29 Easy and Effective Tips for Successfully Launching Your Beautiful New Website
Itโs understandable to feel a little anxious about the marketing side of your website launch. Thatโs why I feel itโs important to help and support clients through โlaunchโ overwhelm too.
As a Squarespace web designer, the launch ๐of a new website represents the culmination of our collaborative work together - itโs an exciting time! Oh, quick thought - please DONโT launch on a Friday! Wednesday is a great day!
For the client, thereโs a range of emotions at play and whilst thereโs very definitely excitement, it can also feel a little nerve-wracking. After all, so much energy, anticipation and of course, investment of your time and money has led to this launch and so itโs understandable to experience some โlaunchโ nerves and overwhelm.
Fears can also start to bubble up under the surface and before you know it, youโre considering what happens if no one knows, sees or is interested in your new site. Donโt worry - letโs formulate a plan of actionโฆ
The great news is that launching a new website, will provide lots of genuine interest and attention to your new site so itโs a good idea to do some prepping and brainstorming before the big day to capitalise on that extra traffic.
Simple marketing steps you can take to help prepare for the launch of your new website.
Get strategic & make a plan
Have a think prior to your launch and ask yourself, what end result do you most want to see? Is it sign-ups to your newsletter, new clients, more sales or something else?
Send them on a mission - where do you want to send them exactly?
What specific content is going to help them? Perhaps a blog post, product, video or service. Prioritise your time on the areas that are most important to you.
Or, do you want your audience to take a specific action such as making an appointment with you?
Monkey see monkey do. Is there a way to show your product or service in action either with video, images or illustration?
Build anticipation for your website launch
Make the most of this pre-launch period by building anticipation for your new website and generating some social media posts BEFORE and AFTER your launch.
To easily create some graphics, I recommend using Canva - a free and easy-to-use design tool to create some draft social media posts ahead of time and then have them ready.
Remember to keep your posts โon brandโ ie. colour, logo, wording, the imagery used etc. Learn more about this in my blog posts on visual and verbal branding.
Share a visual peek of your new website - example created in Canva
Share a mixture of posts before the launch to drum up some excitement and to keep the conversation going. For example: โStay tuned for our new look, next weekโ. Or, โLook out for our special announcement, coming up next weekโ.
Create some โcountdownโ posts to build anticipation - like the example below.
Countdown example post
Create a Giveaway.๏ปฟ
If you offer a product - could you do an โunboxingโ peek?
Could you put together a special offer, discount code or bundle package?
PS. Just a word of caution, in some instances you might want to hold off from sharing the new website link until youโre sure that your website has got your full ok.
Hype yourself!
Once your site has launched, donโt bring your sharing to a sudden halt! Remember, your audience might not be aware of your news for a couple of months or so after launch, so keep sharing.
Things to think about:
Share a new bio shot and link it to your โaboutโ page. Letโs โface itโ, weโre hard-wired to interact with peopleโs faces.
A quick tip: our brains can process images better if they are positioned to the left of the text.
Donโt forget to include a clear CTA (call to action). See below for some ideas.
Donโt be afraid to ask friends, relatives or colleagues to share your happy news. One or two shares can really make a difference.
Could you pitch a guest post or an interesting angle for a podcast interview? You could include a special offer or private content exclusively for their audience if this would fit with your demographic.
Approach your local newspaper or radio station.
Create a press release if thereโs a โnewsworthyโ story that could you pull out of the whole web design process.
If you use an email signature, why not add a โtake a look at our new websiteโ link for the next couple of weeks or so?
Call to action suggestions
When posting, remember to highlight all the bells and whistles for your new site with specific features, rather than being vague. Here are some examples:
โIn case you didnโt know, my blog contains lots of help and tips on (fill in the blank) - have a peek.โ
โHappy days - the new site is live - take a look at our new site for (fill in the blank)โ.
โThanks to (tag a name) for all their help and hard work - we couldnโt have done it without you.โ (Theyโll feel happy to be remembered and will be more than happy to share your post with their audience = a bigger reach).
โWe listened to your feedback and our brand new site includes/does (fill in the blank feature).โ
โHeads up - visit our new website and be sure not to miss out on our limited-time special offer for (fill in the blank).โ
โWeโve made a quick video showing you how to book an appointment with us - book yours now over on the new site.โ
Content strategy
Itโs fantastic having your new shiny and bright online home but try to draft some blog and website content prior to your launch ready for publishing once your site is live. Creating content gives Google a nudge so that it knows that your business is active.
Donโt forget to let your subscribers be a part of the launch. Send an email blast to your mailing lists and consider offering a special incentive or even some new content that wonโt be available anywhere else such as a .pdf or special offer.
Create a blog post sharing a little of your thinking behind the new website, and the design process, and donโt forget to mention any contributors etc. Oh and โbefore and afterโ pics are always fun too.
Congrats on your new site! I know you probably canโt wait to just launch but taking the time to โlaunch wellโ will be so worth it! As always, please leave any questions or comments below and if I can help in any way, just contact me.
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