{"id":38622,"date":"2016-09-12T05:11:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T12:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=38622"},"modified":"2024-04-12T02:51:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T09:51:29","slug":"launch-checklist-new-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/launch-checklist-new-websites","title":{"rendered":"Launch Checklist: 50 Must-Have Features for New Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

About to go live? We know how stressful the whole experience can be, with multiple scenarios to consider, doubts around features that you want visitors to use, and wanting to leave the best possible first impression. While there are quite a few unpredictable items that could go wrong, it all comes down to staying organized. With this launch checklist, we wanted to create a set of reminders that enable you to spot vital issues before going live. So take a deeeeep<\/em> breath and start checking off these essentials. Print out your checklist clicking on the download button below.
\n[[cb-launchchecklist]]<\/p>\n

<\/span>The Basics<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nYou practically can’t have a website without these:
\n1.<\/strong> Domain name
\n2.<\/strong> Logo. Download our free branding ebook to learn more about this process.
\n[[cb-branding]]
\n3.<\/strong> Web hosting and SSL certificate
\n4.<\/strong> Newsletter subscription\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Style and Content<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nThe look and feel of your site’s layout strongly affect how readers relate to your content. Always consider what your page elements will look like in search results or on different platforms including mobile versions.
\n5.<\/strong> Correct symbols and hyphenation
\n6.<\/strong> Proofread texts and checked grammar
\n7.<\/strong> Properly styled headings and body copy
\n8.<\/strong> Correct punctuation in ordered and unordered lists
\n9.<\/strong> No empty or broken links
\n10.<\/strong> Correct hidden texts
\n11.<\/strong> Favicon\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Standards and validation<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nAdhering to a set of standards will help ensure that everyone has access to the information that is being provided on the internet and that it is consistent from site to site. Standards compliance also makes it easier for people with special needs to be able to make full use of your site.
\n12.<\/strong> HTML\/JavaScript\/CSS validation
\n13.<\/strong> Web Accessibility (WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0, Section 508, Disability Discrimination Act, Screen Reader Compatibility)\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Marketing and SEO<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nUnderstanding human behavior and how users interact with your website will give you the information you need to market to these visitors and help to increase your conversion rate. SEO works when you know how search engines work and what key phrases people naturally search for. Other features like photo, video, chat, and social media interaction enhance the experience for visitors once they arrive at your site.
\n14.<\/strong> Use key words and phrases in titles & content
\n15.<\/strong> Filled meta tag “description†for important pages
\n16.<\/strong> Guaranteed redirect to chosen website version
\n17.<\/strong> Semantically-correct HTML tags
\n18.<\/strong> Google Analytics or any other web analytics package of your choice is installed
\n19.<\/strong> XML sitemap generated and uploaded to search engines
\n20.<\/strong> Call to action buttons implemented
\n21.<\/strong> Live chat enabled *optional, but recommended.<\/em>
\n22.<\/strong> Social media follow and share buttons added
\n23.<\/strong> Vibrant photos used throughout
\n24.<\/strong> Reviews and testimonials prominently featured\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Security<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nInternet security is an important aspect of your website. Maintaining recommended guidelines can be a challenge in the constantly evolving arena of web security.
\n25.<\/strong> Set up backups.
\n26.<\/strong> Check users’ accessibility to secret or hidden pages
\n27.<\/strong> A robots.txt file has been used to close the accessibility to secret or hidden pages for search engines
\n28.<\/strong> Turn off error messages for visitors that only you are supposed to see
\n29.<\/strong> Your server’s capacity matches your site’s needs
\n30.<\/strong> Email and\/or SMS notifications have been turned on to let you know about server shutdown and other site issues\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Productivity<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nOptimizing images can provide some significant space savings and improvements to your site’s performance. Getting data over a network can be resource-consuming and if responses are too slow then it becomes an annoyance for your visitor. The ability to cache and reuse previously-obtained information is a critical aspect of optimizing for site performance.
\n31.<\/strong> Images and graphics have been optimized for fast loading
\n32.<\/strong> Image sprites have been implemented to speed up loading where it makes sense
\n33.<\/strong> Caching has been checked and released where needed\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Required pages<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nThere are a few pages that every website needs to have. Surprisingly, many companies do not even have an About Us<\/em> or Contact Us<\/em> page on their website. These are quite basic, but very important pages for a company hoping to connect with their customers. How else do you tell them who you are and how to get in touch with you?
\n34.<\/strong> A 404<\/em> page is present
\n35.<\/strong> An About Us<\/em> page is present
\n36.<\/strong> A Contact Us<\/em> form is present
\n37.<\/strong> A Privacy Policy<\/em> page is present\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Technical Needs<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nWith today’s dominance of mobile and other non-desktop devices, it is important that your website can respond to each device appropriately. This means that your site looks good at any size, always at high-resolution quality, and features user-friendly icons and buttons.
\n38.<\/strong> Responsive layout in place
\n39.<\/strong> Images and layout are Retina display ready. Learn how to achieve retina-friendly images<\/a> here.
\n40.<\/strong> Hamburger menu enabled on mobile devices
\n41.<\/strong> A responsive framework like Bootstrap is used
\n42.<\/strong> Preprocessors like SASS and LESS are in use\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Front-end Considerations<\/span><\/h2>\n

\nThe front end of a website is the visual and interactive part of the site that the user sees. This includes colors, font styles, images, menus, and all the other elements that make up the overall visual experience. The information should be easy to read and appealing as well as modern in style.
\n43.<\/strong> Clear and user-friendly navigation
\n44.<\/strong> Video\/image\/GIFs added where appropriate
\n45.<\/strong> CSS animations included when appropriate. Steal some great ideas for pure CSS image effects<\/a> here.
\n46.<\/strong> No Flash elements are loaded. When in use, there’s a fallback method for users who don’t have Flash installed.
\n47.<\/strong> Large, appealing images are used on hero blocks. Advice on how to design compelling hero banner typography<\/a> here.
\n48.<\/strong> Scroll animation, parallax effects, or other engaging micro-interactions<\/a> are in place.
\n49.<\/strong> Icons are relevant to the items they represent and are properly visualized
\n50.<\/strong> A consistent design aesthetic is preserved throughout<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About to go live? We know how stressful the whole experience can be, with multiple scenarios to consider, doubts around features that you want visitors to use, and wanting to leave the best possible first impression. While there are quite a few unpredictable items that could go wrong, it all comes down to staying organized. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1330,37,305,307,565,1270],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-38622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative-inspiration","tag-js","tag-typography","tag-web-design","tag-css","tag-html","tag-startup"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLaunch Checklist: 50 Must-Have Features for New Websites - Creative Market Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/launch-checklist-new-websites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Launch Checklist: 50 Must-Have Features for New Websites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About to go live? 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