10 Common Website Launch Mistakes
Launching a website from scratch is a great opportunity to rebrand and provide excellent user experiences. However, when executed poorly, it can cause your team (and your users!) a lot of headaches along the way. To help, I’ve put together a quick list of common mistakes I see people make when planning a site launch.
Starting with design
Some teams start with a mockup or prefabricated theme and try to force their business case into it. Resist the urge to jump right into planning the look and feel of your website. Instead, use clear goals to plan your site architecture. Designing a website without a sitemap is like building a house without blueprints. Strategically planning the placement of content and pages upfront will save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Addressing SEO last
Along with sitemaps, Search Engine Optimization is critical in site planning. Title tags, meta descriptions, page headings, and Open Graph data assure users can accurately find and share your content. Bake these fields into your content authoring process so they are never forgotten.
Taking the easy route
Never underestimate the importance of planning for the evolution of your website. Many people sacrifice flexibility for simplicity in order to expedite their website launch. Do not select the easiest option when it comes to choosing a Content Management System, hosting provider, or third-party integration if it will compromise long-term success in the future. Assure that you are planning for scalability now, so you will prevent difficult migrations later.
Not utilizing a style guide
Along those lines, a style guide is a great way to establish governance and consistency for site branding, layouts, and interactions. Keeping your style guide updated as you add new elements to your website will serve as an important resource to keep components consistent at launch and enable reuse in future development.
Designing for desktop
Today, the majority of website visitors are browsing on mobile devices, so responsive designs should never be an afterthought. The days of designing a desktop site and just scaling it down to fit mobile viewpoints are fading. A mobile-first mentality is key to assure that your website displays and performs optimally at all screen sizes.
Forgetting about analytics
Implementation of website analytics prior to launch is essential in establishing and validating Key Performance Indicators. If you forget to add website analytics and click-tracking you are losing valuable visitor data that can assist with improving your website in the future.
Filling whitespace
It’s a common mistake to fill empty space with more content. The “less is more” mentality is a better approach. Assure that you are using text, images, and icons both sparingly and purposefully. Focus on your key user journeys. If the content is not necessary for the user to complete their goal, you are likely better off without it.
Setting a launch date
Waterfall workflows are gradually being phased out of modern companies, and for good reason. Setting a specific go-live date before beginning a large development is a mistake that can wreak havoc on site quality. If you can, set a flexible go-live date like “second quarter” or “mid-2020” to allow for unexpected changes and implementations.
Not leaving time for QA
Many teams sacrifice their scheduled sprints for Quality Assurance in order to accommodate unplanned work. By scheduling a buffer of time for the unexpected, you will assure that your team has sufficient time to conduct thorough cross-browser and device testing to resolve any bugs or accessibility errors.
Skipping user testing
This goes without saying, but an important first step is to establish a definition of your users. Next, put your designs, prototypes, or drafted website in front of a sample of those target users and solicit their feedback. This step is critical in the validation of your website and will resolve a large number of issues with content, design, structure, and usability all before the site goes live. Allow yourself to fail early in front of a handful of users rather than thousands.
