2. 1. Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation
Check for proper spelling, typos, and grammar sitewide.
2. Forms
Fill out the forms on the site and go through the following questions:
● Can the flow be improved?
● Do you get stuck?
● Are the instructions accurate?
● Does the completed form get sent to the right people or person?
3. 3. Site Speed
Check the size of your page sizes and their load time. Here’s how:
● Download Google Chrome
● Navigate to your page in Chrome
● Press F12
● View “network” tab
● Behold!
While Step 3 may appear technical, it doesn’t require a very
technical person in order to be useful. The Gantt chart on the
network tab will show what a page is doing when it loads in a
browser. In the top right corner, they’ll be able to see the total load
time.
4. 4.Context
When giving a critical eye to the pages within the site, ask:
● Why would I visit this page?
● Is the content ready for visitor?
● Does the page address the audience?
5. Compatibility
Multi-browser rendering is the bane of the Internet, but as
website creators, we have to live with it. Check to make sure the
pages render well in common browsers. Browser share is a moving
target so to help prioritize efforts.
5. 6.Fonts
Sometimes font codes get dropped into a page inadvertently and
make a letter or a word look funny. Check to see that the formatting
is consistent, and look for odd blips in the copy.
7. Images
Make sure all display text renders on the image when you hover
over it (the alt attribute). Make sure the images display correctly. Are
they larger than 120 kilobytes? If so, find out of there is a good reason
for that. You really only need 72 dots per inch (dpi) for web images in
terms of quality.
6. 8.Live URL
Often, sites are built at a URL (uniform resource locator) that isn't
the website’s final destination. When a site goes live, the URLs are
transferred from a staging area to production. All the URLs change at
this time, and they need to be tested.
On small sites without any tools, you can navigate to each page to
make sure they all work. On a site with fewer than 500 URLs, you can
use Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool for free to find bad URLs. For
larger sites, there is a modest annual fee.
7. 9.Fonts
Often, sites are built at a URL (uniform resource locator) that isn't
the website’s final destination. When a site goes live, the URLs are
transferred from a staging area to production. All the URLs change at
this time, and they need to be tested.
10. Validation
W3C-valid code is the one thing you can do prior to launch to
have some confidence around a search engine spider being able to
crawl your site. It’s pretty simple to know if a page is valid.
http://validator.w3.org/
8. 11.Minify
This is a technique that combines and compresses website code
into smaller chunks to speed up your site
12. 404 pages
When a 404 (“page not found”) error occurs, make sure you have
a custom page to help your visitor find something else of use, even if
it wasn’t what they were looking for. Do you have an HTML sitemap
there? Does the 404 page include a site search?
9. 13.Favicon
Favicons are those little iconic images that show up in the address
bar and tabs of your browser. How does it help? It’s a small branding
opportunity that lends credibility to your site. It’s nice to have one
when you launch.
14. Title Tags/Meta Tags
This may sound like old news to some, but this easy-to-fix mistake
happens every day. Make sure every page has a title tag, and make
sure they are unique.Also make sure each has a meta description.
This is still a common source for search engine spiders to draw from
to understand what the page is about and provide visitors with a
sneak peak into the page contents from the results.
10. 15.XML Sitemaps/HTML Sitemap
Make sure your new website has an accurate site map in both XML
and HTML format. Both users and search engines care about this
important element as it helps them find the pages they are looking
for when other methods fail.
16. Tools
Make sure Google Analytics or the analytics package you’re using,
and Google and Bing Webmaster Tools are set up and ready to go.
11. 17.Social Media Integration
Do the social media icons on the site go to the correct pages? Do
you have the right buttons and social plugins installed for what you
are trying to accomplish and what you want the user to be able to do?
(For example, share a page versus “Like” you on Facebook.)
18.SERP Display
Are the search engines displaying your pages correctly in the
search engine results pages? Did you write proper meta descriptions,
but they aren’t being used? Are the images you placed on your Places
page being displayed in the SERP?
12. 19.Social Media Integration
Do the social media icons on the site go to the correct pages? Do
you have the right buttons and social plugins installed for what you
are trying to accomplish and what you want the user to be able to do?
(For example, share a page versus “Like” you on Facebook.)
20. SERP Display
Are the search engines displaying your pages correctly in the
search engine results pages? Did you write proper meta descriptions,
but they aren’t being used? Are the images you placed on your Places
page being displayed in the SERP?
13. 20. PPC Setup
Make sure if you are running any PPC campaigns that it’s set up
and ready to go with the site launch. To avoid a lapse in service, if
you have a Google PPC rep, you can set and pause all your campaigns
to the new URLs prior to launch, and instead of the ads getting
disapproved, your rep can approve them manually.
21. Monitoring
A site monitor checks pages regularly to make sure it is available
for visitors. Basic monitors check if the page is working.
Important pages within the site should have enhanced monitors that
test if a completed form behaves the way it should. Enhanced
monitors are more expensive to set up and keep running so the page
in question needs to justify the additional expense.
14. 22. Backup System
Have you thought about what happens if the server goes down?
Make sure the backup system is configured properly, and the recovery
process has been tested so you know it works.
23. Traffic Loads
Think about what might happen to your site if it gets an influx of
heavy traffic. There are load test software tools that allow you to
simulate heavy loads. If you are expecting big crowds, this is a must.
15. 24. Protected Pages
Does your site have pages that require user credentials to view? If
so, do the credentials work? From the opposite angle, also check to
see that the pages can’t be viewed without proper credentials. Make
several attempts to get to those URLs without proper credentials to
make sure the security is working as expected.
16. 25. Secure Certificate (if Required)
If your site is ecommerce, or you’re using encrypted pages to
protect visitor privacy on a form or elsewhere, you’ll want to check
your certificate on launch day.
To do this, go to the encrypted section of your site. When the
lock appears in the address bar, right click on it and read the message
your visitors will read. It should have your name on it and state that
it’s valid. If the lock doesn’t appear or the name isn’t right, let your
provider know.
