Website Kickoff Checklist
Everything Rayova needs from you before we begin design and development. Gather these assets and decisions to keep the project fast, on-budget, and aligned with your goals.
- Project goals & primary outcomes: Clear objectives (e.g., leads, signups, sales, brand awareness) and 2–3 measurable KPIs.
- Target audience & messaging: Short descriptions of primary audiences and the main message or value proposition for each.
- Primary contacts & approvals: Names, emails, roles, and who has final sign-off for design, copy, and launch decisions.
- Budget & timeline: Project budget range, key milestone dates, and any fixed launch windows (events, campaigns).
- Brand assets: Final logos (SVG preferred), approved colour palette (HEX), web-safe fonts or font licenses, and a brand guideline PDF if available.
- Page list & sitemap: A simple list of pages (Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.) and any special landing pages or microsites.
- Final content (copy): Approved page copy, H1s/H2s, CTAs, product/service descriptions, bios, and meta titles & meta descriptions (SEO-ready).
- Images & media: Originals (JPG/PNG/RAW), descriptive file names, captions/alt-text, and signed release forms for people or property. Provide the highest-quality masters — we handle optimization for the web.
- Technical & access details: Domain registrar account or transfer details, DNS access, hosting provider details, CMS admin credentials (or staging access), FTP/SSH if required, and SSO details if needed.
- Integrations & tracking: Google Analytics/GA4 property access, Search Console, Tag Manager, CRM, email platform, payment gateway, API keys, and webhook endpoints.
- Legal & compliance: Privacy policy, terms of use, cookie consent preferences, accessibility policy (target WCAG level), and any industry-specific disclosures (PIPEDA/privacy notes if Canadian).
- SEO & technical basics: Preferred canonical URLs, list of redirects (old → new), sitemap.xml request, robots.txt notes, and structured data requirements (schema).
- Performance & images plan: Image priority (hero vs thumbnails), preferred formats (WebP/AVIF for production), and any CDN or hosting performance constraints.
- Security & backups: SSL certificate access (or request to issue), backup frequency expectations, and authentication requirements (2FA/SSO) for admin users.
- Forms & data flows: Contact/lead form requirements, data routing (email, CRM, webhooks), required validation, and sample form responses.
- Existing site migration: Export of current site content (if migrating), list of important URLs, and a prioritized 301 redirect list to preserve SEO value.
- Testing & acceptance criteria: Cross-browser & device testing needs, accessibility checks, performance targets, and the acceptance process (who signs off and when).
- Launch plan & DNS cutover: Preferred launch date/time, pre-launch checklist (staging approval), DNS change window, and rollback plan if needed.
- Post-launch & maintenance: Monitoring & analytics goals, support hours, SLA expectations, and a plan for content updates after launch.
- Optional deliverables: Social sharing images (1200×630), favicon (multiple sizes), email signature files, press release copy, and campaign UTM strategy.
