It’s launch day. Countless hours of hard work fine-tuning each page is about to pay off. Everything checks out, and the website is running like a well-oiled, traffic-driving machine. It’s responsive. It’s optimized. And it looks amazing. So, what now?
Now comes the fun part. It’s time to use your website to gain leads, make sales and grow your business. And to do that, you will need to effectively manage your website after launch to ensure it all comes together and the site can reach its full potential.
1. Clear Any Loose Post-Launch Tasks
The site is live. But before you start celebrating, it is crucial to do a post-launch checkup to ensure there are no errors and nothing was missed during the final stages of development. If it has, this is the perfect opportunity to address any pending problems. To determine if crucial areas are working correctly, you will need to:
- Check site speed;
- Check all images;
- Check all alt text;
- Check performance on all devices;
- Check forms and pathways;
- Build and submit the XML sitemap.
Once everything checks out, you can promote the new website across your channels of communication and let everyone know they can now visit you online.
2. Develop and Implement Marketing Strategies
A website is the base of operation for any marketing activity. To be successful, it needs a steady stream of traffic and customers that visit the site regularly.
Developing a marketing strategy and implementing it across all channels can do this for you. Focus all your efforts on customers. Use Inbound Marketing to determine their primary pain points and how can you solve them. Then integrate various marketing strategies into your website:
- Social Media
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Paid Online Advertising
Use all marketing methods at your disposal, but always link back to your website. After a while, you will know which tactic works best, so you can put most of your resources into those channels.
3. Evaluate, Test and Optimize
First, you need to use analytics tools and evaluate the current performance. Software like Google Analytics and SEMrush assists you in determining key performance indicators (KPIs) for your website. Some of the most important are click-through rates, the number of new visitors and time spend on a page.
After evaluating the current situation, you can determine which elements to test for optimizing them. The most important aspects to check are:
- Headlines
- URLs
- CTAs
- Design
- Social proof
Use A/B testing to optimize for maximum performance of each element, like knowing how to create effective calls to action. Remember to test only one aspect at a time, and leave enough time for the test to gain sufficient results.
4. Carry Out Regular Website Maintenance
Website maintenance is an integral part of how your website functions. If left unchecked, specific areas of the website can break down which can lower user experience and deter people from visiting your website. It is also a significant security issue that makes your site vulnerable to attacks from hackers or viruses.
Maintenance must be regular. Dedicate one day out of the work week to update your CMS, such as a website designed using WordPress. Run a database sweep, do a website test, fix any problems and create a backup. If you are consistent, it shouldn’t take more than half an hour of your time.
Continue Improving Your Site
A website is never done, and there is always room for improvement. And you can still do more. Contact the team of digital gurus to find out what else you can do.