Malcolm’s top 10 website check list

Whenever we get asked to create a new website or get asked to help with one there are always 10 things we try to add to every site.

At the moment we are involved in creating a framing website for a local company that has been in the business for over 18 years and here is the check list we use when talking to the client and developing the site.

Some of the list includes questions where as other parts will be a checking we have certain features installed.

You may find it useful so feel free to use it.

1. No surprises here “What do you want the site to do”?
   This is our reason for building the site without this we cannot design the site.
2. What name do you want to register and will it be .co.uk, .com or something similar?
   Not every company needs a .com. Local companies or companies that only deal with customers in the UK should use a .co.uk
3. What are the main and secondary keywords you are looking to attract?
   Keyword research is important but how we use it will depend on whether we are looking for local or international searches,
4. Are you creating a mailing list if so what are you going to use to entice people to sign up?
   We think every site should try to create a list of potential clients but this may not always be the case.
5. Will the site be static (fixed number of pages) or Dynamic (database driven)?
   Even with static sites owners should look to update their content so we normally include some kind of CRM with all our sites.
6. What pages or items can we split test and what outcome are we looking for?
   Split testing is a fundamental part of any business and the web allows you to do this very efficiently so we try to get every customer to do this.
7. Have we installed analytics on every page?
   Analytics tells us a lot about site visitors, keywords and allows us to set site and page specific goals.
8. Does every page have its own keywords
   this will depend a lot on the type of site but we do try to give each page on the site a unique keyword(s).
9. Do we have a sitemap, disclaimer, Terms and Privacy policy
   it is amazing the number of sites that still do not protect themselves by including these important pages. Having these pages also helps with search engine ranking.
10. Do all assets (images) have names and alt tags?
    You have to be careful with images. If the search engines are looking for image names an alt tags that are relevant to the subject.

Depending on the site and complexity there may be more than 10 but this list cover the fundamentals.

Need help?

Then call me 01793 423377 and we can discuss it.

Thanks for reading.

Malcolm