The Essential 10 Step Website Pre-Launch Checklist
They say it’s the little things that make the biggest impact. Well, the same is true for your website!
We often talk about the “bigger” pieces of a website –
— just to name a few, but today we’re focusing on all the small things (cue blink-182 🤘) that make a website look polished and 100% dialed in.
So, before you hit publish on your brand new website, it’s essential to do a final check and make sure these ten things get done first.
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Make Sure You Do These 10 Things Before Going Live
(or Go Back and Get Them Done if Your Site is Already Live)
1. Add custom SEO titles and descriptions
SEO titles and descriptions (known as “meta tags”) are the titles and descriptions that pop up when you search for something on Google. Their purpose is to give you a little preview of what’s on that page so that you can easily find what you’re looking for.
Here’s an example from our website:
If you don’t set these up yourself, Google will automatically pull text from your page to create the description – and most of the time, it’s messy and nondescript, making users less likely to click over to your site. Not to mention, it just kinda makes you look like you don’t have your ‘ish’ together.
You’ll want to customize these yourself to encourage people to click your link and visit your site.
Here’s how to edit your SEO title and description in Squarespace:
Go to “Pages”
Hover over the page and click the gear icon
Click “SEO” in the left sidebar
Enter your page title in the space for SEO title (For best results, keep your title under 60 characters)
Enter your page description in the space for SEO description — right below the space for SEO title (For best results, keep your description between 75-100 characters – Google will cut it off if it’s too long!)
Want more tips to rank well on Google? Check out our blog for the ultimate guide to Squarespace SEO.
2. Add a favicon (browser icon)
A favicon (aka: browser icon) is the little icon that shows up next to a webpage’s title in your browser tab.
If you don’t add your own, a basic one will be added for you. This is what it looks like if you have a Squarespace site and don’t add your own browser icon.
A custom favicon gives your website a finished, professional look. Here’s how to add your own (on Squarespace):
Log into Squarespace and navigate to the “Design” tab
Click on “Browser Icon”
Upload your favicon — It should be in .png format and in a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio so nothing gets cut off (*Remember, it’s very small so keep it simple so it’ll be clear)
If you don’t have a favicon, we can make one for you — just ask us about this!
3. Test all buttons and links
Do a final walkthrough of every page on your website and test every. single. button. and every. single. link. to make sure everything is setup and working properly.
Don’t forget to check your social media links, too!
4. Test all forms, downloads and booking calendars
Do a test submission for your call-to-action form or booking calendar, your basic contact page form, lead generator downloads, and any other forms – from Squarespace or other platforms you’ve embedded – on your website.
Basically, make sure everything is working properly – that you’re getting notified as needed when someone makes a submission or that the correct automated actions are happening.
If you need to double-check or fix settings in your Squarespace forms, here’s how:
Login to your Squarespace site
Navigate to the page and section where the form is located
Pull up the form settings and click the Storage tab.
From there, you can see which email address is connected to the form.
Click the email to change it.
5. Make sure all email signup forms are connected to your email provider
If you have any email signup forms (also often called “newsletter blocks”) on your website, make sure they’re linked to your email provider (like Mailchimp) so they get stored in your contact list. Each email signup is precious, so you really want to make sure those aren’t slipping through the cracks somehow.
Squarespace makes it really easy to link to set up and even has a direct integration with Mailchimp (our preferred email software). If you’re using another email provider, you can easily set up a “zap” using Zapier to integrate it as well.
With Squarespace, you can also connect your email signup form to a Google Sheet in your Google account that auto-populates when someone fills out the form. That way, if an email doesn't make it into your email provider’s contact list due to a glitch or issue, then you also have them stored somewhere else and can manually add them in later.
6. Test purchase products
Do a test purchase for any products or items you sell on your website. We get this may be a bit of a hassle since you have to go through the steps to actually purchase the items, but if there is anything in the customer experience that is sub-par, glitchy or flat-out doesn’t work – you want to know right away and fix it before you have customers complaining or notifying you of the issues after you go-live.
7. Have a trusted friend proofread your site
Sometimes we need a third party’s eyes on our website to check for typos and grammatical errors we can’t see. Have someone you trust take a pass through your website and do a final check. Bonus points if you run it through a tool like Grammarly to catch any technical errors as well!
8. Make sure your website meets any applicable legal requirements
You want to make sure your website is compliant with any laws and regulations that apply to the nature of your business. This is a step that often gets overlooked, especially when you’re DIYing your website. We’re not attorneys, nor is this legal advice – just sharing common best practices for most websites so you’re informed and can take the proper next steps. You should talk to your business attorney about what bases you need covered legally for your website. If you need a referral to a small business attorney, let us know!
Here are a few basics to be aware of:
Cookies: If your website uses cookies, you’ll need a cookie policy and a banner or popup on your website that notifies users of this.
Privacy Policy: This is a statement that describes how a website collects, uses, and manages the personal data of consumers. This is a common thing most websites should have. Usually there is a link to this page in small text in the footer of most websites.
Terms & Conditions: This is also referred to as “terms of use" or “terms of service”, and it presents the rules for users visiting your website and serves as a binding agreement between you and the website visitor. It protects you from legal liability should a dispute arise. This is another common thing most websites should have, and like the privacy policy, it’s typically linked in small text in the footer.
9. Add a custom social sharing image
Whenever someone shares a link to your website on Facebook, LinkedIn, or another social media channel, a preview link is created with an image and text. You can actually customize the image that pops up in this preview window. Here’s how:
Go to the “Design” tab from your Squarespace dashboard
Click on “Social Sharing”
Upload your desired image there!
You can use your logo or design a custom graphic – we used Canva for ours! Currently, Squarespace is recommending dimensions of 1200 x 630 for your social sharing image.
10. Check your website on mobile
Pull up your website on your phone and click through every page to make sure nothing looks off.
Sometimes everything looks fine in the mobile window view in the Squarespace editor, but every once in a while, it can look wacky on your actual phone. The Squarespace mobile editor is a great tool to use and usually, it does the job, but it’s better to always double-check the actual mobile user experience right from your phone.
The majority of website traffic comes from mobile devices these days, so definitely do not put your mobile website experience on the backburner. Make sure all text is easy to read and everything is loading properly.
So, there you have it – 10 things to check off your list before pressing publish on your beautiful new website so you can launch with confidence!
Reminder - scroll up to the BONUS FREEBIE section to get your free download!
P.S. If you’re trying to DIY your website and it’s got you feeling overwhelmed, reach out to us and Schedule a Call. We’ll meet you where you’re at in the process and help you launch your website confidently!
More soon,
Mara
WEB DESIGNER + SEO SPECIALIST
P.P.S.
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