New Year, New Website? Here's what to do after the launch!

You've launched your new website - congratulations!

We've done hundreds of website launches over the years, so we know how hard you've worked with your web team (or perhaps even with us!) to ensure that every element of your new website is perfect. However, without some tender love and care, all that work can easily be overshadowed if your website is not regularly looked after.

Now that you've invested your time and money into the new website - it's time to put that investment to work! Here is our after-launch checklist to help you really make the most out of your new website and get those visitor conversions.

Let your customers know about your new website

Your customers may not know that you have launched a new website, now would be the perfect time to let them know and reconnect with previous or existing clients.

You can raise awareness by:

• Sending out press releases to local or national publications.
• Post on Social Media channels (such as Facebook or Twitter)
• If you have email subscribers, send out an Email Newsletter
• Updating your email signature or any letterheads, business cards and invoices
• Update any online directories you may be listed on such as Yell
• If you’re a member of a professional organisation or networking group, update your profile to include your new web address
• Optimise your website to become more visible

If you’ve watched Wayne’s World 2, you may remember Jim Morrison's sage advice “If you book them, they will come.” Booking Aerosmith who have a huge following may help you get ticket sales, but what if people don’t know who Aerosmith is? How do you get the ticket sales then? That’s where SEO comes in.

If you're a new business, customers may not find you by directly typing your domain name into their search bar, but they may find you by searching for a product or service that you offer in Google or Bing, such as "Plumber Tamworth". This is where having a solid SEO strategy comes really useful, especially when you're a new business.

As Tamworth’s only verified Google Partner, we’ve been recognised by Google for our quality of work and dedication to providing good, honest SEO. If you would like to find out more about getting SEO on your new website, please let us know!

Keep your new Website safe from hackers

We know there's nothing worse than waking up one morning to find that your website has been hacked by some nefarious hacker! Here are some of our top tips to keep your new website safe from hackers:

• Plan regular backups (we do this for you nightly if you have a hosting plan with us)
• Exercise caution when installing WordPress plugins
• Use an SSL (Green Padlock) on your site
• If you’re an eCommerce store, carry out PCI-Compliance checks
• Keep your software up-to-date (We can help with this)
• Use secure passwords where possible, do not use the same password for each mailbox

What is an SSL Certificate?

Have you seen a little green padlock in your browser window and wondered what it is? That small green padlock lets customers know that when they fill out fields on your website, that the data is sent securely to you without anyone in the middle being able to steal that info. Since October 2017, browsers have been showing warning screens before sites that do not have one installed, prompting them to think twice before they click through to visit the website — losing businesses valuable leads! To prevent this from happening, you can add an SSL Certificate to your site for £54 per year. If you would like to add an SSL to your website, contact us!.

Double check your content

If you’ve updated your new website with content from a previous one, now would be a perfect time to check it over and ensure that it still reflects the goals of your business. Your content should be clear, useful and consistent.

• Proofread your content for spelling mistakes and grammar
• Ensure your writing is consistent in style, especially if different members of your team have contributed
• Content is formatted and structured properly – are you making the most of your titles?
• Contact details are easy to find and accurate – have you changed a phone number or email address?
• Images, videos and links work correctly

Plan your next launch

“But I’ve just had a new website” I can hear you say, but don’t worry – we don’t mean having a whole new website each time! Doing small launches can help you focus on one area of your website, such as your service pages, and as an added bonus, search engines also love to see that you’re making regular updates to your website. So, what should you do for each small launch?

• Revisit the service/product pages on your website and ensure information is accurate
• Take a look at the photographs on your website, did you use stock photographs in the beginning because you did not have time to take pictures of your business in action? Use this time to replace them with some action shots!
• Did you do a big project recently? Why not do a write up about the project and how you achieved your goals. These can be included as examples on your service pages.
• Do you have a portfolio or gallery page? Update these regularly with new jobs or images

It may seem daunting to carry out all these steps, but by breaking these down into monthly tasks you will see a return on your investment much faster, as well as keeping your site healthy in the long run!

Don’t worry if you feel overwhelmed in the process, we’re here to help! We're available between the hours of 9 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday, and 24/7 on email so please do get in touch with us if you have any questions or need some help with keeping your website up to date!

Do you have a great tip or method for keeping your website up to date that we’ve missed? Why not let us know in the comments!