Simple tips for easy website launches
Launching new website or a rebrand is exciting and a bit overwhelming too. Here’s some tips from me on how to create some interest around the reveal to help you get noticed.
Email is a valuable communication tool
A person has trusted you with their private address. This means they want to hear from you and are precious gems. It’s important therefore to:
Build the list before the launch.
Ensure it’s easy to sign up to your newsletter on the new site so your list grows.
If you ask me to design a sign-up in red arrows which pop-ups every 30 seconds on each page, be prepared for a conversation on user experience. A stylish and tempting newsletter page with a helpful footer so visitors know what to expect is so much better and good etiquette.
Shout about your website
Social media and emails are one area in which to share your site. You can find others if you know your audience. Before the site took shape and when we were exploring the brief, you should have created a portrait of your users. Where are they? How do you tell them about your new website? Can you:
Post videos?
Be a guest blogger?
Be a guest on a podcast or create your own?
Write press releases for the media?
Is there any merit in ad campaigns or influencers?
You can announce your website before it goes live
If you have a set time then a countdown can be effective in getting interest. We can chat about an ideal date to go live and work to that schedule. Let’s create some noise by:
Sharing your progress on social media with behind the scenes updates to create engagement and share your story.
Posting images, photos and videos to start a conversation about the site and details of new features.
Create a coming soon page with me to to create interest with a sign-up page so you can email subscribers when it’s live (you don’t have to wait until the website is live to set up an email list)
Involve the designer, developer and any other services such as copywriters. They - like me - may have blog page and case studies where they can share a valuable testimonial and create interest (and links). If we worked on the site then I’ll be writing a case study and tagging you online too. I’m also very happy to chat in videos or any other promotional work, just ask.
On the day
No matter how much us designers and our developers check and triple check, a great website will have a few errors. A soft launch enables anything to be picked up quickly and corrected. I agree a date with my clients when I know i’m around if needed.
You can then prepare for a bigger launch if you wish. You should aim to tailor the news to suit each channel and the clients who use it. Depending on the actions your audience want to take, and your reasons for developing the site you can mull over these ideas.
Create a story about the new site experience and improved UX using screen recording software.
Write a post about the creation and benefits.
Create a discount or giveaway.
Share the improved booking or payment methods (or whatever problems the new site has solved).
Frequent posts will ease people into the new site and feel like they’re involved. It’s not your site alone, but the visitors site too. They should feel valued.
Track the results
Really look at the data and be prepared to ditch something if it’s not working. You may love Instagram Reels but if your clients find you by Twitter and the analytics clearly show this, then you may need to move your focus or review how you use Instagram. You can ask me about social media experts in my address book and I’ll refer you on.
Takeaway
If you want to make a bigger splash then I can help you. We can explore social media graphics that are Canva friendly to support your new look. The web is very visual and bad design is always overlooked in favour of good stuff. It’s the best way to capture attention and show investment in your client and your own business.