When I was planning the launch of the new OIT website I wanted to make the transition as smooth as possible for our clients. The new website was a complete overhaul of the previous site and I wanted to minimize what might break with the change. If you are working with an existing website and domain, there are steps you can take to make the transition go more smoothly.

I created a website launch checklist and assigned people and delivery dates as the launch date approached.

Website Launch Checklist Example

Here is an example of what I used. I used a Google Sheet so we could collaborate on the tasks.

I found that having this checklist made the process much less stressful.

Category	Task	Description	Assigned To	Target Date	Completed (Checkbox)	Notes
Content	Build content pages	Create and publish content pages
Content	Review content	Ask subject matter experts to review their content
Content	Proofread content	Have someone else read and proofread the content for spelling, grammar, check links, etc. They will catch things you miss.
Content	Navigation	Navigation is easy to find and use. All links are working.
Content	Privacy Policy	The Privacy Policy is available in the footer
Content	Copyright	The UC Regents copyright is available in the footer
Communication	Forms	If you have forms on the website, check that they are working as expected.
Communication	Contact Details	Are available and easy to find. Make sure your readers can contact you.
Communication	Social Media	Link to your Social Media accounts if available
Communication	Outreach	Communicate or give presentations to your clients and stakeholders to let them know about the upcoming changes. Don’t surprise them.
Benchmarks and Performance	Browser Tests	Test your website in targeted browsers
Benchmarks and Performance	Mobile Tests	Test your website on mobile devices
Accessibility	Siteimprove Set Up	Request that your site gets added to Siteimprove to test pre-launch and regularly.
Accessibility	Images	Images all have proper ALT tags associated with them
Infrastructure	DNS	Request DNS / CNAME update. Request TTL be turned down.
Infrastructure	Back up site	Request the current site is backed up and available after you launch the new site. You will likely need to refer to it to fix things you may have missed.
Infrastructure	SSL	Make sure the new site has SSL set up
Analytics & Search	Google Analytics code installed	If you are using Google Analytics, make sure the code is installed on the new site so you don’t miss any traffic data.
Analytics & Search	Sitemap XML	Make sure your site has an XML sitemap. You will need it to have Google re-crawl your site.
Analytics & Search	Request Google Re-crawl site	Set up Google Webmaster Tools if you haven’t already. Use it to request Google re-crawl your website.
Redirects	Create redirects for popular content	If you have the tools, create redirects to popular content. If your information architecture has changed, external links to your content will break. This will also help until Google has re-crawled your website.

Google Doc Version of the Web Launch Checklist

Feel free to grab this from Google Sheets if it is helpful. Currently, it’s only open to UCI Google accounts. If you are not a UCI affiliate, contact me and I can make it available somewhere else.