Just like building a house, designing a website requires careful planning to ensure the results meet expectations. Launching a website is a crucial step for both businesses and individuals who want to establish a strong online presence.
Whether you’re creating a website from scratch or updating an existing one, there are certain essential elements of a website that must be in place to ensure it looks professional, functions smoothly, and supports your business goals.
With so many steps to build a website, It’s clear why so many find this stage challenging. That’s why VRDA has developed a website design checklist to simplify every step of the process and make sure no important detail is missed.
VRDA’s steps to build a website from scratch guide is tailored to your unique business needs and target audience. This 15 point website design checklist is not only practical but also SEO friendly, ensuring your site is ready to boost credibility, attract visitors, and drive conversions.
By following this checklist, you can launch your website with confidence, avoid common mistakes, and maximize its potential as a professional and functional digital asset.
Why It’s Important to Have a Checklist Before Designing a Website
- Prevents missed steps that could affect website performance.
- Ensures results are consistent with the brand and business goals.
- Speeds up the creation process by providing a clear guide.
Website Design Checklist – 15 Essential Steps
In this article, VRDA provides a complete website design checklist containing 15 steps to design and launch a site that is user friendly, functional, and aligned with your business needs.
From conducting user research to final testing, this checklist ensures all essential elements of a website are covered and that no critical aspect is overlooked. By following this guide, you can master the steps to build a website from scratch and create a professional, engaging, and business-ready platform that supports your growth in the digital world.
1. Research Stage
User Research
By collecting and analyzing data about your potential website visitors or product users, you can identify their problems, needs, behaviors, and expectations. Use both quantitative and qualitative data to address user pain points and adapt your design from the very beginning.
Market & Competitor Research
Understand your market position and study the strengths and weaknesses of competitors so you can stand out.
To conduct market and competitor research effectively, start by identifying your main competitors through search engines, social media, and industry directories. Then, analyze their websites, paying attention to design, content, products or services, and engagement strategies.
Next, use SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to discover the keywords they target and their backlink profiles.
Finally, keep up with industry trends by reading relevant blogs, subscribing to newsletters, and participating in online forums or professional communities.
Conducting thorough user research, market analysis, and competitor evaluations, combined with staying informed about industry trends, will give you valuable insights to build a strong foundation in the steps to build a website from scratch.
2. Define Your Goals
Defining clear objectives will help guide your website development and serve as a benchmark for measuring success. Are you building the website for branding, lead generation, sales, or education? Your goals will influence the page structure, content style, and required features.
Once you have researched and understood your target audience, you can tailor the website’s copywriting tone, navigation structure, and interaction formats to suit them.
Next, create a clear conversion path by designing a flow that guides visitors from the moment they land on the website, to engaging with your content or offer, and finally taking action, such as filling out a form or clicking a CTA button.
Also, choose a website design that aligns with your specific needs, and avoid “one size fits all” solutions for your site.
3. Choose the Right Website Builder & Hosting
Selecting the right website builder and hosting provider is a critical step in any website design checklist. The right tools will ensure optimal performance, strong security, and easier website management. If you’re just starting, understanding the difference between a domain and hosting is key, check out VRDA’s guide: Create Your Own Website: Start Building a Professional Site in 2025.
4. Set Up an SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate is a digital security protocol that encrypts data between the user’s browser and your server, protecting sensitive information from hackers. Websites with SSL show “https://” and a padlock icon in the URL bar, boosting both user trust and SEO rankings on Google.
5. Plan Your Layout & Design Elements
The website’s layout and visual design should be created with the user experience in mind. Use a sitemap and wireframe to plan the overall page structure, including the placement of images, text, CTA buttons, and navigation menus.
Define a consistent logo, typography, and color palette to clearly reflect your brand identity. Ensure that the tone, visual style, and messaging are aligned, and avoid using dual branding that could confuse users.
Prepare high quality visual assets such as photos, illustrations, and icons, and avoid relying solely on stock images to keep your website’s appearance unique and authentic.
Proper layout and design planning will enhance the user experience while delivering your brand message more effectively.
6. Essential Website Pages
Make sure you have prepared the essential pages such as the homepage, about page, contact page, services or products page, and blog. Each page should have a clear purpose, well-structured content, and a call to action (CTA) that encourages visitors to take the next step.
Before creating these key website pages, ensure you understand “What Belongs on a Website? 7 Key Content Elements for a Professional Look” as previously discussed by VRDA.
7. Optimize Images & Content (Copywriting)
Use original images and photos that genuinely represent your brand and the message you want to convey. Ensure your content matches your brand’s communication style and objectives.
Optimizing images and text is crucial to speed up loading times, improve user experience, and boost SEO rankings. Compress images to make them lighter without reducing quality, use accurate alt text to describe each image, and structure text for readability, such as using short paragraphs and clear headings. This makes content more search engine and user friendly.
Also, make sure your website’s header and footer include important information such as your logo, contact details, and links to main pages.
Lastly, don’t forget to replace all placeholder or dummy content from the design template. Final content should authentically reflect your brand’s values, from headlines and product descriptions to copywriting on your profile page.
If you need help, the VRDA team is ready to make your business stand out in the mobile era! We can design a website that matches your brand tone and business objectives.
8. Integrate Analytics & SEO Tools (Plugins & Tools)
Analytics tools help you understand visitor behavior, while SEO tools improve your website’s visibility on search engines. Ensure Google Analytics and other tracking tools are properly integrated into your website.
Use SEO plugins like SEOPress or Rank Math for WordPress to guide your content optimization according to SEO best practices. Also, connect your website to Google Search Console to monitor SEO performance, indexing status, and search keywords. This is essential for keeping your website optimized and continuously improving its search rankings.
9. Test Forms & Interactive Elements
Make sure all forms, buttons, and menus work properly across different devices by testing form submissions, checking buttons and dropdown menus on various screen sizes, and adding clear error messages when input errors occur.
10. Test Mobile Compatibility (Mobile Friendly)
Since the majority of visitors access websites from mobile devices, make sure your site is fully responsive across various screen sizes.
Use mobile editors, preview tools, and conduct live testing on multiple devices to ensure the user experience remains optimal. Avoid elements like pop ups that are difficult to close on smaller screens.
A responsive and mobile friendly website isn’t just about looking good on a phone, it must also be fast and easy to use. At VRDA, we implement every design and technical element to support our client’s business growth.
Read also: How We Designed a Mobile Friendly Website for a Garment Business
11. Set Up URL Structure (Permalinks)
Use a consistent URL format, such as: yoursite.com/about-us. This example is easy to read and reflects the content of the page. Avoid random numbers or strange characters.
A well structured permalink makes it easier for users to navigate your site and helps search engines better understand your content.
12. Create a Robots.txt File
This file tells search engines which pages can and cannot be indexed. For example, you can block access to /admin so your backend doesn’t appear in Google search results. Use Google Search Console to test and confirm that your robots.txt file is properly configured.
13. Ensure Legal Compliance
Following legal requirements, including data protection and accessibility, is essential to building trust while avoiding legal risks. If your website does not use cookies but still collects data (such as through contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, or cookie-free analytics like server logs or privacy-friendly analytics), you are still required to inform visitors in your privacy policy. Your website should also follow accessibility guidelines such as WCAG so it can be accessed by everyone, including people with disabilities.
14. Conduct User Testing Before Launch
Test your website with real users to find bugs, UX issues, or confusing areas before the official launch.
Remember, web design is not just about aesthetics, it’s also about functionality, user experience, and legal compliance. Use this checklist to make sure all key aspects are covered before launching your website!
15. Create Social Media Accounts and Build Your Branding!
Before launching your website, leverage social media to build anticipation and attract traffic from day one. For example, create accounts on platforms that align with your target audience, Instagram for visually driven businesses, LinkedIn for B2B, or TikTok to reach a broader market.
Post teaser content, countdowns, and behind-the-scenes updates to spark curiosity. Engage your audience with quizzes, polls, or giveaways so they feel connected and ready to visit your site when it goes live.
That’s the website design checklist: 15 Steps to a Professional Website, a guide you can follow to create a strong online presence. Don’t let doubt hold you back.
Whether you’re looking for the steps to build a website for your business or the steps to build a website from scratch, the key is consistency and clarity in every stage.
Ready to create a credible and professional looking website for your business?
Follow the process and bring your online presence to life with VRDA, today!