Website Launch Checklist for Ethiopian Businesses

Launching a website is exciting. But rushing to go live without checking the fundamentals leads to lost customers, poor Google rankings, and a frustrating user experience that drives visitors straight to your competitors.

We have built, audited, and fixed dozens of websites for Ethiopian businesses. The same mistakes show up over and over. This checklist is the exact process we follow internally before launching any client website. Follow it completely and your website will outperform 90% of Ethiopian business websites on day one.

Why This Checklist Matters

Your website is your most important digital asset. It is open 24/7, it represents your brand when you cannot be there in person, and it is often the first impression potential customers have of your business. A single broken link, a missing page, or a slow-loading homepage can lose you a customer permanently.

In Ethiopia’s growing digital economy, the quality bar is rising fast. Customers are comparing your website to international standards. This checklist ensures you meet and exceed those expectations.

1. Design & User Experience

Design is not decoration — it is communication. Every visual element on your website should guide visitors toward taking action.

• Mobile responsive — looks great on phones, tablets, and desktops. Test on at least three different screen sizes
• Fast loading — under 3 seconds on a mobile connection. Ethiopian mobile networks vary, so optimise aggressively
• Clear navigation — visitors can find any page in 2 clicks or fewer. The fewer clicks, the more conversions
• Consistent branding — colours, fonts, and logo identical across every single page. No exceptions
• Readable typography — body text at least 16px with good contrast against background. If it is hard to read, visitors leave
• Professional images — no blurry, stretched, or generic stock photos. Use real photos of your team, products, and workspace where possible
• Clear call-to-action on every page — visitors should always know what to do next, whether it is call, buy, or enquire
• Whitespace and breathing room — do not cram content. Let sections breathe. Dense pages feel overwhelming and unprofessional

2. Content & Copywriting

Content is what actually convinces visitors to become customers. Design gets attention. Copy closes the deal.

• Homepage clearly explains what you do, who you serve, and why visitors should care — within the first screen
• About page tells your genuine story and builds trust. Include founder photos, your mission, and what makes you different
• Services/products page with clear descriptions, benefits (not just features), and pricing if applicable
• Contact page with phone number, email, physical location, working hours, and a functional contact form
• All text proofread for spelling and grammar errors. Nothing destroys credibility faster than typos on a business website
• Meta titles and descriptions written for every page — these are what appear in Google search results
• Social media links working and pointing to the correct, active profiles
• Testimonials or social proof visible on key pages. Real quotes from real customers build trust instantly

3. Technical Essentials

These are the invisible foundations that make everything else work. Skip these and you will face problems that are much harder to fix after launch.

• SSL certificate installed (HTTPS — the padlock icon in the browser). Google penalises sites without it and visitors will see a “Not Secure” warning
• All links tested and working — no broken links or 404 errors. Use a free tool like Screaming Frog or Dead Link Checker
• Contact form tested end-to-end — submissions must actually arrive in your inbox. Test from multiple devices
• Images compressed for fast loading. Use TinyPNG, ShortPixel, or WebP format to cut file sizes by 60-80%
• Favicon uploaded — the small icon in the browser tab. Without it, your site looks unfinished
• Custom 404 error page created with a helpful message and navigation back to key pages
• Cross-browser tested — works correctly in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge
• Backup system in place — automated daily backups so you never lose your website

4. SEO Foundation

SEO is not optional. It is how potential customers find you when they search on Google. Getting the basics right at launch gives you a massive head start.

• Google Analytics installed and tracking page views, sessions, and conversions correctly
• Google Search Console set up, verified, and your domain added
• XML sitemap generated and submitted to Google Search Console
• Page titles include target keywords — each page should target one primary keyword
• All images have descriptive alt text — this helps Google understand your images and improves accessibility
• Heading structure is logical — one H1 per page, H2s for main sections, H3s for subsections
• Google Business Profile created, verified, and linked to your website
• robots.txt file configured correctly — not accidentally blocking Google from indexing your site

5. Performance & Speed

Speed kills — slow speed, that is. In Ethiopia, where mobile connections can be inconsistent, performance optimisation is even more critical than in other markets.

• Google PageSpeed score 70+ on mobile — run your site through pagespeed.web.dev and fix every critical issue
• Images in WebP format with fallbacks for older browsers. WebP files are 25-35% smaller than JPEG
• CSS and JavaScript minified — remove unnecessary whitespace and comments from code files
• Lazy loading enabled for images below the fold. Only load images as visitors scroll down
• CDN configured if possible — a content delivery network speeds up loading for visitors across Ethiopia
• No render-blocking resources — defer non-critical JavaScript and CSS

6. Security & Legal

Security protects your business and your customers. Legal compliance protects you from liability.

• SSL certificate active on all pages (double-check — some pages may load without HTTPS)
• Business name, address, and phone number (NAP) consistent everywhere — website, Google Business Profile, social media
• Copyright notice in footer with the current year
• Privacy policy page if collecting any customer data (contact forms, email signups, purchases)
• Terms of service if selling products or services online
• Spam protection on forms — use reCAPTCHA or honeypot fields to prevent bot submissions
• Admin passwords strong and unique — use a password manager. Never use “admin” as your username

7. Pre-Launch Testing

Testing is where most businesses cut corners. Do not skip this phase. Fifteen minutes of testing prevents fifteen hours of fixing.

8. Launch Day Protocol

Launch day is not just “click publish.” It is a coordinated sequence that maximises your website’s impact from the very first hour.

1. Back up everything before switching to the live server. Keep a local copy and a cloud copy
2. Test on multiple devices — your phone, a friend’s phone, a tablet, and a desktop. Different phones render differently
3. Verify SSL is active on the live domain — check every major page loads with HTTPS
4. Submit your URL to Google for indexing via Google Search Console
5. Confirm analytics tracking is firing on all pages by checking the real-time report in Google Analytics
6. Share on all social media channels with an engaging launch announcement
7. Send an announcement email to your contact list with a direct link to the new site
8. Monitor for issues in the first 48 hours — check error logs, form submissions, and page load times

9. Post-Launch Monitoring

Launching is not the finish line. It is the starting line. What you do in the first 30 days determines whether your website becomes a growth engine or a digital brochure that nobody visits.

• Week 1: Monitor Google Search Console for crawl errors, index issues, and mobile usability problems. Fix anything flagged immediately
• Week 2: Review analytics data — which pages get the most traffic? Where do visitors drop off? Adjust navigation if needed
• Week 3: Check conversion rates. Are contact forms being used? Are visitors clicking your call-to-action buttons? Optimise underperforming pages
• Week 4: Publish your first piece of new content (blog post, case study, or resource). Fresh content signals to Google that your site is active
• Ongoing: Monitor uptime, update plugins/CMS monthly, refresh content quarterly, and back up weekly at minimum

More reading: SEO Basics for Ethiopia | Content Marketing 101 | Social Media Strategy 2026