checkmarks.
Dates also indicate which elements need to be rechecked if changes have been made. This should instill confidence that nothing has been missed.
The items in each list can be completed in any order, but the lists themselves are organized chronologically: before, immediately after and long after launch. Not every item may be appropriate.
For example, a website may not need a database or analytics. The designer is responsible for deciding which items are relevant to the project.
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Notes Task Completed by Date Comments Don’t put off obvious tasks, such as setting up the domain name and hosting package, until the last minute. Buy the domain name(s). _____ _____ _____ Set up hosting. _____ _____ _____ Redirect sitename.com to www.sitename.com (or vice versa) for SEO _____ _____ _____ Create the required email address(es). _____ _____ _____ Set up the database. _____ _____ _____ Set up a test environment. _____ _____ _____
More Than One Week Before Launch
Site-wide
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check the home page, contact page, and any pages with different templates. Update browsers and versions as necessary. Checking each browser on every platform is a separate task because not every browser may be representative of the target audience. Look for rendering errors in different browser layout engines. | Gecko browser: Firefox 3.x for Mac | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Gecko browser: Firefox 3.x for Windows | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Internet Explorer 7 | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Internet Explorer 8 | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Webkit: Chrome for Mac | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Webkit: Chrome for Windows | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Webkit: Safari for Mac | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Webkit: iPhone | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Presto: Opera for Windows | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| A website’s appearance is affected by the size of the monitor it is being viewed on. Even if a website’s layout has a fixed width, say 960 pixels, it can look very different at different resolutions. Test the website at these various resolutions. | 800×600 | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| 1024×788 | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| 1280×1024 | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| 1920×1200 | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| 320×480 (for mobile devices) | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Hiding photos, graphics, backgrounds and styling shows how search engines and screen readers see your website. To see how useable the website is (or isn’t), rename the images directory and CSS file. | Test usability without CSS or images | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Favorite icons, or “favicons,” appear next to the URL in most browser windows and bookmarks. Although some browsers accept PNG files, others require ICO graphics. Visit Punk Labs’ ConvertIcon service or DynamicDrive’s FavIcon Generator to create them. | Create a favicon. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Don’t automatically assume that your website’s content is unique. Check that the name and distinguishing phrases have not already been taken at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. | Check for trademark violations. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Add a copyright statement to the footer or “About” page. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Spell-check all content. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
Specific Pages
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A helpful 404 page tells people that they have entered an invalid URL and offers alternative links. It may include a search tool to help them find what they’re looking for, and it might automatically notify the website owner that someone has encountered a problem. If necessary, use Google’s custom 404 search widget. | Create a helpful 404 page. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Make sure that the contact form works and that the domain hasn’t been blacklisted. | Send a test message through the contact page’s form. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| The website’s purpose may be obvious to the people who were involved in creating the website. Don’t assume that it’s obvious to newcomers. | Ensure that the home page clearly states (whether in the content, mission statement or tagline) the website’s goals and what visitors can expect to gain. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
48 Hours Before Launch
Site-wide
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email is great when it works and lousy when it doesn’t. Ensure that messages get delivered. | Send a test message to the email address(es) associated with the domain. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Reply to the test message. Ensure that it is received. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| If you don’t want search engines to index certain directories, such as the CMS, cgi-bin or members-only sections, then add them to the robots.txt file. Visit Web Robots or read about how Google respects robots.txt. | Make a robots.txt file. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
For Each Page
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make sure your website contains no dead or invalid links using the W3C link checker. | Check all links. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Look for HTML errors that may cause display hiccups in different browsers. | Validate the HTML. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Search for and remove all Greeked text and testing data. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Spell-check again. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Ensure that each page has a clear purpose. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Give each page a suitable HTML title and meta description. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
Add alt attributes to all images. |
_____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Make the CMS password hard to guess. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
Immediately After Launch
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Webmaster Tools helps you see how Google is or isn’t indexing your website and offers information on which search terms were used to discover your website. | Sign up for Google Webmaster Tools. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| If you’re worried that your hosting provider will encounter trouble, sign up for Are My Sites Up? and get notified when problems arise. | Sign up for uptime monitoring. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Track who is visiting your website and how and when they are doing it with Google Analytics, Clicky, Yahoo Analytics or Mint. | Install an analytics program. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| You don’t have to wait for search engines to discover your website. Tell them about it. | Register the website with Google. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Register the website with Yahoo. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Register the website with Bing. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Make sure the XML site map is current. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Submit the XML site map to Google. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
Six Months After Launch
| Notes | Task | Completed by | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Does everyone listed on the “About” or “Staff” page still work there? Has the phone number, fax number, email address or postal address changed? | Ensure that contact details are accurate. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
| Change the CMS password. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| If you haven’t backed up the website, do it now. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Check for spam sent through forms. | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Ask if the website still serves all of its visitors’ needs. Is the content still relevant? | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| What features of the website are not being used? What can be removed? | _____ | _____ | _____ | |
| Check the website’s analytics: what browsers are most visitors using? They may not be what you expect. | Check the website on the most commonly used browser and OS. | _____ | _____ | _____ |
Posted by: WebDesignerDepot
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