The Ultimate Checklist for Successful Website Development in Edmonton

Take a moment to think about the value of your Edmonton website.

It's not just something you have. It's the place where customers come to find out about you. What do you offer, and what can you do for them? What style are you, what vibe do you have, and ultimately, whether or not they choose to spend their money with you?

Therefore, a well-crafted website is the difference between thriving online and getting lost in the digital crowd of your competitors.

But, when you're a small to medium-sized business, the art of website development can feel like a maze.

From deciding on a design to making sure it's set up to work correctly and what platform to use and investing the time in building it, there are countless decisions to make. 

That's where this guide comes in. 

Today, we're walking you through every step of the process, ensuring your Edmonton business has a website that not only looks fantastic but also delivers results. All in the form of a handy, easy-to-follow checklist.

Let's get into it.

Pre-Launch Planning: Laying the Foundation for Success

Before we even touch a line of code, it's crucial to lay a solid foundation for your website. 

There's no way you should ever sign up to Squarespace or start hosting a WordPress website without taking the time to sit down and plan what you're going to do and how you're going to do it.

Without a clear plan, you risk having a disjointed and ineffective online presence. 

Let's break down the key pre-launch planning steps:

Define Your Goals and Objectives

Every successful journey starts with a destination in mind, and your website is no exception. Before you start building, take the time to define what you want to achieve clearly.

This is crucial because it'll dictate every decision you make.

• Identify your target audience: Who are you trying to reach with your website? Understanding your ideal customers – their needs, pain points, and online behaviour – will guide your design and content decisions.
• Set SMART goals: "I want a website" is too vague. Instead, set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals. For example, "Increase online leads by 20% in the next six months" gives you a clear target to aim for. That’s the power of SMART goals.
• Determine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): How will you measure success? KPIs could include website traffic, conversion rates, bounce rate, or time spent on site.

Conduct Market Research

Get to know your competition and your customers. Edmonton's business landscape is unique. To stand out, you need to understand both your competition and your potential customers.

• Analyze competitors: Take a close look at the websites of businesses in your industry. What are they doing well? Where are there gaps you can fill? This helps you identify opportunities to differentiate your online presence.
• Understand industry trends: Stay up-to-date on the latest web design trends and technologies relevant to your field. This ensures your site looks modern and professional.
• Gather user feedback: If possible, conduct surveys or interviews with potential customers to understand their needs and expectations from a website in your industry.

Plan Your Content Strategy

Content is king in the digital world. A well-planned content strategy will keep visitors engaged and coming back for more. 

Never try (especially at this stage in the game) to master every single social media platform and pump out 15 blogs a week. 

That’s usually unsustainable.

Instead, choose one or two platforms (the ones where your target market is) and create a plan to thrive there. Here are some tips on how:

• Create a content calendar: Plan your content in advance, including blog posts, articles, videos, and other media. Consistency is key to building an audience.
• Develop high-quality content: Focus on providing value to your readers. Informative, engaging, and relevant content will establish you as a thought leader in your field.
• Optimize for SEO: Conduct keyword research and optimize your content for search engines. This helps potential customers find you when they search online.

When it comes to choosing your online content platforms, here's a rough idea of what to expect:

• Facebook: An older audience of, say, 40+. People with money are happy to spend. Typically, like all mediums of content.
• Instagram: Younger audience 16 - 35, very visually orientated.
• X (formerly Twitter): Fast-paced short-form content. Great for individuals or very brand-orientated businesses.
• Pinterest: Mostly female users of any age, those looking for visual information, guides, and ideas.
• YouTube: Mostly male audience, younger but still any age available. Very production and information or entertainment-focused content.

How to Create a Content Plan for Social Media

Choose the Right Platform and Hosting

Next, where are you going to put yourself? 

It's here that I'll say that for this point, and for all the rest, it's worth getting an Edmonton website development team, like Ignite Web Design Edmonton, on your side. They'll be able to help with every stage of the process using their experience and expertise to get everything set up and done right the first time.

More on us later.

However, if you want to take matters into your own hands, you must make the right decision. You'll need to choose the right platform and the right hosting provider.

Top tips here include choosing a platform that offers high performance, proper security, fast speeds, and an ease-of-use suited to your experience level.

• Evaluate website builders vs. custom development: Website builders like Wix or Squarespace offer ease of use, while custom development through platforms like HTML or WordPress provides more flexibility. Consider your budget, technical skills, and long-term needs.
• Select a hosting provider: Look for a reliable provider with good uptime, fast loading speeds, and strong customer support.
• Register your domain name: Choose a domain that reflects your brand and is easy to remember.

Design Your Website

Your website's design is your digital first impression. It should be visually appealing, user-friendly, and reflective of your brand identity.

• Create wireframes and mockups: Plan the layout and structure of your site before diving into the design.
• Design for usability: Prioritize user experience. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, with clear calls to action.
• Focus on aesthetics: Use colours, fonts, and imagery that align with your brand and appeal to your target audience.
• Consider accessibility: Design your site to be inclusive for all users, including those with disabilities.

Take your time with these steps. 

If you jump straight into building your website and you end up not liking the design, you're starting over time and time again, or it doesn't work, you'll waste so much time and money on going over it.

Instead, use a pen and paper, plan on paper, and then execute.

Development and Optimization: Bringing Your Vision to Life

With a solid plan in place, it's time to roll up our sleeves and start building. This phase is where your website's design and functionality come together, creating a digital experience that wows your visitors.

Build and Optimize Your Website

Whether you're using a website builder or opting for custom development, this stage requires careful attention to detail.

• Develop responsive design: In today's mobile-first world, it's essential that your website looks and functions flawlessly on all devices – from smartphones and tablets to laptops and desktops.
• Optimize for speed: Nobody likes a slow website. Compress images, minify code, and leverage browser caching to ensure your pages load lightning-fast. Remember, a speedy site improves user experience and boosts your search engine rankings.
• Implement SEO best practices: Search engine optimization (SEO) helps potential customers find your site organically. Optimize your meta tags, headings, URLs, and content to make it easy for search engines to understand and rank your site.

Set Up Essential Plugins and Tools

Plugins and tools add superpowers to your website, extending its capabilities and improving the user experience.

• Security: Protect your site and your visitors' data with security plugins that safeguard against malware, hackers, and other threats.
• Analytics: Integrate tools like Google Analytics and Google Site Kit to track website traffic, user behaviour, and conversions. This valuable data helps you understand what's working and what needs improvement.
• Social media integration: Connect your website to your social media channels, making it easy for visitors to share your content and follow your brand.
• Other tools: Depending on your business needs, consider plugins for contact forms, e-commerce, email marketing, and more.

Test Your Website

Before launching your website, thorough testing is crucial. Think of it as a final dress rehearsal before the big show.

• Conduct usability testing: Get feedback from real users to identify any navigation issues, confusing elements, or broken links.
• Perform cross-browser testing: Ensure your website looks and functions correctly on all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).
• Check for broken links: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Dead Link Checker to identify and fix any broken links on your site.

This part of the process is relatively simple because you're simply executing your plan. Take your time and get it right the first time if possible, but understand there will always be kinks to work out as you go.

Pre-Launch Preparations: The Final Touches

Okay, looking good.

At this point, you'll have the main design of your website built on your hosting server, and if you click the preview, you should be able to navigate your website and have it look amazing.

Some things to look over:

• Make sure you're checking your page speed performance with a plugin or your hosting provider. Use a speed plugin to optimize loading times.
• Compress all images and add alt texts to each of them.
• You have maybe five blog posts if you have a blog optimized and published.
• Add internal links so everything is connected correctly.

Woah, those are just scratching the surface on a technical level. Let's list some of the other important tasks to take care of before you press "publish."

Finalize Content and Media

Take time to perfect the message of your content, and this includes page content, product descriptions, blog posts, and basically anywhere you have text and content. 

Are you sending the right message? Does the language suit your target audience? Is everything polished? Here are some considerations:

• Proofread content: Typos and grammatical errors can make your business look unprofessional. Give your content a final, meticulously proofread to catch any mistakes.
• Optimize images: Large image files can slow down your site. Compress images without sacrificing quality to ensure fast loading times. Don't forget to add descriptive alt text for accessibility and SEO.
• Prepare videos: If you're using videos, host them on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo to save bandwidth and ensure smooth playback.

Set Up Email Marketing: Building Relationships

Email marketing is a powerful tool for nurturing leads and staying connected with your audience. It's also one of the most effective ways to sell and has the highest ROI of any marketing method (depending on your niche).

Therefore, it pays to set it up before you launch.

• Build an email list: Offer valuable content or incentives (like a discount or free download) to encourage visitors to subscribe to your email list.
• Design email templates: Create professional-looking templates for your newsletters, announcements, and other email communications.
• Plan email campaigns: Map out a series of emails to welcome new subscribers, nurture leads, and keep your audience engaged.

By completing these pre-launch preparations, you'll ensure a smooth and successful website launch. 

Remember, attention to detail is key.

Launch and Post-Launch

When you're happy with everything above, it's looking good, and it's optimized to the best of your ability, it's time for your website to make its debut.

But remember, launching your site is just the beginning. There are some ongoing strategies you need to implement for long-term success.

Launch Day

Launch time. Click publish and…

• Go Live: Remove the "coming soon" or "maintenance mode" page and make your website accessible to everyone.
• Perform final checks: Double-check that all pages are loading correctly, links are working, and there are no glaring errors. It's always a good idea to have a fresh set of eyes review the site before launch.
• Monitor your site: Use analytics tools to track traffic, user behaviour, and conversions from the moment you launch. This data will provide valuable insights into how visitors interact with your site.

Announce Your Launch

Don't keep your new website a secret. It's time to celebrate and let people know you're open to doing business online.

• Send launch emails: Notify your email subscribers about the launch, encouraging them to visit and explore your new site.
• Post on social media: Share the news with your followers and include a link to your website. Consider running a social media contest or giveaway to generate excitement.
• Consider local outreach: Connect with other businesses and influencers in the Edmonton community. You could even reach out to local media to share your launch story.

Also, don't forget to index your website on places like Bing Webmaster and Google Search Console. Keep checking back and making sure everything is indexing properly, and there are no problems with your pages showing in the search engines.

Post-Launch Activities

Launching your website is a major milestone, but the work doesn't stop there. To achieve long-term success, you need to implement ongoing strategies to drive traffic, engage visitors, and achieve your business goals.

• Monitor Performance: Regularly review your website analytics to understand how visitors interact with your site. Identify areas for improvement and make adjustments as needed.
• Implement Marketing Strategies: Drive traffic and engagement through a variety of tactics, including:
  • SEO: Continue optimizing your website and content for search engines to improve your organic rankings.
  • Content marketing: Publish regular blog posts, articles, and other valuable content to attract and engage your target audience.
  • Social media marketing: Share your content on social media, interact with your followers, and run targeted ads to reach new customers.
  • Email marketing: Nurture leads and build relationships with your subscribers through regular email communications.
  • Paid advertising: Consider running paid ads on search engines or social media platforms to reach a wider audience.
• Plan for Future Updates: The digital landscape is constantly evolving. Regularly update your website's content, design, and functionality to stay ahead of the curve and meet the changing needs of your audience.

And bringing all this together, remember, building a successful website is an ongoing process. 

Stay engaged, adapt to changes, and never stop learning. And most importantly, don't hesitate to reach out to a web design professional in Edmonton if you need help along the way.

Conclusion: Your Website, Your Competitive Edge

In Edmonton's dynamic market, a powerful website isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. It's your 24/7 storefront, your brand ambassador, and your lead-generating machine.

This checklist has equipped you with the knowledge to build a website that not only looks stunning but also delivers tangible results. Remember, your website is an investment in your business's future. 

It's time to make it count.

Ready to turn your website vision into reality? 

Ignite Web Design is your local partner in Edmonton, dedicated to crafting websites that captivate, convert, and propel your business forward.

We take care of everything we've spoken about and so much more, which is crucial when you consider how deep these topics can go.

Contact our team here at Ignite Web Design today for a free consultation, and let's ignite your online presence.

It's time to get your business the Edmonton website it's been waiting for.