It’s a big moment when you create your yoga website! Hopefully you’re proud of what you’ve done even if it might have been a steep learning curve! As a yoga teacher, your website is more than just a few random pages —it's a reflection of who you are, the beginning of seeing yourself as a brand, and it’s a way to demonstrate the value you offer to your students. Before you hit that "Publish" button, there's a bit of prep work I’d recommend to ensure your site does the best job it can for you. Here’s a comprehensive checklist to help you make sure everything is in place for a successful launch.

1. Double-Check Your Content

• Proofread Everything: Sounds obvious but ask a friend or loved one to proof check your site. You won’t lose a client over a there/their typo, but you still want to ensure your site is professional and showing you at your best. 

• Compelling Copy: Ensure that your headlines, calls to action (CTAs), and body text resonate with your audience. Are your offerings clear? Do you explain how your classes, workshops, or retreats can benefit students? Is it clear where you are based? Imagine you are a customer. You want to know where, what, when pretty quickly. Show it to someone who has never seen your site before and ask them if it would answer all their questions.

• Headings: Make sure your headings contain keywords so instead of “My Services” it might be “Yoga Classes in Narnia”. You also want to check you only have one H1 per page.

• Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Clearly articulate what makes your yoga style unique. Why should someone choose your classes over others? Does it speak to your target audience? More on Value Proposition here.

2. Optimise Your Images

• High-Quality, Web-Optimised Images: What does this mean, well you want high quality images but they need to not be too large as this impacts loading speed, try to ensure they are under 100 KB where possible. For larger images like hero banners, try to stay under 200-300 KB. You can use tools like TinyPNG to ensure the right size. Descriptive Alt Text: Each image should have alt text that describes the content, improving both accessibility and SEO. For example: "A woman in a serene yoga studio performing a Warrior II pose during a class at Santosha Yoga."

This description captures the key elements: the subject (a woman doing yoga), the action (performing a Warrior II pose), the setting (a serene yoga studio), and the context (a class at Santosha Yoga). This would help visually impaired users understand the image's content and relevance to the website.

• Consistent Style: Ensure that the images align with your brand’s aesthetic. Whether serene landscapes, calming colour palettes, or action shots, consistency is key.

3. Mobile Responsiveness

• Test on Different Devices: You might find that over 70%-80% of your web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your site needs to look and function perfectly on smartphones and tablets. Check every page to ensure buttons, text, and images scale correctly.It’s actually better in our industry to build with mobile front of mind rather than build it for desktop as more of your customers will be accessing your site on mobile.

• Loading Speed: Mobile users expect fast load times. This is why compressing images is important.

4. SEO Essentials

• Keywords: Make sure your content is optimised with relevant keywords. Think about what your students might be searching for—terms like “yoga classes near me,” “beginner yoga,” or “yoga for stress relief.” Have a list of your keywords and which page you are targeting. Eg if you teach pregnancy yoga have a dedicated page for that with your keywords in the headers, page title and threaded through the copy. More on mastering keyword research here.

• Meta Descriptions: Write concise meta descriptions for each page. These snippets appear in search engine results and should entice users to click through to your site. More on SEO for yoga websites here

• Sitemap: Submit a sitemap to search engines like Google Search Console (blog on this to come) to help them index your site properly.

5. Functionality Check

• Test All Links: Broken links can frustrate visitors and hurt your SEO. Click through every link, including navigation, buttons, and internal links, to ensure they lead to the correct pages. On the topic of internal links, you don’t want deadends on your site, make sure all the pages link to each other like a huge spider web.

• Form Submissions: Test all contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, or booking forms to make sure they work and that submissions are directed to the correct email inbox or database. Don’t skip this step you don't want to lose any potential customers.

• Payment Processing: If you’re selling classes, workshops, or products online, test the entire checkout process. Ensure that payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe are functioning smoothly. My advice regarding booking systems is to make sure you’ve tested it all as a customer would. More on getting the most out of your booking system here.

6. Legal and Privacy Considerations

• Privacy Policy and Terms of Service: Include a privacy policy and terms of service page to protect your business legally and to inform visitors how their data will be used.

• GDPR Compliance: If you’re operating in Europe or have visitors from Europe, ensure your website complies with GDPR regulations, including cookie consent and data handling practices.

• ICO: It’s also a good opportunity if you haven’t already to register with the ICO and you are processing personal data.

7. Links and Integrations

• Social Media Integration: Make sure your social media links work and that any feeds (like Instagram) are displaying correctly. Social media can drive traffic and engagement on your site.

• Google Business Profile:  Ensure you’re linking to your website from your GBP to drive traffic. More on Google Business Profiles here.

• Link Tree: You might want to create a link tree for your Instagram which has your popular pages, if not make sure your website links are visible on social media.

• Backlinks: These are other websites that direct people to your website, they are good for improving your trustworthiness and authority. As a start add a profile to directory and yoga directory websites. More on what Backlinks are all about here.

8. Final Touches

• Favicon: Ensure your site has a favicon—a small icon that appears in the browser tab next to your website’s title. This is a small detail but adds professionalism.

• 404 Page: You might like to customise your 404 error page to guide visitors back to the main content if they land on a broken or non-existent page, just makes your site a bit more friendly.

9. Backup and Security

• Regular Backups: Set up automatic backups of your website to avoid losing content or functionality if something goes wrong.

• Security Measures: Implement basic security measures like SSL certificates (HTTPS), strong passwords, and security plugins to protect your site from hackers and malware. If you’re using something like Squarespace or Wix it’s usually all included.

10. Get Feedback

• Soft Launch: Consider a soft launch by sharing your site with a small group of trusted friends, colleagues, or students. Ask them to navigate the site and provide feedback.

• User Testing: Pay attention to how easily they can find information and complete actions like booking a class or contacting you. Use their feedback to make final tweaks.

Launching your yoga website is a big step, but with this checklist, you’re well on your way to creating an online space that’s welcoming, functional, and reflective of your yoga ethos. Take the time to ensure everything is perfect before going live, and you’ll set yourself up for success. And remember, this is just the first iteration of your site, you’ll want to tweak it and update it regularly over time.

If this has completely bamboozled you, don’t panic. I offer go-live check calls where we can go through your website and ensure you’re doing everything you can. I’m here for you!