A Webmaster For Hire

Website checklist

Here is a quick website checklist of things your website should have to operate correctly and to have an effective search engine strategy.

Important Considerations

  • Make the name of your site visible.
  • Provide a link back to your home page from every page.
  • Provide contact information or a link for contact information. This should include a mailing address, telephone number, fax number and an email link.
  • Clearly labeled links for the most important parts of your site.
  • We recommend that your pages should load in less than 20 seconds, even on a dial up connection.
  • All images should have a meaningful alt attribute.
  • All pages should have a descriptive title tag with the most important words first, and a description meta tag that supplements the title tag information.
  • The top half of your home page is the most important part of your site. Avoid putting critical links or critical information on the bottom of your first page, or visitors may miss the links/information.
  • Avoid putting up pages which say under construction.
  • Use consistent navigation throughout your site, including a way to get back to your home page.
  • Use a common look on the pages (repeating images, text style, colors) so the pages look like they are part of the same website.
  • Place a date showing when content pages have been posted or updated.
  • Use Title tags for each page, and description meta tags on at least your main section pages.
  • Use unique title tags for each page. Do not use the same title tag on different web pages.
  • Avoid using frames. Frames make it difficult to find information within your site, make bookmarking specific parts of your site impossible, and can hinder search engine robots.
  • If you use backgrounds, be sure that text is readable against the background. Also keep in mind that colorblind users can have difficulty reading certain text and colors next to each other.
  • Avoid critical elements supported by one browser only or by the latest browser version only.
  • Avoid a counter on the page.

Other Considerations

  • Keep your site up-to-date.
  • Use a copyright statement.
  • Use a privacy and or terms of use statement for your site.
  • If your site is large, with multiple content providers, provide a link to the most appropriate contact person for a given web page. These contacts should be committed to regularly reading email and responding to questions.

Summary:

This website checklist will help you in creating an effective web site. However, the success of your website can also depend on the quality of the coding, the use of the correct website design and the correct implementation of a search engine strategy.