Are you sure you’re done with the site? Here’s a checklist to go through!
Did you click publish?
The first time you hit publish, we make your site visible to the world via search. If you don’t want to be visible, go to Settings > Advanced > Privacy & Legal to hide the site from Google.
While in the editor:
Site Basics
-Did you change the title of your site? This shows up on your viewer’s browser tab and is the default text if they bookmark you. Change this in Settings > Basic Info (and check out the other settings).
-Did you change the Strikingly URL so you can share it easily or connect to a custom domain such as yourname.com? Also on Settings, you can do it through the Domains tab. Learn more about connecting a domain.
-Are you using the font you want to use? Press the “Style” button in the upper left panel > go to Fonts to make changes. You can change colors here as well.
-Did you add titles and descriptions to the images, or make sure to empty the boxes when you didn’t want to?
-Scroll to the footer. Look at the social media links by clicking on them. By default, they will use the URL/custom domain of your page.
- You can change this to your Facebook entity page or something else by changing the links there!
- Check if they contain any extra spaces inside the text box.
Menu and Links
-Each template’s menu is a little different. Some have it at the top, others on the side, and some templates have no navigation menu. Feel free to choose what navigation layout works for you by switching templates through Styles.
-Scroll through your page to see if this is a logical order for sections to proceed. If not, reorder them with the menu on the left, by clicking and dragging the sandwich icon (the button with 3 horizontal lines).
-Look at the names of the sections on the left-hand side to see if they are meaningful. (Sections are the chunks of the site you created with the “Add New Section" button.) Remember that these are also what shows on your URLs, and you can link them directly. Learn more here.
-Check the menu (if you have one) and see if the right items are showing. Is there a reason for someone to click on a menu item or to know they’re on that item? You can click the gear icon inline with the section name on the left panel > check/uncheck the "Show in Navigation" option:
-Do you want to link to an external webpage through the menu, such as a blog, a partner, or a website? If so, you can achieve it through the left panel. You can set external links below your section list by clicking "Add new link" under Advanced.
Spacing
-Look at your text boxes. Do they contain extra spaces on the top, bottom, or inside the text box? Did you press enter at strategic points in the paragraph so that you could space it out perfectly? Try not to do that, as it will not appear the same on mobile.
-Did you “remove” all the images you don’t want and “empty” all the text boxes you don’t need? Empty text boxes and empty images will collapse on your live site.
While in preview/live:
Uniqueness
-Look at your copywriting. Is it bold and concise? Is it striking?
-Look at all of the images. Are there any within the same section that could be cropped to a different size? Do they need some image effects? Hover over the image > click Edit > go to the image editor to change how it looks.
-Are you using any of our stock images? Remember that other people may also be using these images, so you may want to use the image editor to make them look a little different, or upload your own. We’ll get more images over time as well.
Functionality
-Scroll through your site and click all of the links. Do they work? Are there some things you forgot to link? Link them in the editor by hovering over the image > click Edit > click Add link. Learn more here.
-Did you use the mailto: and tel: links so users can email or call you when appropriate? Learn more here.
-Click the tablet and mobile buttons when checking the preview to see how your site looks on mobile!
The usual suspects are:
1. Background images. Check your settings—“Stretch” usually works best as this covers the full background area, but you can use “Contain” if you want the whole image to show. We also have other options you can find by clicking "Background" in the upper right corner of the section. For more details about the recommended background image sizes, check this article.
2. Content in background images. If you have a logo, text, or other main content in your background, consider using a different section—Big media, so that the full image always shows, or one with an image on a background, so you can upload the logo and background separately. If it’s text, use a section with text and a background image if possible!
Search engine friendliness:
-Did you add your site to your email signature? This shows what you're doing, and what you believe in. As a bonus, the link helps with SEO. Check our tutorial through this link!
Questions or suggestions?
In case you need assistance, shoot us a line at support@strikingly.com or chat with us.