I know your excited – I always get excited too before launch. It’s never a great idea to launch a website without a web strategy plan, but if you don’t have time for a full plan – make sure you cover the basics. There are rare circumstances where a website is successful right away without up front planning. It has happened for me in one case with IowaFlood.com – but that was a good (lucky) implementation that was right place at the right time.
Before you hit the “ON” switch on that shiny new website (hopefully a WordPress site!) here are 5 things you should take care of…
1. Define your Goals
We always recommend you define your goals for the website before you launch. By defining your goals right away you have a clear focus and easily measured milestones. If you have no goals for the site – maybe you should think twice about launching. Afterall – it’s a lot of work.
2. Checkout the Competition
You probably already have an idea of another website you have used for inspiration for your idea – some that you wish to emulate. Combine that list with the first page of Google results for the search terms you are targeting on your website. Now visit those sites and simply check out what they are doing… How are they converting leads? What content are they producing? How is their site structured? If they are successful there are tangible reasons that you should emulate on your new site.
3. Analytics, Analytics, Analytics
Before you launch – make sure you have web analytics software installed – whether it is Google Analyics, Clicky Analytics or something else. Just make sure it’s installed and working before you publicly launch your website. You need to track everything – from the beginning. This data will be extremely helpful later on in your web strategy lifecycle.
4. Develop your Workflow
Admittedly this is something we have learned the hard way. It’s hard to keep our website running well without a schedule. This is analogous to scheduled maintenance for your car.. If you don’t keep servicing your vehicle it will break down on you. An effective web strategy should have a scheduled workflow associated to it. If not – I guarantee you will never check your web analytics, produce regular content, or find time to participate in your community. Set aside time for your web strategy. Add it to your calendar. Trust me – this will make you more productive and allow you to keep a well-oiled website.
5. Seed your Site with Content
Don’t launch a website without content – and please, please, please, please don’t launch with a “Coming Soon” or “Under Construction” image on your site. Nothing will deter future visitors more than being 100% underwhelmed on their first visit. Before you publicly announce your site be sure there is sufficient content to keep people there once you announce it. We recommend having at least five blog posts along with your traditional “about” and “contact us” content.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
#6 Test, Re-Test and Re-Re-Test. Make sure the flow is right and that your site works well in the vast majority of browsers. You can use tools like http://browsershots.org/ to get a snapshot of how your site renders.
#7 Have a non-technical user (spouse/parent/hobo off the street) use the site. Watch what they do and where they struggle. Resist the urge to direct them. You will be amazed how your perception and the reality of your site's usability are not always in sync.
Great points… Test Everything! Test your flow, check for 404 issues, test your navigation, make sure your RSS/Email subscriptions work as they should
I love the non-technical suggestion! Sometimes as developers/designers we get caught up in our own vacuum and don't realize glaring faults in our design/system.
Thanks Wade!
Having an internet presence won’t help you anything for your business. It’s much more than just a website. From all the past experiences with the healthcare on the web, the best way to market a medical practice, in my opinion is to control your online reputation. And the absolute best way to do that is have your own review site where you have your patients write reviews. This will allow you to control which reviews get published online for others to see.
Imagine a review site that notifies you every time one of your patients writes a review. Then you can decide whether that review gets pushed out over the internet and to search engines like Google and Yahoo. Essentially you get to control your Medical practice’s reputation online. I came across a website designing and marketing company named as http://www.medicalwebexperts.com , with which I had a contract for advertising and optimizing my website to make it google-friendly, and most importantly patient friendly. My aim was not only creating money by marketing the website, but providing care and comfort to the patients by providing them some crucial information. The main problem with my website was found to be improper website coding and irrelevancy of content, which resisted my website to be listed in top most search result and far beyond reaching the favorite list of websites for patients, and there were no provisions to have some two way communication with patients and doctors. This hindered website from being popular .The Company did well in reconstructing my website, making it popular using SEO techniques. They also added the functionalities like education to patients, patient portals to keep track of their health, discussion board to allow every patient to express their opinions and experiences, which might help other patients. Such facilities helped my patients to interact with each other, and getting the reviews from each other regarding the practices. The benefits were then slowly coming into action. The trust factor and the soft corner for the doctors seemed to emerge in patients and that was the desperate goal I was trying to pursue. Website helped me getting a good sum of patients at my doorstep, as well as creating a better relationship with the patients. Web marketing really helped my business work, making my investments in SEO worthy.