The Real Work Begins When the Website is Launched
Consider the time and dedication NASA puts toward preparing the space shuttle for its next mission. Months of research, planning, and prep to get all the details in place for a flawless launch. It’s launch day and the countdown is on…5…4…3…2..LIFTOFF!
You can hear the hi-five’s sparking all around the control center. Then the director announces over the loud speaker, “Okay everyone, great job…have a good night!”
Say what?
As absurd as it sounds to send the NASA team home after the afterburners ignite, its just as crazy to ignore your site after weeks of development it just to prepare it to perform when visitors arrive.
Here’s a few of the many things that happen when a new site is launched:
- Your pretty new site sits while it waits for you to put a plan in place to expose it to your audience.
- Regular traffic sees your new website and begins to react to the changes in a positive or negative way.
- Your assumptions are tested in the real world and you get real numbers on your defined conversion points.
- Search engines will find your new site and change their ranking in a positive or negative way.
I believe the first 90 days are critical to the success of your new site. Take this time to:
- Execute your online marketing plan.
- Watch what visitors do very carefully. Look to make minor adjustments that eliminate roadblocks.
- Seek feedback to get an insight on why visitors make the decisions they did on your site. Analytics won’t give you this information clearly, though asking the right questions in feedback forms will.
The key: learn as much as you can about your new site from real visitors to increase performance exponentially within the first 90 days of its life. As traffic rises from your online marketing campaigns, your site will be optimized to capture higher levels of conversions.
TALK BACK
What steps have you taken for your recently launched site that helped fine tune it to better performance?
