Our linchpin design team has worked with many clients that recently had their websites redesigned. When we audited their experience, we had to deliver some bad news – we can’t help you with your Google SEO unless you fix your website design. We hate being the bad guys, but we had to explain that since both Google and users value a great design and experience (thus, a poorly designed website can cause trust issues, loss of sales or leads, or loss of traffic or rankings), they would need to redo their website. Below is our website launch and design quality checklist to determine if your website was built to both Google’s and your user’s high standards and underwent proper website optimization strategies. Remember, not all website design agencies and freelancers are created equal.
1. Strategy EvaluationWas there a strategy in place during the planning phase of your website that outlined the following items? |
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| Website Information Architecture | |
| Defined Website Purpose and Value | |
| Wireframes or a Working Prototype | |
| Content Strategy | |
| Search Engine Optimization | |
| Reporting Strategy | |
| Content Publishing Governance | |
| Content Management System | |
| Quality Assurance | |
2. Website Structure EvaluationA website’s structure can play a huge role in increasing leads and conversions, helping SEO, and creating clear paths for your website visitors that enhance the website experience and content findability. |
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| Does your website structure align with your user’s expectations for finding information? | |
| Does your website have a search function for users to find products or content? | |
| Was your website’s structure based on user input, data, and business requirements? | |
3. Website Navigation EvaluationThe website’s navigation indicates to users and search engines your primary focus and what you do best. A navigation with tons of links can do more harm than good. |
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| Was your navigation structure informed by your user’s expectations and journey? | |
| Do your navigation labels align with your users’ thoughts and vernacular? | |
| Are your most important pages in your primary navigation? | |
| Does each drop-down within your navigation include less than five links? | |
| Does your website only contain primary and secondary navigation? | |
| Do your blog articles contain internal links that point to other relevant content on your website? | |
| Are in-content links labeled with anchor text that indicates the topic of the page they lead to? | |
4. SEO Integration EvaluationSince 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, it is no secret that integrating Search Engine Optimization throughout your website’s design process is key to ranking well in the SERPs. |
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| Does your website include the basic SEO elements? | |
| Was SEO included in the entire website design process? | |
| Does each page of content have only 1 URL? | |
5. Content EvaluationWithout valuable content easily consumed by your users, ranking, proving you are an expert, and building trust with users is almost impossible. |
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| Does your website have the content needed to prove you are an expert? | |
| Does the copywriting style suit the website’s purpose and speak to its target audience? | |
| Is your content optimized for users and search engines? | |
| Does each piece of content have a hierarchy – H1, H2, and H3 tags? | |
| Is your content scannable by users? | |
| Does your website include a blog or resource center? | |
| Are your testimonials integrated throughout the website on relevant pages? | |
| Does your website include high-value content for each topic you want to target? | |
6. Analytics And Measurement EvaluationEnsuring you can effectively track how visitors interact with your website is key to understanding what marketing strategies work best and how you can optimize them. |
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| Did you use analytics data to determine what content to keep or create? | |
| Did you implement an analytics strategy that measures traffic, conversions, and content value? | |
| Do you have a scorecard created for reporting each month? | |
7. Image And Color Quality EvaluationWith 65% of senior marketing executives believing that visual assets are core to how their brand story is communicated, you can’t afford to use poor quality or generic photography. |
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| Are you using custom images with consistent size and quality throughout your website? | |
| Are your product images high-quality and a consistent size? | |
| If you have a primary header image, is it high-resolution? | |
| Are the colors used harmoniously and logically related? | |
| Are the color choices visually accessible? | |
| Are your social media icons customized to match your website style? | |
8. Font Consistency And ReadabilityNielsen’s eye-tracking study indicated that less than 20% of webpage content is read. Concise and scannable copywriting results in 124% better usability. |
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| Are consistent font sizes used for each of the primary elements of your page? | |
| Is the font spacing consistent throughout your website? | |
| Is the font choice audience appropriate, and readable for visitors who don’t know how to adjust their browsers? | |
| Are the fonts easy to read on various screen resolutions? | |
9. Conversion Point IntegrationMany websites try to do too much and thus confuse the user resulting in most users leaving the website. Each page should have a primary and secondary conversion point or goal – set in a hierarchy of values. |
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| Does your website have a consistent hierarchy for conversions? | |
| Is there an email signup form on each page? | |
| Is there a primary and Secondary CTA on every page? | |
10. Competitive AnalysisUnderstanding what your competition is doing to compete can help shape design strategies. |
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| Was your competition analyzed for both experience and SEO value? | |
11. Accessibility EvaluationIs your content accessible to all user-types across all devices? Ensuring your content can be consumed effectively is key to providing a great user experience. |
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| Is the website cross-browser compatible? | |
| Is the website compliant with W3C coding standards? Valid HTML/CSS? | |
| Are ‘alt’ tags in place on all significant images? | |
| Does your website look great on mobile devices? | |
| Does the site load quickly for mobile users? | |
| Are all links (internal and external) valid and active? | |
12. Was Quality Assurance CompletedYou should do a QA audit at two points – just before launch and just after launch. |
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| Did your website undergo rigorous quality assurance before and after going live? |