How to Launch a New Website

Once you spend the time and money build your new website, the next step is to focus on launching that puppy to the world.

What’s that? You’re not sure how to launch a new website? If so, you are not alone. In fact, the web is full of ambitious sites that never received a measurable bit of traffic.

Why is that? Because, even though those sites were built with passion, hopes and dreams, they did not succeed in attracting their target audience. Yes, the web is not a, “build it and they will come” kind of place. The truth is:

If you want your website to achieve the goals for
which it was built, you need to work hard
to promote it to your target customers.

To that end, in order to get your site off on the right foot, you need to make the most of its launch. This means:

1. Using the website launch event as a vehicle to promote your business to both new and existing customers by:
• Building “Buzz” around the launch, and
• Using multiple channels (e.g. e-mail, social media, press releases, etc.) to promote and market your new website.
2. Assuring, right from the start, that your site is set up so that search engines can index and rank your site’s pages.

Below, I’ve gathered a bunch of useful links that will help you figure out how to launch your website successfully so sit back, read away and happy launching!

How to Launch a New Website

Building Buzz

“Building buzz” is a critical factor to the success of any launch. Essentially, “building buzz” is the act of creating excitement around your upcoming launch with both new and existing customers.

Follow the links below for some ideas on how to get your target customers buzzing:

• Elements Of A Viral Launch Page – great tips and inspiration on ways to build big buzz before your website even goes live!
• Let fans help you launch your new site in real-time –  another interesting strategy for building buzz.

Marketing and Promotion

Once you launch your new website, you will want to promote the heck out of it. This will help build traffic which will lead to more traffic, incoming links and higher search engine results which in turn will lead to more sales.

The links below are chock-full of information on how to get the word out about your new site:

• Buzz, Blogs and Beginnings: How to Launch a Website
• How to Launch a New Website and Start Getting Traffic Immediately
• How to Launch Your New Website or Blog
• I Built My Website – Now What? 5 Tips for Marketing Your Website
• Some great tips in this 3-part series:
  • How To Promote Your New Website: Part 1
  • How To Promote Your New Website: Part 2
  • How To Promote Your New Website: Part 3
• High Rankings Question of the Week – advice and tips from others.
• The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Website – basic but solid tips.
• 8 Ways To Promote New eCommerce Business Web Site
• How to launch a new charity website – these tips can actually apply to any type of website.

Launching Your New Website for Search Engines

To help search engines learn about, and add, your site as quickly as possible, there are two important steps to complete. The links below detail both:

• How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines – this should be your very first post-launch step.
• Advantages of a Sitemap – How To Submit A Sitemap To Search Engines – this should be your second post-launch step.

Weekly Link Roundup

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on web-based solutions, online resources and up-to-date news for small businesses.

Enjoy!

58 Ways to Create Persuasive Content Your Audience Will Love: Amazing list of actionable and solid tips that any business can use.

5 Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List: Basic but solid tips on where to include e-mail opt-in forms on your site.

How to Use Google+ Hangouts for Your Business: A step-by-step look at how to use this online gathering place to market, collaborate and get work done.

Why Instagramers are your friends: A great look into why you should encourage folks at your events to take photos and videos and share them via Instagram.

A Web Retailer Buys the Perfect Domain Name. Then Comes a Letdown.: An eye-opening case study about website domain names.

Gamification: 6 tactics for B2B marketers: Love these actionable ways to use gameification to market your B2B business.

Google Officially Launches Google Drive: Google enters the cloud storage space – get the 411 here.

Three Smart Ways to Use Evernote in Business: Handy tips to make the most of this great app.

7 Security Information Buzzwords Every SMB Owner Should Know: For some reason, this post makes me want to play HALO. 🙂

WordPress Stats Infographic: Building a new website? WordPress continues to dominate the playing field.