The practice of website design is somewhat standardized. There are a few principles that every website design company should follow when creating client sites. Below is a checklist for a web design service that creates business sites for customers.
Following these simple principles will ensure that your clients select your web design service the next time they need a website design company.
1.) Is the HTML (or PHP or any other) code well-structured and well commented?
The code should be easy to read and understand if another designer or developer needs to make changes after the project has ended. Always comment as though you or another person will be returning to the site’s code at some point – because someone most likely will!
2.) Has every link in the site been tested?
Make sure there are no broken links in the site prior to turning the project over to the client. Few things make a design company look as unprofessional as broken links in a new site.
3.) Has the site been tested in all major browsers?
No designer should assume, unless requested by the client, that only one type of web browser will be used to access the site. In some cases, the client will ask that the site only be tested with one browser, such as Internet Explorer. In most cases, however, users may access the site with Safari, Firefox, Opera, IE or many other browsers. Make sure the site looks the same in all major browsers.
4.) Does the site load quickly into the browser?
One very important factor in SEO is now page load time. Since mid-2011, Google has built “page load time” into their algorithms to assign page rank to sites. Those sites that load slowly are penalized by losing rank in search results.
5.) Has all JavaScript been tested for errors?
Make sure to test all JavaScript for errors. Also, make sure to test the script in different browsers.
6.) Are “ALT” descriptions included for every image on the site?
ALT images make websites accessible to the visually impaired. Visually impaired individuals use screen readers to “view” web pages. ALT tags should describe the image and maybe include a keyword for SEO purposes.
7.) Is the site user-friendly?
Will a novice user be able to find their way around the site, once it goes live?
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