Nonprofit website prelaunch checklist
If you’re preparing to launch a new or re-developed website, congratulations! It’s a big achievement that many nonprofits struggle with. Launching your website, or making it available to public browsers, is the final step in your website journey.
I’ve identified three areas where you’ll want to pay special attention when preparing to launch your website: hosting/domain, on-site, and promotions. Here are 11 don’t-miss tips to help your website launch go smoothly.
Hosting/Domain
These tips refer to where your website is currently hosted and your domain name, which is how web browsers find your website.
Prepare to change DNS records: archive, double check email provider connections
If you’ve built your new website with a new host or content management system, you’ll need to point your DNS (Domain Name Server) records to where the new site lives. Typically the records you will be modifying are A records and CNAME records. Most domain name registrars like DreamHost make this very easy to do, and my favorite nonprofit website builder Squarespace will give you all the info you need to make the update.
Before you change your DNS records, take a screenshot or write down all the records for your domain name as an archive in case you need to reverse your changes later. Then, double check with your email provider to see if you need to change your MX (Mail Exchanger) records that tell them where to send your email.
Ensure you have a way to access the old site
Even with the most thorough website re-launch plan, some content can fall through the cracks. Ensure you have a backup of your legacy site or a local backup of all its files and folders that you can reference later. Many website builders offer a simple backup option that will save you time and frustration when you realize a valuable page was left behind.
On-Site
From offering additional features and functionality to keep your website performing well, or providing you with valuable analytics data, these are important strategies to ensure your website visitors have a great experience.
Check links and interactive elements
Nothing is more frustrating for a website visitor than clicking a link and finding that it is broken. My favorite Chrome Extension, Check My Links, will zip through your webpage quickly highlighting good links green and bad links red.
Check My Links highlights good links in green and invalid links in red. Click to view the extension in the Google Chrome Store.
To check and fix the links on your nonprofit website:
Visit the Google Chrome Store to install the Check My Links extension
Once installed, enable the extension in Incognito mode and navigate to your website’s home page in a private browsing window. This allows you to remain logged in to your website builder in a regular browser window while you check links in the other window.
Click the extension’s icon and enjoy as it zips through each link on the page! Click to the next page on your site and repeat the process.
Make changes as necessary in your content management system and enjoy knowing all the links on your site are in good order!
Next, double check the interactive functionality of your site. An incognito browser window will be helpful for this, too. Play videos, complete forms, and send emails via the contact page. Your goal is to uncover any issues that would prevent a visitor from completing their desired action on each page.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the king of website analytics for good reason. It’s free, it’s an industry standard used by a majority of Fortune 500 companies, and it’s incredibly easy to set up. If you don’t have access to Google Analytics for your website, or it isn’t set up, visit google.com/analytics to get started.
Most content management systems make it very easy to add the Google Analytics tracking code to your website by copying and pasting the code that looks like this: UA-XXXXX-Y into the <head> tag of each page. Squarespace has a simple form to add the code everywhere to your site.
Install other tracking and integrations
If you’re planning on using other services that need data from your website, collect and install the tracking codes or complete those integrations before your site launches. Here are a few of my favorite additional services.
URL mapping
If you’ve consolidated your content, created or deleted pages when re-launching your website, you’ll need to provide an easy way for visitors to find the content they were looking for. URL mapping takes an URL from your old site like www.marketyourmission.co/about-us and sends the user to the new home for that content www.marketyourmission.co/about. Squarespace offers a simple, text-based URL mapping tool and most other content management systems offer a way to map URLs. If you’ve deleted pages, be sure that those dead URLs redirect to the appropriate page on your website or to related content instead of a 404 page.
Custom 404 page
The dreaded 404 page has come a long way since the 00’s. In the off-chance a visitor can’t find the content they’re looking for, reward them with a custom 404 page that highlights your latest blogs and most popular content. They’ll be grateful you didn’t leave them hanging and spend more time on your site. Disaster averted!
Connect social profiles
Social media is a major force in driving organic traffic to your website. Most website builders have multiple integration options with your social profiles from simple links to the ability to pull content like Instagram photos and display them on your site. These can be a great way to introduce website visitors to your social profiles. Many content management systems also have “autopost” options that let you push a new blog to Facebook or Twitter. I’m not a fan of these because they usually don’t have much customization options. You’re better off creating native posts on your preferred networks to promote your latest content.
Promotion
This final section will help you promote your new website and help visitors find the new features and content you worked so hard to create.
Prepare a blog post/press release
If your nonprofit is connected to a newsworthy cause and you have relationships with reporters or publishers, by all means send a press release. If not, a press release-style blog post is just fine. But don’t fall into the common trap of writing a blog post or press release that says “Hey, we have a new website, come check it out!”
Instead, your blog post should describe the features and content that will make the greatest impact for your target audience. If your nonprofit serving meals to homeless people just added an interactive map showing your soup truck’s most recent location, that’s a great feature for social workers and other helpful partners to know when you’ll be nearby to serve their communities.
Consider adding a screen recording of you demonstrating the new feature or walking website visitors through how to find the events calendar, or register for a program. The more helpful, rich media you can add, the better.
Draft emails to your list
Keep your promotional emails short and sweet. Don’t forget to segment them by recipient and intent: your donors will be interested in different aspects of the site than the people you serve. Here are three must-send emails to promote your new website:
Teaser email (sent one to two weeks in advance)
As the name indicates, you want to tease the new website and its most interesting or helpful content. Amazing new events calendar? Talk about how easy it makes finding activities for your clients.
Launch email (sent the day of or day after your launch)
Share that your new website is live, encourage the reader to click through and browse the site, then reply with their first impressions. Bonus points: create a free download or video for them to watch on your site or send swag to a handful of people who do send you feedback.
“Did you see this?” email (sent a few days or up to a week after your launch)
Share your personal favorite part of the website and ask the reader to reply with their favorite or highlight a unique feature that few people know about as if it’s a well-kept secret.
Social posts for two weeks or more
If you haven’t already, this is a great time to share behind-the-scenes of your website development and launch! Your donors will be delighted to see their contributions at work, and your clients will be intrigued to see how your organization is improving to better serve them.
Highlight the people who helped you prepare your website, share quotes from new users, and quick how-to videos and screenshots to help people use your new site.
If you’re looking for even more helpful strategies to improve your existing site, don’t miss my FREE guide, “Six Smart Strategies for an Effective Nonprofit Website” which will give you the confidence you need to create a website that wows your donors and volunteers.