5 Steps to Take Before Launching Your Website

Finnegan Pierson

Launching a brand new website can be quite exciting. You probably can't wait to start attracting visitors and helping your business make more sales. Not so fast. It's usually not a good idea to start up a new website without a clear plan in place. There are likely goals you need to set, marketing strategies you must implement and content you should write. In this post, you'll learn about how to prepare for your website launch and a list of things you should do to get started.

Research Your Target Audience

It's often best to know your target audience before you decide to launch your website. It only makes sense because these are the type of customers you want to attract. These are the type of people you want to purchase your product or service. It would probably be disastrous if you built a website that didn't resonate with your audience. Ask yourself the following questions about your audience to better gain a better understanding:

• What do they like?
• What are their interests?
• What problems are they having?
• What goals are they trying to achieve
• What solutions can help them achieve those goals?

Refer to Your Business Plan

When you started your business, you likely had to learn a few things such as how to build a business plan or how to apply for a business license. Within your business plan, you probably wrote a list of expenses and allocated a budget for certain components of your business. Hopefully, you included your website in that list because it's going to cost money to build and maintain. The question is, how much are you willing to spend on your website? There are many things that will affect the cost of your website such as the hosting platform you choose, whether or not you plan to hire a digital marketing agency, the type of theme you want and the content management system (CMS) you plan to implement. Your business plan should include some of these expenses. This can guide you in making certain financial decisions about your website.

Check for Mobile-Friendliness

As mobile devices are becoming easily accessible, the number of people using them has continued to increase significantly. In fact, mobile devices account for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. This is so important for businesses that are building new websites because pages should load quickly, images should render clearly and text should be easy to scan on smaller devices. Having a mobile-friendly site can help you build trust with visitors and can ultimately, increase your rankings because people will likely stay on your page longer. Leads that enjoy a positive experience on your website will likely appreciate your efforts. Even if they don't make a purchase right away, they might keep your brand top-of-mind whenever they do need the type of services you provide.

Include a Contact Page

No matter your industry, your site's visitors should be able to contact you if they have a question or want to provide feedback. If there's no way to contact your business, you can lose out on many customers. Not having a contact page can make people feel like you're not available and can hinder them from trusting you. Before you launch your website, make sure you have a contact page that provides a way for visitors to share their information and get their point across.

Backup Your Site

Technology has made many strides over the years. But sometimes things can go wrong and you won't be able to avoid it. For example, someone could hack your site. To prepare for this type of scenario, you want to ensure you back up your site so that you don't lose important data.

Now that you're armed with a bit more information about starting up your website, use this knowledge to ensure your website's optimal performance.