Launching a website may be stressful and overwhelming. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a personal blog or a business website, the issue is still the same: you can start promoting your site so real, human visitors can find you and enjoy your content.
Over the past month I’ve been working on my payments blog. Before I started I made a lot of mistakes. What people don’t understand is that building and designing your site is only the first step. How you launch your site is what will determine how quickly it takes off and starts working for you.
This post will give you a game plan for what you need to do when you’re ready (or almost ready) to launch your site so that you can avoid some of the problems I had:
1. Set up a pre-launch page
Just because your site isn’t ready for visitors doesn’t mean you can’t start promoting it. In fact, promoting your site with a pre-launch countdown can generate even more interest and enthusiasm than promoting it after it’s launched.
Include a signup box so visitors can get notified when you actually launch. LeadPages offers low-cost launch page templates you can use for your site. If you use WordPress, you can download and install a plugin like EZP Coming Soon Page or Easy Coming Soon.
2. Create at least 3-5 pieces of high-quality content
Any promotional strategies you use will rely heavily on content. Visitors will expect to see excellent content that’s highly valuable in your niche; if they don’t, they’ll likely never visit your site again.
Before you launch, write several (minimum 3, preferably 10) pieces of amazing content. If you can shoot for 1,200+ words per piece, you have the best chance of ranking in the search engines, and the best chance of getting links to your site.
Some content ideas for these inaugural pieces could be:
How to posts.
Expert roundups: Ask leading experts in your field for their opinions or advice on a certain topic.
Tutorials.
Practical advice for overcoming a common problem in your niche.
FAQ’s in your industry.
A list of industry definitions.
For more tips on creating excellent content, see my post 12 Tricks To Take Your Content From Good to Great.
3. Give your visitors a way to sign up for your email list
An email list will give you a way to connect with your visitors, even if they never end up on your site again. Sign up with an email marketing service like MailChimp or AWeber, and then use one of their pre-designed templates to add an opt-in box to your site.
Remember to give visitors an incentive to join your list; for instance, a free ebook or guide that offers valuable information to your target audience.
4. Start networking with influencers in your field
This strategy works best if you have a non-commercial site; however, it can also work for business sites that have a bunch of great content.
Reach out to well-known people in your field and let them know about your new site. Not sure who to contact? Use a tool like BuzzSumo to find bloggers, businesses, journalists and social media influencers who might be interested in sharing your site with their followers.
I recommend starting off slow by following them on social media, and sharing their content with your audience (no matter how small). Read their blog posts, and leave thoughtful comments. After a little while, you can send them an email giving a brief introduction. Don’t ask them to share your content; if your content is truly valuable, they’ll recognize that and share it on their own.
5. Set up online alerts for your blog name
As you promote your site, you’ll want to stay up to date with when and where your site is being mentioned online. This will help you gauge the success of your outreach efforts and focus your efforts on the strategies that are working.
To get notified of any blog or media mentions, be sure to sign up for Google Alerts. To see what people are saying about your site on social media, try Mention or Hootsuite.
6. Start getting free links and publicity with HARO
As the owner of a brand new website, getting publicity can be a challenge. However, using a service like Help A Reporter (HARO) is probably your best bet at getting free PR right out of the gate.
After signing up, you’ll receive media queries to your inbox three times a day. When you see a query that you can answer, send an email off to the journalist immediately, offering detailed insights into the question and providing links to one or two of your most awesome blog posts that are relevant to the query.
7. Upload an XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is a document that provides the search engines with a listing of pages and posts on your site. It allows Google to crawl your site more efficiently, meaning your content could be indexed more quickly.
If you have a WordPress site, you can download and install the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. If you use any other platform, you can create a sitemap using the XML Sitemaps generator, and then upload it to the root directory of your site (e.g., www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml).
8. Learn the basics of SEO
While you don’t need to be an SEO expert to start ranking in the search engines, it is important to have a few basics in place. A few of the most important elements to have in place when you launch your site are:
Use your keywords (words and phrases you want to rank for) in strategic areas of your page: your navigation bar, your title tags, post titles, header tags, alt image tags, etc.
Consistently add original content.
Build links to your site. For more on this, see my post 6 Easy Link Building Strategies For Your New Website.
Make sure your URLs use words instead of numbers or symbols (this is referred to as your permalink structure).
Make sure your site is mobile-friendly.
If you have a WordPress site, start by downloading and installing a plugin like Yoast SEO. This will ensure that you at least have the basics covered.
9. Install Google Analytics
Given the time and effort you’re going to put into promoting your site, it’s important that you know exactly how much traffic you’re getting and where those visitors are coming from. Google Analytics is free, easy to set up and will help you figure out exactly which strategies are working (and which ones aren’t).
10. Add your site to Google Search Console
The Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is a set of tools put together by Google to help you manage the health of your site in the search engines. If Google finds any issues with your site, this is where you’ll be notified.