Launching your new website can be very exciting. You're about to unveil a new look for your brand. It's important, therefore, to have everything in place to ensure a successful launch.
\r\nThere are several common mistakes that developers and business owners make when launching a site. You can avoid them by planning your launch carefully and well in advance. These seven tips will give your business a great new start as you launch your website.
\r\nA well-designed website with compelling content is ineffective without calls to action. CTAs give users something to do with the information they've received from your site. It makes their interaction on your website feel complete. It can also direct the user further along your sales funnel.
\r\nIt's important to place CTAs on nearly every page. You can use them to influence user behavior. It's very common to ask visitors to read more content and stay on your site longer. You can also ask them to share a post or sign up on your site. Membership sites often use CTAs to convince people to sign up to access gated information.
\r\nYou can use CTAs strategically to increase conversions. Launching your website without them leads to missed opportunities.
\r\n\r\n
Editor's note: Looking for the right website design service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nWhen you're creating a website, you may put off adding analytics until later. Very often, the front end of the website is a priority, which leads to back-end features being neglected. If you don't add analytics before your website launches, you won't have the ability to measure web traffic and glean other insights from day one.
\r\nTools like Google Analytics let you know if your marketing strategies are working. It also tells you more about your site visitors so you can figure out what's not working. If you have an online store, you need Google Analytics Ecommerce Reports to understand what products are making the most conversions. You can track your lead conversion rate or the changes and your website revenue in Google Analytics.
\r\nBuild anticipation and create user engagement before your website launches. You can create an attractive Coming Soon page to give users information about your business in advance.
\r\nYou can also use it to create an email list while your site is still under development. If you don't have a Coming Soon page, you miss a lot of opportunities to make your brand memorable. Use a tool like SeedProd to create a Coming Soon page and to get analytics before your website launches.
\r\nIncorporating search engine optimization before you launch your site saves time and resources later. Ranking on search engines matters, because 95% of people don't search beyond the first page. You avoid having to redesign your website when you make SEO part of the design process.
\r\nSearch engines rank websites that are well structured and offer good user experience features. By applying SEO guidelines, you get a faster-loading site and good navigation. SEO best practices also ensure that you use keywords appropriately in page titles, URLs and metadata.
\r\nIt's an enormous challenge to add SEO to your site once it's done. Apply SEO strategies before your website launch, or you may find yourself redesigning your website.
\r\nThe HTTPS protocol encrypts data between a server and a client, creating a secure connection and protecting your users' data. Set up an HTTPS protocol as part of your website development from the start.
\r\nGoogle also uses HTTPS as a ranking factor for websites. Sites with HTTPS show increased traffic and reduced bounce rates. HTTPS for your site is helpful in the following ways:
\r\nIt may seem like a good idea to launch your website on a Friday or the day before a major holiday. However, this can lead to problems that are difficult to quickly resolve.
\r\nYour live site, for example, might be different from your staging site. People also interact with websites in unexpected ways. It's common for bugs to turn up once you have a stream of site visitors. It's not possible to anticipate every single complication that arises as people use your site.
\r\nLaunching over the weekend or the day before a holiday is a bad idea because you might not be able to resolve technical issues that arise. Your development team may not be available, and you'll miss the opportunity that the weekend or holiday presents. It's better to make your launch a gradual process so you can monitor issues as they occur.
\r\nManaging website redirects when you're creating a brand-new website can seriously affect your site ranking and traffic. If you're replacing your current website with a new one, it's important that search engines understand the changes you're making.
\r\nYou may have several pages that attract a lot of visitors and rank well on search engines. It's possible to lose traffic and your ranking if you don't use redirects. Redirects do just what their name indicates: They redirect search engines and your users from the old location of your content to the new one.
\r\nIf you've made any URL changes at all, you need to use 301 redirects to point users to the right location on your new site. A 301 redirect ensures that your popular pages retain their high rankings. It tells search engines where the page has been moved so that it still ranks highly for relevant keywords and phrases. This prevents user frustration when they look for your old pages.
\r\nCreating a new website is labor-intensive and time-consuming. It is also a labor of love, and you want all of your hard work to be rewarded with success. You need to make sure everything goes well on your website launch date so that the most important features are up and running when your visitors arrive.
\r\nThe design and appearance of your website are extremely important, but they are only one portion. Several back-end functions are essential for a website to run well. By avoiding the common mistakes above, you can rest easy that you have the most important tools in place. This allows you to focus on the important things, like fulfilling user expectations and growing your business right from the day of the launch.
\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_7e5928891625fb9220b0a957291ce704","lastModified":"2019-10-27T12:00:00.000Z","published":"2019-10-27T12:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":"These seven steps will increase your ranking on search engines and boost conversions.","template":"v1","title":"7 To-Dos Before Launching a Business Website","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"Co-Founder of WPForms, one of the largest WordPress contact form plugins in the market. I have been programming for over a decade and enjoy creating plugins that help people create powerful web designs without touching code.","name":"Jared Atchison","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredatch/","twitter":"https://twitter.com/jaredatch","website":"https://wpforms.com/"},"status":"enabled","title":null,"type":"New BDC Member","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/uploads/user/profile/56fb0d4068e911338bafae9b81049fd27bb76.jpg","profile":{"company":"WPForms","jobTitle":"Co-Founder","website":"https://wpforms.com/"}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Solutions","slug":"marketing-solutions"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"How do you make your website launch as smooth as possible? Follow these seven tips to boost your website traffic and conversions.","title":"7 Tips to Ensure a Successful Website Launch - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"toc":[{"id":"1-use-calls-to-action","title":"1. Use calls to action."},{"id":"2-add-analytics","title":"2. Add analytics."},{"id":"3-create-a-coming-soon-page","title":"3. Create a Coming Soon page."},{"id":"4-apply-seo-before-the-website-launch","title":"4. Apply SEO before the website launch."},{"id":"5-use-https-protocol","title":"5. Use HTTPS protocol."},{"id":"6-pick-your-launch-date-wisely","title":"6. Pick your launch date wisely."},{"id":"7-create-redirects","title":"7. Create redirects."},{"id":"launch-your-website-without-serious-oversights","title":"Launch your website without serious oversights."}],"json":[{"component":"p","children":["Launching your new website can be very exciting. You're about to unveil a new look for your brand. It's important, therefore, to have everything in place to ensure a successful launch. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There are several common mistakes that developers and business owners make when launching a site. You can avoid them by planning your launch carefully and well in advance. These seven tips will give your business a great new start as you launch your website."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"1-use-calls-to-action"},"children":["1. Use calls to action."]},{"component":"p","children":["A well-designed website with compelling content is ineffective without calls to action. CTAs give users something to do with the information they've received from your site. It makes their interaction on your website feel complete. It can also direct the user further along your sales funnel. "]},{"component":"p","children":["It's important to place CTAs on nearly every page. You can use them to influence user behavior. It's very common to ask visitors to read more content and stay on your site longer. You can also ask them to share a post or sign up on your site. ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://memberpress.com/membership-sites-101/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow noopener external"},"children":["Membership sites"]}," often use CTAs to convince people to sign up to access gated information. "]},{"component":"p","children":["You can use CTAs strategically to ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-get-people-to-click-your-call-to-action-buttons/"},"children":["increase conversions"]},". Launching your website without them leads to missed opportunities."]},{"component":"p","children":[" "]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"strong","children":["Editor's note: Looking for the right website design service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs."]},{"component":"strong"}]},{"component":"RfqWidget","props":{"className":"bz-form-widget","id":"bz-form-widget-0","widgetCategoryId":"10118"},"children":[" "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"2-add-analytics"},"children":["2. Add analytics."]},{"component":"p","children":["When you're ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://www.wpbeginner.com/guides/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow noopener external"},"children":["creating a website"]},", you may put off ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.blogtyrant.com/install-google-analytics/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["adding analytics"]}," until later. Very often, the front end of the website is a priority, which leads to back-end features being neglected. If you don't add analytics before your website launches, you won't have the ability to measure web traffic and glean other insights from day one."]},{"component":"p","children":["Tools like Google Analytics let you know if your marketing strategies are working. It also tells you more about your site visitors so you can figure out what's not working. If you have an online store, you need Google Analytics Ecommerce Reports to understand what products are making the most conversions. You can track your lead conversion rate or the changes and your website revenue in Google Analytics."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"3-create-a-coming-soon-page"},"children":["3. Create a Coming Soon page."]},{"component":"p","children":["Build anticipation and create user engagement before your website launches. You can create an attractive Coming Soon page to give users information about your business in advance."]},{"component":"p","children":["You can also use it to create an email list while your site is still under development. If you don't have a Coming Soon page, you miss a lot of opportunities to make your brand memorable. Use a tool like ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.seedprod.com/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow noopener external"},"children":["SeedProd"]}," to create a Coming Soon page and to get analytics before your website launches."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"4-apply-seo-before-the-website-launch"},"children":["4. Apply SEO before the website launch."]},{"component":"p","children":["Incorporating search engine optimization before you launch your site saves time and resources later. Ranking on search engines matters, because ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://optinmonster.com/content-marketing-statistics/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["95% of people don't search beyond the first page"]},". You avoid having to redesign your website when you make SEO part of the design process. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Search engines rank websites that are well structured and offer good user experience features. By applying SEO guidelines, you get a faster-loading site and good navigation. SEO best practices also ensure that you use keywords appropriately in page titles, URLs and metadata."]},{"component":"p","children":["It's an enormous challenge to add SEO to your site once it's done. Apply ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/website-seo-strategies/"},"children":["SEO strategies before your website launch"]},", or you may find yourself redesigning your website. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"5-use-https-protocol"},"children":["5. Use HTTPS protocol."]},{"component":"p","children":["The HTTPS protocol encrypts data between a server and a client, creating a secure connection and protecting your users' data. Set up an HTTPS protocol as part of your website development from the start. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Google also uses HTTPS as a ranking factor for websites. Sites with HTTPS show increased traffic and reduced bounce rates. HTTPS for your site is helpful in the following ways:"]},{"component":"ul","children":[{"component":"li","children":["It encrypts information so that eavesdroppers can't steal information and track user activities."]},{"component":"li","children":["It protects data integrity during data transfers and prevents data from being corrupted."]},{"component":"li","children":["It authenticates that your users communicate with the real website."]}]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"6-pick-your-launch-date-wisely"},"children":["6. Pick your launch date wisely."]},{"component":"p","children":["It may seem like a good idea to launch your website on a Friday or the day before a major holiday. However, this can lead to problems that are difficult to quickly resolve."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your live site, for example, might be different from your staging site. People also interact with websites in unexpected ways. It's common for bugs to turn up once you have a stream of site visitors. It's not possible to anticipate every single complication that arises as people use your site. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Launching over the weekend or the day before a holiday is a bad idea because you might not be able to resolve technical issues that arise. Your development team may not be available, and you'll miss the opportunity that the weekend or holiday presents. It's better to make your launch a gradual process so you can monitor issues as they occur. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"7-create-redirects"},"children":["7. Create redirects."]},{"component":"p","children":["Managing website redirects when you're creating a brand-new website can seriously affect your site ranking and traffic. If you're replacing your current website with a new one, it's important that search engines understand the changes you're making. "]},{"component":"p","children":["You may have several pages that attract a lot of visitors and rank well on search engines. It's possible to lose traffic and your ranking if you don't use redirects. Redirects do just what their name indicates: They redirect search engines and your users from the old location of your content to the new one. "]},{"component":"p","children":["If you've made any URL changes at all, you need to use 301 redirects to point users to the right location on your new site. A 301 redirect ensures that your popular pages retain their high rankings. It tells search engines where the page has been moved so that it still ranks highly for relevant keywords and phrases. This prevents user frustration when they look for your old pages."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"launch-your-website-without-serious-oversights"},"children":["Launch your website without serious oversights."]},{"component":"p","children":["Creating a new website is labor-intensive and time-consuming. It is also a labor of love, and you want all of your hard work to be rewarded with success. You need to make sure everything goes well on your website launch date so that the most important features are up and running when your visitors arrive."]},{"component":"p","children":["The design and appearance of your website are extremely important, but they are only one portion. Several back-end functions are essential for a website to run well. By avoiding the common mistakes above, you can rest easy that you have the most important tools in place. This allows you to focus on the important things, like fulfilling user expectations and growing your business right from the day of the launch."]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":null,"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5db/30fd55a215edb398b4583/1500-0-","caption":"Craft24 / Getty Images","isBlurred":false},"bestPicks":null},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"UX and Conversion Rate Optimization: What You Need to Know","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/ux-and-conversion-rate-optimization/","slug":"ux-and-conversion-rate-optimization","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ef/dec7b5a215eaa0e8b457b/1500-0-","dek":"UX and conversion rate optimization are two critical aspects of your business. Learn how to improve these elements on your website and how they tie together to form an unmatched customer experience.","lastModified":"2020-07-02T20:18:00Z","published":"2020-07-02T20:18:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Manage Digital Marketing for Small Business","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/the-digital-marketing-revolution-and-how-small-business-owners-can-keep-up/","slug":"the-digital-marketing-revolution-and-how-small-business-owners-can-keep-up","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5db/99fc09c658a1b268b4579/1500-0-","dek":"As the digital marketing landscape changes and evolves, what small business owners need to know in order to stay ahead of the curve.","lastModified":"2019-11-01T18:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-01T18:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Progressive Web Apps: The New Must-Have Format for Mobile Branding","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/progressive-web-apps/","slug":"progressive-web-apps","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5dc/b4d7c7b4374a4758b457b/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how progressive web apps are changing how businesses connect with their audiences.","lastModified":"2019-11-14T14:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-14T14:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Why and How to Create Video Content to Help Your Business","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/video-content-marketing-for-business/","slug":"video-content-marketing-for-business","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5e0/698359c658a464e8b456e/1500-0-","dek":"Find out why viewers respond to video content marketing and how it can help your business.","lastModified":"2020-07-23T17:48:00Z","published":"2019-12-30T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How SEO Can Help You Overcome the Impact of COVID-19","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/seo-to-overcome-crisis/","slug":"seo-to-overcome-crisis","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f2/8ac2c9c658af4788b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Don't reduce your SEO and marketing activities during the current crisis. Learn how SEO will help you stay in the minds of your audience and help you thrive in the future.","lastModified":"2020-08-04T13:00:00Z","published":"2020-08-04T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"5 Ways to Make Your Brand More Memorable","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/branding-tips-for-small-business/","slug":"branding-tips-for-small-business","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5dc/2f73a9c658a67048b4583/1500-0-","dek":"Standing out is challenging. Small businesses need to use different methods to make an impression on their audience.","lastModified":"2019-11-08T13:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-08T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"5 Creative Video Marketing Tips for Small Businesses","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/creative-video-marketing-tips/","slug":"creative-video-marketing-tips","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5b9/6a3f992a3a4121d8b456c/1500-0-","dek":"Ready to grow traffic with video? Here are five video marketing tips for SMBs.","lastModified":"2018-09-10T17:00:00Z","published":"2018-09-10T17:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Inject Creativity Into Your Business's Marketing Methods","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/inject-creativity-into-your-business-marketing-methods/","slug":"inject-creativity-into-your-business-marketing-methods","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5e0/b9a7c5a215e2b0d8b4576/1500-0-","dek":"The more creativity you can include in your campaigns, the better off you (and your brand) will be.","lastModified":"2020-01-05T13:00:00Z","published":"2020-01-05T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"The Best SEO Strategies for Your WordPress Site","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/wordpress-seo-strategies/","slug":"wordpress-seo-strategies","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5dc/f007b5a215e7f2f8b4573/1500-0-","dek":"WordPress is one of the most popular and easy-to-use website platforms out there. But do you know how to optimize your WordPress site? Explore different strategies you can use to improve WordPress SEO and help your site grow.","lastModified":"2019-11-18T16:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-18T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Make Your First Trade Show a Success","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/first-trade-show-checklist/","slug":"first-trade-show-checklist","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ac/ffbf651ee47e0158b4587/1500-0-","dek":"This checklist of 22 essential elements will help you pull off a successful event.","lastModified":"2018-04-12T07:00:00Z","published":"2018-04-12T07:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"7 Ways to Stand Out on Social Media","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/stand-out-on-social-media/","slug":"stand-out-on-social-media","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5db/f44c09c658a61258b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Make sure all your hard work on branding pays off.","lastModified":"2019-11-05T14:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-05T14:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How Can Businesses Thrive in the Age of Digital Demand?","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/business-in-the-age-of-digital-demand/","slug":"business-in-the-age-of-digital-demand","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5da/f8d8d5a215ef63a8b456e/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how brick-and-mortar businesses are using technology to succeed in a digital world.","lastModified":"2019-10-23T16:00:00Z","published":"2019-10-23T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false}],"relatedReviews":[{"doc_type":"category","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5b99633151ee47a8528b4582/Call_center_bbernard.jpg","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/call-center-services/","title":"The Best Call Center Services for 2021","dek":"Our team has compared the best call center services for 2021. See up-to-date reviews for the top-rated answering services.","slug":"call-center-services","lastModified":"2021-02-26T14:22:00Z"},{"doc_type":"category","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5df7b1b69c658a61728b4567/Answering_Service_scyther5_Getty.jpg","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/best-answering-services/","title":"The Best Answering Services of 2021","dek":"Our teams have compared the best answering services for 2020. See up-to-date reviews and prices for these top-rated services.","slug":"best-answering-services","lastModified":"2021-02-26T14:18:00Z"},{"doc_type":"category","thumbnail":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5d4c65367b43741a258b4572/Laptop_Sfio_Cracho.png","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/categories/crm-software/","title":"The Best CRM Software of 2021","dek":"Looking for the best CRM software? We have easy-to-read, expert unbiased reviews and feature comparisons of the best and cheapest programs.","slug":"crm-software","lastModified":"2021-02-24T14:09:00Z"}],"relatedSponsoredArticles":null}},"pageContext":{"displayModified":"2019-10-27T12:00:00.000Z","template":"v1","title":"7 To-Dos Before Launching a Business Website","meta":{"robots":"index, follow"},"docType":"articles","slug":"website-mistakes-to-avoid","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/website-mistakes-to-avoid/","skipTOC":false}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}