Launching Your Website and Going Live
You’ve built your website, customized its appearance, added content, and optimized it for speed and security—now it’s time for the exciting part: launching your website and sharing it with the world! Launching your site is more than just clicking “publish.” There are a few important steps to make sure everything is ready for a smooth debut.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the final checklist to ensure your website is fully prepared for launch and show you how to promote it to your target audience.
1. Final Pre-Launch Checklist
Before you officially launch your website, it’s important to go through a final pre-launch checklist to ensure everything is working properly. Missing details or overlooked issues can negatively impact your users’ experience, so take the time to double-check the following:
Test Your Website on Multiple Devices
Make sure your website is responsive and looks great on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Most visitors will access your site on a mobile device, so ensuring a smooth mobile experience is critical.
- How to Test: Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or simply open your site on different devices and browsers to see how it performs.
Check All Links
Make sure all internal and external links on your website are working correctly. Broken links can frustrate visitors and harm your SEO, so it’s important to identify and fix any broken links before launch.
- How to Check: Use a tool like Broken Link Checker to scan your site for broken links and update or remove them as necessary.
Proofread Your Content
Go through every page and blog post on your website to ensure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes. Well-written, error-free content makes your website look professional and credible.
- How to Proofread: You can either proofread manually or use tools like Grammarly to catch any errors you may have missed.
Test Contact Forms
If your website includes any contact forms, ensure they are functioning correctly. Submit a few test forms to see if they’re being sent and received properly, and check that the email notifications are working.
- How to Test: Simply fill out the forms and submit them. Check your inbox to make sure you receive the test submissions.
2. Set Up Google Analytics and Search Console
To track your website’s traffic and performance after launch, it’s essential to set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools help you monitor who’s visiting your site, how they found it, and which pages are most popular.
- Google Analytics: Google Analytics provides insights into your visitors’ behavior, including page views, bounce rates, and the average time spent on your site. By installing the MonsterInsights plugin or adding the tracking code manually, you can start gathering this valuable data right away.
- Google Search Console: Google Search Console helps you track your website’s presence in Google search results. You’ll be able to see which keywords are driving traffic to your site, submit sitemaps, and receive notifications about potential SEO issues.
3. Set Up a Backup System
Launching your website is a big step, but it’s also crucial to ensure that your site is protected in case something goes wrong. Setting up a reliable backup system ensures that you can quickly recover your website if any issues arise, such as a crash or hack.
- Why It’s Important: A backup system saves copies of your website’s files and database, allowing you to restore them in the event of a problem.
- How to Set Up Backups: Use a plugin like UpdraftPlus to schedule regular backups of your site. Make sure the backups are stored off-site (such as on Google Drive or Dropbox) so they’re safe even if your server goes down.
4. Create a Launch Plan
Now that your website is ready to go live, you’ll want to create a launch plan to build anticipation and attract visitors. This involves sharing your website with your target audience through various channels.
Announce on Social Media
Leverage your social media accounts to let people know about your website launch. Create posts that build excitement and provide a preview of what visitors can expect from your site.
- How to Promote: Share links to your website on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Use attention-grabbing visuals and clear calls to action to drive traffic.
Email Your List
If you already have an email list, send out a special launch announcement to your subscribers. This can be as simple as an invitation to explore the new website, along with a summary of its key features.
- How to Create an Email Blast: Use email marketing tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to design an engaging email and track how many people click through to your site.
Collaborate with Influencers
If applicable, reach out to influencers in your niche who can help promote your website to their audience. Building partnerships with bloggers, YouTubers, or social media influencers can drive new traffic and increase your website’s visibility.
- How to Collaborate: Offer them something of value, like exclusive content or a discount, in exchange for promoting your website to their followers.
5. Submit Your Website to Search Engines
Once your website is live, it’s time to notify search engines like Google so they can start crawling and indexing your site. This will help your site show up in search results, allowing potential visitors to find your content.
- Submit Your Sitemap: A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site. By submitting it to Google Search Console, you make it easier for Google to find and index your content. To do this, go to Google Search Console, navigate to the Sitemaps section, and enter your sitemap’s URL (e.g., yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml).
6. Monitor and Improve After Launch
Launching your website is just the beginning. Once your site is live, it’s important to regularly monitor its performance and make improvements based on user feedback and analytics data.
- Track Visitor Behavior: Use Google Analytics to track how visitors are interacting with your site. Which pages are most popular? Where are visitors dropping off? This data can help you identify areas for improvement.
- Review and Respond to Feedback: Encourage visitors to provide feedback on their experience with your site. This could be in the form of a contact form, survey, or comments section. Use their feedback to make necessary changes and enhancements.
- Regular Updates: Keep your website up to date with fresh content, updated plugins, and regular security checks. A well-maintained site not only ranks better in search engines but also keeps visitors engaged.
7. Celebrate Your Launch!
After all your hard work, it’s time to celebrate! Launching a website is no small feat, and you should take pride in what you’ve accomplished. Now that your site is live, you can focus on growing your audience, sharing valuable content, and expanding your online presence.
You’re Ready to Go Live!
Launching your website is an exciting milestone, but it’s important to ensure everything is in place for a smooth rollout. By following this guide—testing your site, setting up analytics, creating a launch plan, and submitting your site to search engines—you’ll be well-prepared for a successful launch.
With your website live, the next step is to focus on ongoing maintenance and growth. Ready to share your site with the world? Let’s go live!