A2X Consulting

Launching a website is nothing to take lightly. You only get one chance to make a first impression on your readers, and the beginning stages of your website’s development will determine where it goes in the days yet to come. As you wrap up your development and design phases, be sure to incorporate all 5 of these essential ingredients for a successful website launch.

1. Comprehensive Usability Testing
   Nothing is worse for a website launch than pages that are riddled with bugs and glitches. If a user’s first experience with your website on launch day is a catastrophic crash, you can bet you’ve lost a reader for good. Conduct comprehensive usability testing on your website before launching. Go over every page with a fine-toothed comb and have others do the same for you. You may even want to invest in a professional usability testing program to get the best results and work out any bugs in your website’s coding and layout before it hits the web.
2. A Sufficient Hosting Package
   You can never predict how successful a website launch will be, so your best bet is always to opt for as much hosting as you can afford. Be sure to invest in a sufficient hosting package for your website before you open it up to the public. Insufficient hosting will leave you with sapped bandwidth quicker than you’d expect, and your website needs to be completely open and accessible during its first days. Consider your hosting needs carefully, and never compromise for less than you need.
3. Social Media Promotion
   Facebook isn’t just for fun anymore. What started out as a procrastination platform for many is now one of the internet’s most promising promotional avenues. Getting the word out about your new website is essential to a successful launch; if no one knows about your coming website, how are they going to find it? Social media is your best tool for website launch promotion, and it’s completely free to use. Get people excited and encourage them to share your posts to spread the word about your coming launch. If people are looking forward to your website’s grand opening, you’re sure to launch successfully.
4. Perfect Web Page Design
   No amount of promotional work can save a website that is poorly designed. Even if you draw in thousands of visitors on your launch day, you can’t call it a success unless they come back. If you don’t have the knowledge or aesthetic sensibility needed to design an attractive website, outsource your design needs to a company like FireBubble, or one of the many other available services. Investing in professional design is a worthy cause, considering that the alternative is a poorly designed website.
5. Strong Followup Content
   As already stated, you need your visitors to come back to your website. Why should they visit again if they are only going to be greeted by the same old content? Your website needs to be dynamic. Update actively and regularly. Give your readers fresh content to sink their teeth into, and always strive to be both fresh and relevant. A launch can only be called a success if it builds a strong following, so focus on drawing in repeat visitors for your new website.