Business

Drupal Website Launch Checklist

Published

2 years ago

June 28, 2022

Launching a new website is both an exciting and nerve-inducing task. While a new site can result in increased traffic and inquiries from potential customers, there’s also a fair bit that can go wrong, which will only reflect poorly on your company.

When working with professional Drupal developers in Melbourne, consider putting together a checklist before your website launch to ensure that the entire process runs as smoothly as possible.

Triple check your content

Nothing screams ‘unprofessional’ like spelling and grammar errors. Visitors are incredibly unforgiving of these sorts of mistakes. Many studies have shown that spelling mistakes cause customers to doubt a company’s credibility, leading them to take their business elsewhere.

Every sentence on your website needs to be triple checked for errors and general clarity. Have a professional copywriter create the content, employ a different set of eyes to edit and proofread, and consider running everything through an online grammar checker.

Ensure that your content is not only grammatically correct but accurately describes your business, products, and services.

Test the user experience

Your web development services team has likely been working on your website for a number of months. You know the ins and outs of every single page — there are no surprises here. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult to get an accurate, impartial idea of the overall user experience. A menu structure that makes sense to you might be completely incomprehensible to someone else.

Before launching your website, have a fresh pair of eyes take a look at the overall structure and design. Ask them to complete a standard task visitors will be using your website for — like purchasing a particular item. If they find themselves doubting how to get from point A to point B, it could be a sign that something is amiss with your UX design.

Run an SEO analysis

Hopefully your website has been developed and designed with SEO — or search engine optimisation — in mind. If this is the case, all the technical and on-page aspects should be well set up.

However, there are always opportunities for improvement. Having a professional marketing team run an SEO analysis will establish a baseline for how your website is performing in terms of online visibility. You can plan future content creation to target relevant keywords and identify technical aspects of your website (like site speed or internal linking) that require improvement.

Backup your site

Just like you backup your precious personal photos and files, backing up your company website is equally important. Should something happen to your site — through malicious activity or simple user error — you’ve got an exact replica waiting in the wings.

Speak to professional Drupal developers in Melbourne to learn more about the process behind backing up a site and how often the task needs to be undertaken to guarantee security.

Test security measures

Users understand that there are certain threats out there in the online world. However, they still expect web development services teams to take every precaution possible to protect their personal information. As a business owner with an online presence, it’s important that you understand your obligations and the strategies you must implement to secure customer data.

In 2022, most of these strategies are standard web development practice. Building a website without a SSL certificate, for example, is a beginner error that will give you a black mark from both real users and Google’s search engine bots. SSL certificates are easy to deploy and offer a valuable first-line defence against online threats.

If your website has been built using the Drupal CMS platform, your web development services team may have used plugins to add certain features and functionality. Ensure these plugins are from reputable sources and that you are not providing third parties with free access to user data.

Running security testing is an important part of launching a new website.

Understand your legal obligations

Depending on where you (and your customers) are located in the world, you will have certain legal obligations. In Australia, for example, privacy legislation dictates that companies must inform customers if they are collecting personal information, what that information will be used for, and how long it will be stored.

Your website needs to have a privacy policy that clearly outlines this information, as well as how customers can lodge a complaint if they feel their privacy has been breached.

One of the advantages of working with a professional Drupal developers in Melbourne is that they can take care of all these tasks for you.

Create a marketing plan

Your new website deserves celebrating and recognition from customers both old and new. The only way your clients are going to know about your exciting new digital presence is by telling them! The final step to launching your website is creating a detailed marketing plan to celebrate your launch. Share your news via email and social media to boost traffic numbers in those vital first few days post-launch.

When deciding on which Drupal developers in Melbourne to work with, consider a company that offers full digital services, including online marketing. They’ll be able to take care of everything from development to digital advertising for you!

Business

Turning Tragedy into Triumph Through Walking With Anthony

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

Rosario Farell

On the morning of February 6, 2010, Anthony Purcell took a moment to admire the churning surf before plunging into the waves off Miami Beach. Though he had made the dive numerous times before, that morning was destined to be different when he crashed into a hidden sandbar, sustaining bruises to his C5 and C6 vertebrae and breaking his neck.

“I was completely submerged and unable to rise to the surface,” Purcell recalls. “Fortunately, my cousin Bernie saw what was happening and came to my rescue. He saved my life, but things would never be the same after that dive.”

Like thousands of others who are confronted with a spinal cord injury (SCI), Purcell plunged headlong into long months of hopelessness and despair. Eventually, however, he learned to turn personal tragedy into triumph as he reached out to fellow SCI victims by launching Walking With Anthony.

Living with SCI: the first dark days

Initial rehabilitation for those with SCIs takes an average of three to six months, during which time they must relearn hundreds of fundamental skills and adjust to what feels like an entirely new body. Unfortunately, after 21 days, Purcell’s insurance stopped paying for this essential treatment, even though he had made only minimal improvement in such a short time.

“Insurance companies cover rehab costs for people with back injuries, but not for people with spinal cord injuries,” explains Purcell. “We were practically thrown to the curb. At that time, I was so immobile that I couldn’t even raise my arms to feed myself.”

Instead of giving up, Purcell’s mother chose to battle his SCI with long-term rehab. She enrolled Purcell in Project Walk, a rehabilitation facility located in Carlsbad, California, but one that came with an annual cost of over $100,000.

“My parents paid for rehabilitation treatment for over three years,” says Purcell. “Throughout that time, they taught me the importance of patience, compassion, and unconditional love.”

Yet despite his family’s support, Purcell still struggled. “Those were dark days when I couldn’t bring myself to accept the bleak prognosis ahead of me,” he says. “I faced life in a wheelchair and the never-ending struggle for healthcare access, coverage, and advocacy. I hit my share of low points, and there were times when I seriously contemplated giving up on life altogether.”

Purcell finds a new purpose in helping others with SCIs

After long months of depression and self-doubt, Purcell’s mother determined it was time for her son to find purpose beyond rehabilitation.

“My mom suggested I start Walking With Anthony to show people with spinal cord injuries that they were not alone,” Purcell remarks. “When I began to focus on other people besides myself, I realized that people all around the world with spinal cord injuries were suffering because of restrictions on coverage and healthcare access. The question that plagued me most was, ‘What about the people with spinal cord injuries who cannot afford the cost of rehabilitation?’ I had no idea how they were managing.”

Purcell and his mother knew they wanted to make a difference for other people with SCIs, starting with the creation of grants to help cover essentials like assistive technology and emergency finances. To date, they have helped over 100 SCI patients get back on their feet after suffering a similar life-altering accident.

Purcell demonstrates the power and necessity of rehab for people with SCIs

After targeted rehab, Purcell’s physical and mental health improved drastically. Today, he is able to care for himself, drive his own car, and has even returned to work.

“Thanks to my family’s financial and emotional support, I am making amazing physical improvement,” Purcell comments. “I mustered the strength to rebuild my life and even found the nerve to message Karen, a high school classmate I’d always had a thing for. We reconnected, our friendship evolved into love, and we tied the knot in 2017.”

After all that, Purcell found the drive to push toward one further personal triumph. He married but did not believe a family was in his future. Regardless of his remarkable progress, physicians told him biological children were not an option.

Despite being paralyzed from the chest down, Purcell continued to look for hope. Finally, Dr. Jesse Mills of UCLA Health’s Male Reproductive Medicine department assured Purcell and his wife that the right medical care and in vitro fertilization could make their dream of becoming parents a reality.

“Payton joined our family in the spring of 2023,” Purcell reports. “For so long, I believed my spinal cord injury had taken everything I cared about, but now I am grateful every day. I work to help other people with spinal cord injuries find the same joy and hope. We provide them with access to specialists, funding to pay for innovative treatments, and the desire to move forward with a focus on the future.”