The ultimate website creation checklist for your first site
Everything you need to know before launching your first website.
Picture opening a retail store on a busy street. You’ve lovingly designed your shop window and stocked your shelves perfectly, but there’s no front door for customers to enter.
This sounds absurd, but the same applies to companies or projects without their own website. Online, your website is the door to your shop and your communication channel.
Whether you are opening a restaurant, sharing your passion as a beauty expert with the world, or presenting yourself professionally as a virtual assistant, having your own website is key to online visibility. But it might be tough to know how you should start, what steps are necessary, and what basic mistakes to avoid.
We’ve created this checklist to help you create your first website in a structured way. From planning to website design to long-term optimisation, you’ll learn everything you need to set up your digital presence.
Let’s get started together!
Your website launch checklist
Use our checklist as a practical guide to each phase of website creation. Here’s the full list, and we’ll of course go into detail about each topic:
1. Planning and preparation
- Define target group
- Register a domain name and select a hosting provider
- Choose a content management system or website builder
2. Design and site structure
- Navigation and layout
- Responsive design
- Colours, fonts, and visual identity
3. Content and must-have pages
- What pages does your website need?
- Clear, understandable, and SEO-friendly text
- Use images and multimedia correctly
4. Technical fundamentals
- SSL certificate and security
- Optimise loading speed and performance
- Website accessibility
5. Tools and features
- Contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and calls to action
- Integrate social media
- Measure success with analytics
6. Final checks before launch and strategies for success
- Long-term optimisation and growth
All these points are the basis of a good first website – but don’t worry: it’s easier to create a new website than you might think!
We’ll delve into each point in more detail:
1. Planning and preparation
Before you launch your first website, you should build a solid foundation. Good planning saves a lot of work later on and ensures that your site reaches exactly the target group you want to address.
Define your target group
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Who should visit your website?
- What problems or questions do your potential visitors have?
- What content and functions do they really need?
The more clearly you define your target audience, the easier it will be to perfectly tailor the website in terms of design, content, and features.
Register a domain name and select your hosting provider
The domain is your address on the internet – it should be short, memorable, and easy to remember. It’s best to check different domain extensions (e.g., .co.uk, .ie, or .com) to find the most suitable one.
We have a detailed article on this topic: Buying a domain: Do’s and don’ts when choosing a domain name.
When it comes to hosting, you should pay attention to speed and stability, because a fast server improves the user experience. If your website grows, you should be able to upgrade to a higher hosting plan.
Security should never be neglected either. Make sure the hosting provider includes SSL certificates and regular backups to protect your data.
Content management system or website builder?
When it comes to the question of which platform suits you best, you have several options. You could opt for a website builder or a content management system (CMS). Your choice depends on how much control and flexibility you need and whether you already have technical knowledge.
A website builder is ideal for beginners because it’s easy to use and doesn’t require any coding knowledge. A CMS is great for larger website that need more flexibility and design options. One such option is WordPress.
With these first steps, you have created a solid foundation for your website.
2. Design and site structure
An appealing design and a clear structure are crucial for the first impression of your website. Visitors should be able to find their way around intuitively, grasp content quickly and enjoy clicking through the page. Here are the key points to keep in mind.
Navigation and layout
Your website layout should be clear and easy to understand. Clear menu navigation is important, and ‘less is more’ definitely applies.
Intuitive navigation ensures that users stay longer on your site and find the information they need faster.
Your website should be logically structured so that important content can be found quickly. Pair a good structure with clear call-to-actions (CTA) so visitors know exactly what to do next.
Responsive design
More than half of all website visitors today come via smartphones or tablets. That’s why your site needs to automatically adapt to different screen sizes to ensure a good user experience. This is called responsive design.
To make your site responsive, make sure fonts and buttons are optimised for mobile use. Text must be easy to read on a small mobile screen and clickable elements such as buttons must be large enough that they can be clicked with the thumb or index finger.
Colours, fonts, and visual identity
Your website should look consistent and professional. Use colours that match your brand and opt for website fonts that are easy to read. Keep fonts to a minimum, ideally no more than two different fonts that work well together.
Your website design reflects your brand, so make sure it’s got a strong, engaging, and cohesive visual identity.
3. Content and must-have pages
Although design is important, content is also crucial for success. Ultimately, visitors come to your site to get information that’s relevant for them.
What pages does your website need?
Depending on the purpose of the site, the content will vary, but some pages are almost always included:
- Home: The first point of contact that greets visitors and clearly communicates what your website is about.
- About us: A brief introduction to your company or project. Remember, people buy from people!
- Clear descriptions with services/products: What do you offer? Help your potential customers with clear descriptions.
- Contact page: An easy way to get in touch with you – including a contact form, email or phone number.
- Updates or news (optional): Up-to-date content keeps your site alive and improves visibility in search engines.
Think carefully about what content is important and useful for your target group.
Clear, understandable, and SEO-friendly text
To make your first website easy to find, you should make your texts search engine friendly. Here’s some easy guidelines:
- Avoid complicated technical terms and write in an understandable way.
- Structure your content with headings, paragraphs, and lists so that the texts are easy to read.
- Use keywords relevant to search engine optimisation (SEO) in titles and text to make your page easier to find.
- Give search engines important clues about your content in meta tags and alt texts, and link relevant pages internally to improve navigation.
A good text should be both informative and easy to skim through. Visitors decide whether to stay or leave within a few seconds, so make it easy for them to stay!
Use images and multimedia correctly
Visual content plays a big role in usability. Clear, professional images leave a better impression, and blurry or generic photos look unprofessional.
Rich media such as videos and animations help convey your message more vividly, but you need to ensure that your website's performance doesn’t suffer. Make sure to optimise large images or videos with tools such as Imagify.
The mix of good design and meaningful content ensures that visitors stay longer on your website and are happy to come back.
4. Technical fundamentals
The technology behind a website is just as important as its design and content. A well-optimised page loads quickly, is secure, and is easier to find by search engines. Here are the main technical aspects to consider:
SSL certificate and security
Security is a key factor in the success of your website. Visitors expect their data to be protected and for the website to be trustworthy.
- SSL certificate: An SSL certificate (SSL = Secure Sockets Layer) ensures that the data between the user and the website is transmitted in encrypted form. Websites with SSL certificates are marked with “https://” in the address bar and are both more trustworthy and better ranked on Google.
- Updates: Keep your CMS, plugins, and themes updated to avoid security vulnerabilities.
- Firewall and malware protection: Use security plugins or external tools to protect yourself from hackers.
- Password management: Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication for administrative access.
A secure website protects both you as the operator and your visitors and is a decisive factor for a serious and professional online presence.
Optimise loading speed and performance
Nobody likes to wait long, and that includes when visiting a website. A fast-loading time ensures that visitors stay instead of bouncing away.
In addition to optimising the images, you should also use caching to store data that is frequently accessed and reduce the loading time of your website.
Also, pay attention to the number of plugins you have. Too many extensions will slow down your website, so only install necessary plugins.
Website accessibility
Website accessibility means designing your site so it works for users with a range of needs, including those who use screen readers or navigate by keyboard. The basics of accessibility include using clear headings, ensuring good colour contrast, and adding alt text to all images and media.
If you want more details about accessibility, we can recommend our article on technical basics of accessible websites.
5. Tools and features
A great website includes useful tools and features to make it more effective and provide a better user experience. Here are some essential website features that should not be missed.
Contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, and calls to action
These tools work together to guide your visitors into taking an action.
With a contact form, your potential customers have an easy way to get in touch with you.
You can consider guiding your visitors into signing up to a newsletter to regularly update them about new offers or promotions, strengthen the customer relationship, get online appointment bookings, and boost conversion.
Finally, strong calls to action (shortened to CTAs) are very important. Use clear calls to action such as “Buy now” or “Get in touch” so the visitor knows what action they should take at each stage.
Integrate social media
Connecting your social media channels to your website helps extend your reach and keep visitors engaged across platforms. Add visible links to your social media channels and consider adding “share” buttons under blog posts and other content.
Measure success with analytics
Tools like Google Analytics help you see who’s visiting your site and which content performs best. SEO platforms such as Ahrefs provide you with the data you need to optimise your content and improve your rankings on search engines.
To see how users actually interact with your website, you can use heat maps such as those from Hotjar.
By combining these insights with user-friendly design and smart features, you’ll significantly increase your website’s effectiveness.
6. Final checks before launch and strategies for success
Before your first website goes live, you should double-check the following:
- Test all links: Do all internal and external links work?
- Check the content: Are all texts and images displayed correctly?
- Consider SEO fundamentals: Are meta titles, descriptions, and alt texts optimised?
- Test the mobile view: Does the website run smoothly on smartphones and tablets?
- Measure load times: A fast website keeps visitors on the page longer.
This final quality check will ensure that your first website works perfectly from the start.
Congratulations – your website is ready to go live!
With that said, it’s nowhere near the end of the work. After publishing, there are some important steps to optimise your site, keep it up-to-date, and make it successful in the long term.
Long-term optimisation and growth
Sustained success requires ongoing optimisation. Focus on improving your SEO by refining keywords and developing strategic content such as blog posts, case studies, and guides. Extend your reach through social media, newsletters, and targeted marketing campaigns.
Building trust with potential customers is also important. One way you can do so is by showcasing positive reviews or testimonials as social proof to boost your credibility.
For more guidance on what to do after your site goes live, we recommend the article on what to do after publishing a website.
Next steps
Building a successful and professional online presence involves thoughtful planning, design, and ongoing technical optimisation at every stage.
Tips for a successful website strategy
Always prioritise your visitors. A website should be visually appealing, but above all it needs to be practical and helpful for visitors. Great content paired with SEO ensures that you are found. Remember: your website is not a one-time project, but a platform that should grow with your business.
Short on time? Let us create your website for you!
If you need help with your website, we’re here to help. You can focus on your business while our team of experts designs, builds, and maintains your website for you.
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