Website Launch: Step-by-Step Guide

Before your website becomes visible on the internet, several important steps still need to be taken. You have already set up the design and functionalities, but now you need to ensure that your site is fully online and accessible to users and search engines. This guide will help you understand and successfully implement all necessary steps.

Key findings

• The visibility of your website in search engines can be activated or deactivated.
• Imprint and privacy policy are essential and should be created before the launch.
• Design and content optimizations for different devices are important for the user experience.
• A cookie banner can fulfill legal requirements and provide legal security.

Settings for Search Engine Indexing

First, it is important to know that your website is currently not visible to search engines because indexing has been disabled. You should only use this option while your site is not finished to avoid an incomplete listing in Google's search results. To change this setting, go to the settings and activate visibility for search engines.

Create Imprint and Privacy Policy Pages

The imprint and a privacy policy page are legal requirements that you should not ignore. To create an imprint page, you simply need a new page draft. Name this page “Imprint” and create the content. Use the element option “Fullwidth Canvas” for this purpose. Place a heading and the corresponding text on the page.

Do not forget to provide your contact details, including an email address. In many cases, it is also advisable to integrate an embedded Google Maps map, but please note GDPR compliance. This information is often required on the privacy policy page.

Designing the Footer

To ensure that your imprint and privacy policy statements are linked on the website, you need to edit the footer of your site. Go into the plugin settings and select the footer editing mode. Set up a simple text area for the imprint and privacy policy here.

You can adjust the layout options so that the links are arranged next to each other rather than below one another. Be sure to leave enough space between the links to ensure an appealing design.

Testing Page View on Different Devices

After you have created the basic visibility settings and the legal pages, take a look at the user interface of your website. Test the view on different screen sizes to ensure that the layout is responsive and looks good on various devices.

Especially the header should be clearly recognizable on smaller screens. Sometimes small adjustments are needed, such as centering elements or changing spacing, to improve usability.

Final Checks and Legal Security

Before you go live with your website, don't hesitate to go through your checklist one more time. Have you created all the pages? Are the user rights set up correctly? Have you taken all necessary security measures, such as implementing a cookie banner?

A cookie banner serves not only legal protection but also ensures that your website is GDPR compliant. The banner should be displayed before cookies can be used.

If all these steps have been considered and carried out, you are ready to publish your website. Double-check that all security measures you activated during the development phase are disabled. After that, nothing stands in the way of the launch.

Summary – Successfully Launching Your Website

To effectively bring your website online, you need to ensure that it is visible to search engines and meets all legal requirements. Important steps include creating imprint and privacy policy pages as well as ensuring an appealing design for all devices.