Building your company’s website can be quite a grueling process, so when you’re at the point where you are finally ready to launch it and share it to the world, what should you do next? Setting it “live” and moving on to your next project isn’t going to provide you with the attention you need to make an impact on your business, so further, ongoing action is necessary to start and continue growing your digital presence.
Here are a few steps you can take to get started on the right foot and get your website in front of the audiences you need.
- Ensure Your Site is Built Correctly
You’ve spent so much time working on your website, so diving back in should be simple. Plus, taking an in-depth look after it has been pushed live will provide you with fresh eyes and new perspective. It is important to verify that your website is optimized for functionality in order to provide the best user experience. Without a good experience, users are going to be put off and end up at a competitor’s site. Understand that customers are searching online for information regarding products and services first, so all of your content should be informative, relevant, and brief. Make sure you provide strong call-to-actions in sensible areas of your site and use a site design that makes sense for your industry, products and services. You want your site to show what your business is all about, but if customers can’t find the information they are looking for within a matter of seconds, they will likely leave. - Make Sure Your Google Analytics & Google My Business Are Setup Properly
Before you can truly find information about your customers, you need to make sure you have Google Analytics set up on your website. This will provide you with valuable information that you can then use to target your advertising to the customers who are looking for what you have to offer. Google My Business is a way to link your website to your Google business listing, and you may need to create the listing or claim it if it hasn’t been done yet. Once you have control of your listing, you can add more information, read and respond to reviews, provide useful, timely information to your customers, and more. - Analyze Your Website Traffic
Once you are sure your Google Analytics is up and running and your site has been live for a bit, take a look at your visitors. Who are they? What devices are they using when coming to your website? How are they finding you (what sources, keywords, and search engines)? This information can help you create an effective marketing campaign, figure out where and how you can re-work your site content and copy for specific keywords, provide consumers with more vital information, and more. Knowing who your customers are is essential to all aspects of your business, so your website should be no different. - Give Your Business a Social Media Presence
If your business doesn’t already an account on social media like Facebook and Twitter, now is the time to start. Social media allows you to reach thousands of potential customers at no cost. While you can run advertising campaigns on these mediums, simply having the page as a way to engage with your customers through posts, comments, messaging and more is important to keep in touch and stay top-of-mind. Make sure your website link is available on your profile page so those who find you can easily navigate to find more information. - Don’t “Set It & Forget It”
It is easy to dust off your hands and move on once you have your website built, but that is the most damaging thing you can do. Without relevant, updated content on your website occurring frequently, you will begin to lose ranking on search and credibility with customers. A simple solution is adding a blog to your site that you post to regularly, which you can write yourself or outsource to freelancers. Don’t limit yourself, though. Posts can be things like infographics based on your industry, information for upcoming events, and more. Just be sure that whatever content you provide, it matches the tone and style you want your business to portray to your customers.While launching and running a website is an ongoing process, it is essential in order to get in front of your current customers and grow your business with those looking for what you have to offer online. Take the process one step at a time and you will be a digital marketing pro in no time.
