Planning a website launch? There are many checks to complete before you hit the “publish” button. The following checklist can help ensure that you're launching your site with confidence and everything is as it should be.
1. Check Your Content
You want your website content to be perfect for you and your customers. Make sure it has no spelling or grammar errors, as well as considering other formatting issues so that the text is easy for your visitors to digest. Double-check your contact information is accurate. Your phone number, address and email are all vital to get in touch with you!
2. Ensure Consistency Across Pages
There are a lot of websites that have inconsistent design and structure. It ends up costing them credibility with their audience, not to mention it can be confusing for visitors who may land on different pages. Ensuring your financial website design and structure is consistent across the pages of your website will go along ay to establishing trust with potential clients.
3. Check Your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
The internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities for financial service companies. The first step to take is ensuring your website design is optimised for SEO so that you can be found on Google. When optimising your website, be sure to check page titles, meta descriptions and if you are redesigning an existing website make sure you set up 301 redirects.
4. Website Testing
Website testing is the process of evaluating how visitors interact with your website. This process has many benefits to offer businesses who are seeking higher conversion rates with their target audience. To achieve this you should complete browser compatibility, device testing, and link and form testing.
Browser Testing
Browser testing is important because it ensures that your website is rendered consistently across major browsers - Google, Safar and Firefox. This prevents websites from crashing or running slowly due to the incompatibility of browser features, which can frustrate users.
Device Testing
It's important to test a website across mobile, tablet and desktop because you want to ensure visitors get a consistent experience regardless of how they access your website. Testing your site on multiple devices will make sure your website functions as expected no matter which device your visitor decides to use.
5. Check Links & Forms Work
Checking that text links, buttons and social links all work correctly is essential for a good user experience. If a button doesn’t function correctly, visitors will get frustrated, lose trust in your brand and likely look elsewhere. Be sure to also test your forms, ensuring they work correctly and that submissions are being received to your inbox so that you aren’t missing enquiries.
6. Create a Favicon
A favicon is a small image that appears next to the web address or bookmark on your browser. Favicons typically consist of simple lettering, symbols or numbers. Ensure your website has a favicon so that it looks professional to prospective clients.
Bonus: After Launch
I'm sure you're excited to launch your website, but what do you do after? There are a few key steps to take in order to ensure your new website is found by new and existing clients.
Submit To Google
The Google search engine is the most popular way for people to find websites, with a market share of 94.45%. Submitting your website to Google via the Google Search Console will allow your website to be found by prospects.
Notify Clients
If you have an existing client base then you’ll want to keep them informed when you launch your new website. We find the best way to let existing clients know about your new website, is via n email with a link. It’s also a great opportunity to stay top of mind.
As a financial professional you want to provide your target audience with a website that conveys your credibility and establishes trust with potential clients. Most business owners settle for mediocre websites that fail to convey their expertise or establish trust with their audience. As a result, they miss out on clients. At Bectre, we work closely with financial service companies to ensure that their websites conveys credibility and establishes trust with their target audience. If you would like help creating a website for your financial firm, we’d love to hear from you.
