The Post-Launch Stages of a Successful Website
10 Jun 2020 Digital Marketing
If you recently launched a new website, we would like to give you the highest of fives! You are on your way to getting your business a seat at the table of digital marketing success; however, before you get too carried away with patting yourself on the back and kicking your feet up, you should start thinking about the post-launch stages of a successful website.
It is vitally important in the modern-day to have a website that is up to date and set up to convert for your business. Despite the importance of the website itself, one of the most common misconceptions about digital marketing is that you can get a website launched and it will automatically start doing all of your work for you of generating leads and new business. Since websites are kind of our bread and butter here at FirstPage Marketing, they sincerely wish that this was true and that digital success could be had in one spectacular step; however, they have to be completely honest and say that a good website is only the starting point. Although the website will be central to all of your other digital marketing endeavours, it is only one piece of the roadmap that leads to online success for a business.
How to Help a Website Succeed After Launch
It is important to be aware of how to market your website and maintain it properly so that it can continue to gain value and bring you business in the years to come. Coming up with a plan for website success after launch can be daunting, so make sure that you get help from digital marketing professionals (oh hey, that’s us!).
1. Announce the New Website
Launching a new website is a cause for celebration, so why not let the world know? Similar to a new store or restaurant location, a website can provide your company with an adjusted, more modern look. The website is the face of your digital presence, so it is worth preparing something that lets people know that you have a new face (or, if that sounds weird, you can just say that you have a new website). Announcing your website is a great excuse to get your brand in front of your following and start to get the traffic flowing. Some methods for publicizing the new website could include email campaigns, social media announcements, and mail-out materials.
2. Come up With a Marketing Plan for the Website
Although many people will access your website directly through the URL or by searching for the name of your business, it is important to have methods to bring people into the fold without having them look for you directly. Make sure that you have a plan to start building roads to your website from various marketing initiatives. Search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising (Google Ads and Bing Ads), social media, email campaigns, and other digital marketing methods can be employed to bring in qualified website visitors that can convert into leads.
Learn how to develop a successful digital marketing strategy.
3. Get Right into SEO
There is truly no time to waste with SEO, and it is one of the best ways to get people to your website. The sooner you get this train moving, the sooner it can start bringing you results. The world of search engine optimization is a pretty complex one, so it is important to move forward with a carefully compiled strategy. It is likely that your developer will already have started on SEO strategy before launching the website, so make sure you talk with them about carrying through with their plans to ensure ongoing success. Getting your website to rank against your competitors for relevant searches can take a while and search engines are constantly updating their standards, so it is important to get started with SEO right after your website launches.
Learn how to boost local search engine rankings with these 5 tips.
4. Set Goals and Watch Behaviour
Monitoring the website’s conversions and traffic patterns through analytics tools can help you to make the right decisions moving forward. Your basic SEO plan is set and you have other marketing initiatives in place, so now is the time to start gathering data. Use online analytics tools to watch how people behave on your website. What are they searching for that sends them your way? How do they get onto the website? What pages do they go to once they are there? What leads to a conversion? How are they leaving the site? All of these questions can help you to monitor how effective your website is and what areas need attention. You can also set goals to measure the success of the website.
5. Keep the Website Growing
Search engines like websites that grow. Make sure that your SEO plan eventually includes plans for website growth. New pages that talk about your services, regional funnel pages, and blog articles are a great way to keep your website moving forward. Not only do these methods appeal to algorithms that determine search engine optimization rankings, but they also provide your website visitors with fresh, relevant content to review.
Have you just launched a website and, if so, are you looking to get started on your post-launch plan for digital success? Contact the team at FirstPage Marketing and they will be happy to go over some of their ideas to help you get your business where you want to go.
