People underestimate the effort that’s required to launch a website. Mistakes are easily made and rarely noticed, including misspelled words, grammatical errors, and broken links. Other problems that could occur include forgetting to test data capture forms or forgetting about site redirects. To help try and avoid some of these common mistakes, here are different factors that are crucial to keep in mind when launching a website.
1. Website Content
Creating and monitoring website content can be a hassle, even when it’s done correctly. This content should be high-quality and media rich which includes images and videos. Review your content at least three times. Check for spelling and grammatical errors, and ensure your content is organised and easy to read by using subheadings and lists. Company details need to be accurate and a copyright date that includes the current year needs to be present on the website, usually in the footer.
2. Style and Design
The theme, style, and design of your site are important. Your website’s design needs to grab people’s attention and make them want to continue browsing your site. Your website needs to be compatible with standard internet browsers, including Internet Explorer versions seven through ten, Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome. Your site needs to be mobile optimised and accessible through Android and iPhone operating systems and made viewable on tablet devices. Scripts, images, and CSS should also be optimised across all web pages. It is in your best interest to seek professional web design help if you are unsure of how to create a style that uniquely stands out.
3. Functionality and Operation
A poorly functioning site loses customers because the website is difficult to use. All features of your website should function properly. Each form on your site should properly submit data, internal and external links should work, and your logo needs to be linked to your homepage. The load time for your page should ideally take under 10 seconds to load.
4. Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is required for your website to be listed on search engines, including Yahoo, Google, and Bing. Each website page should have a unique title and meta description. Make sure you use at least five keywords, but less than ten within your site’s content. Adding alt tags to all of your images helps give your site a sturdy SEO foundation. SEO can be complex, and it’s easy to make simple errors. Check more than twice for every instance of SEO to ensure your site is fully optimised and at its highest potential.
5. Website Security
Security and backup are necessary for data loss prevention, malware, and other attacks that can occur. Make sure 24/7 are correctly installed, and you have a current copy of your final website in the event of a mishap. Each time you update your site, a copy needs to be made and stored for backup purposes. All passwords should be stored securely in a database.
6. Rules and Regulations
Make sure your site adheres to all internet rules and regulations. The laws of the internet can be complicated. You may require guidance from your legal team to ensure you are in compliance with all laws of the internet. Ensure your privacy and term policies can be viewed and are PCI compliant if you intend to process credit cards. Other things you may want to consider include the usage rights of all media and codes. Users with disabilities need to be able to utilise your website. This goal can be achieved by using Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications or WAI-ARIA.
Launching a website is tricky and it takes a while to ensure everything is right, but keeping these factors in mind will put you on the correct path to a successfully launched website that generates traffic and produces leads.
