Practical project guide
The international website checklist: 25 decisions before launch.
Use this checklist before requesting proposals, during production and again before publication. Record an owner and a due date for every unresolved item; “not applicable” is a valid decision when it is deliberate.
1. Business direction and scope
A website cannot compensate for an undefined decision. Agree what it must change for the business before discussing pages or visual references.
- Name the primary audience and the action the site should make easier
- Write the offer in one sentence without internal jargon
- Separate launch requirements from later improvements
- Set an investment range, decision-maker and approval process
- Define success with qualified enquiries, sales or another business outcome—not page views alone
2. Content, evidence and ownership
List every text, image, product record and proof point before design is final. Missing evidence should remain visible as a task rather than being replaced with invented claims.
- Assign an owner and deadline to every page and asset
- Collect legal names, contact details, policies and required disclosures
- Prepare real examples, credentials and verifiable evidence
- Mark concept work, stock imagery and third-party assets honestly
- Confirm who owns final files, accounts, domains, licences and source material
3. Experience, accessibility and trust
Test the important journeys without relying on animation, colour or a large screen. A visitor should understand the offer and complete the main action using a keyboard or phone.
- Use one clear H1 and descriptive headings in a logical order
- Check text and interface contrast, focus states and 44-pixel touch targets
- Label forms clearly and explain errors next to the affected field
- Show price logic, timing, scope limits and what happens after enquiry
- Test navigation, forms and checkout at 320 px, on keyboard and with reduced motion
4. International search and AI discovery
Each language needs a useful page, not a word-for-word doorway. Search intent, examples and terminology should be reviewed for the audience while the underlying offer remains consistent.
- Give every language a unique URL, self-canonical and reciprocal hreflang
- Choose one deliberate x-default page and avoid automatic language redirects
- Write titles, descriptions and page copy from local search intent
- Keep important facts, authorship and entity information explicit and verifiable
- Publish original guides or evidence worth linking to instead of mass-producing country pages
5. Data, conversion and launch operations
Measure only what will inform a decision. Non-essential analytics and advertising tags should wait for valid consent where required, and every lead needs a reliable operational destination.
- Test the contact form, confirmation, CRM handoff and human response owner
- Record campaign attribution without collecting typed fields before submission
- Provide equally visible accept, refuse and customise consent choices
- Configure SPF, DKIM, DMARC, backups, monitoring and a rollback path
- Verify robots, sitemap, canonicals, structured data and search-console ownership after launch
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Must every item be complete before design starts?
No. Unknowns can become explicit discovery tasks. What matters is that they have an owner, a decision date and a visible effect on scope.
What should be checked again after launch?
Re-test forms, payments, consent, analytics, indexing, redirects and email delivery, then review qualified enquiries and search data after enough real usage has accumulated.
Brand & Platform
Have a project in mind?
Tell us what you are building, changing or trying to improve. You will receive a considered reply and a clearly scoped next step.