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8 things to do before launching a new website

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If you’ve just designed your new website; congratulations! Now you must be eager to launch and share it with the world. Here at Go Sitebuilder, we know how important the time leading up to launch can be. That’s why we’ve put together these 8 steps that will help you start off on the right foot and head towards success.

1. Target audience

Before you hit the button, it is important to know exactly who your target audience is. These are the people who are likely to interact with your business. It all comes down to your industry and services. For example, a company that offers electrical works would most commonly be accessed by home-owners and landlords, which would make this their target audience.

2. Market comparison

Seeing how your competitors have designed their website could be used as a key indicator of what works within your specific industry – along with what does not. However, we wouldn’t ever recommend that you copy your competitors! Use their information as a starting point in regards to design and the content, but make sure to keep things original and unique to you.

3. Content evaluation

Being mindful of the type of content you will be posting is really important to how your website will be laid out. You’ll need to make sure everything is easy to navigate and people can find exactly what they’re looking for. The more content you have, the more that will need to be done in terms of designing your website. Having more content also means there is more for clients to read and interact with when the website is live.

4. Website security

A secure website is a must. Clients should feel safe using your site and entering their personal details. Without a secure site, hackers can access the site, and thereby access your clients’ personal information. This could even lead to a breach of GDPR, so make sure to take precautions. One of the first steps should be to ‘switch on’ or purchase an SSL cert. If you have a Go Sitebuilder subscription, SLL is completely free!

5. Launch date

Setting a date for your launch puts a timestamp on your goal – meaning it is easier to see what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done by, in order to launch on your desired date. This also gives you time to shout from the rooftops and create some buzz about what you’ve got going on.

6. Quality check

Testing your website ahead of time will alert you of any issues with the design or functionality of the site, allowing you to fix these issues before launching it to the general public. Just take a couple of minutes to go through the links, photos, and buttons. If you don’t have a Go Sitebuilder website, you may need to run tests on mobile devices too!

7. Sample testing

Select a small number of your existing clients, or even friends and family, to test the site. This gives you the opportunity to note any technical issues while you’re also receiving feedback, from which you can use to tweak and optimise your site. There’s nothing more helpful than feedback.

8. Prepare for the next few months ahead

It’s essential you put some time aside in the near future to keep content updated. It’s important to keep pages and contact details up to date but having a steady flow of new content, like blogs or new products, helps to drive more traffic to your site and keeps existing customers coming back!

If you still haven’t got your business online, now is the perfect time! Try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days and see just how easy it is to get your website up and running.

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How to introduce a new website on social media

Close up of a laptop on a desk displaying a social media page. Also on the desk is a glass of water, a computer mouse and a pan.

A huge part of the success of marketing your new website could come down to its presence on social media. Read on to discover how social media can help to get your website noticed!

Create a social media presence

If you don’t already have your social media accounts set up for your business, then the launch of a new website is the perfect time to do so!

You should first decide which networks are the most suitable for your brand. For example, if you are a B2C business that sells visually enticing products, then Instagram could be the perfect platform for you. On the other hand, if you are a B2B company looking to work with some of the industry’s experts, then perhaps LinkedIn is the best platform for your business to be on.

Once you have decided on the platforms, create your accounts, selecting the same username across the platforms and filling out all the profile information, including placing your new website’s URL address in the main body of the profile.

Get followers

The next important step is to begin to gain a following. Do this by inviting your colleagues, friends, family and customers to follow your profile, as well as by creating posts with relevant hashtags and location tags to draw in users that could be interested in your business.

Ensure you post to your page on a regular basis, using a range of engaging and informative posts which include call-to-actions that drive users to your website.

Use paid ads to promote your website

All the major social media networks offer a variety of ad spend services that can promote website URLs. Whether you choose to boost a Facebook post, promote Pinterest pins or Instagram stories, there are a plethora of opportunities for you to select.

When using paid ads, you can select who sees your adverts based on their interests, location, age and much more. This will help the right people to see your website on their social feeds.

Create teasers

When launching your new site, it can be fun to drum up excitement by launching teaser images on your social media sites. You can blur, curtain or paste a ‘coming soon’ sticker over a screenshot of your website to get your followers excited.

Share customer testimonials

Once a few customers have used your service or purchased your products, you can ask them to send you a review and start sharing it on social media.

According to a recent YouGov poll, it is becoming clear that people trust other people’s opinions of products/services, rather than brands talking about how great their products are. Therefore, using customer testimonials on your social networks can be another way of driving more traffic to your new website. Make sure to include a CTA (call to action) to your website to drive people to where you’d like them to be.

Launching your new website is an exciting first step in growing your business. In today’s world, it’s crucial that every business has a professional online presence to succeed. If you’re considering your options for getting online, check out Go Sitebuilder for free! You won’t need to hire an expensive professional, and you won’t need to learn any new skills. Try it now and see just how easy it is to build your dream website.

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What to do after launching a website?

Female sat at a window next to some white flowers writing in a notebook.

Now that your website is up and running, you may be wondering ‘what’s next’? There are plenty of key tasks that you’ll want to get started on right after launching your site to help it become a success. Here are a few carefully selected actions that will help you get you started on the right path.

Keep creating new content

Flocks of visitors might have viewed your website on launch day, but now it’s important that you find ways to keep them coming back. One of the best ways to do this is to add new content regularly to your site. Set up a blog and get into the habit of publishing items that impart your insights and wisdom in a useful, informative and interesting way.

Whenever you do add new content to your fledgeling website, include social share buttons so that your readers can share it with your friends. This could get your content into the hands of hundreds or maybe even thousands of more people.

Not only is it good for your readers but, frequently providing fresh content is favoured by search engines too! It can help you to become more visible on search engines like Google.

Engage with your audience

Whether you’re a new business starting from scratch or an established company that has had a complete rebranding, after you’ve launched your site, it’s an ideal time to start engaging with your audiences. This is a powerful way to understand more about your target customers, but it also helps to keep viewers hooked on your brand.

Include options to capture email addresses on your site, and create a newsletter to keep customers updated on your products or services. Give viewers a chance to provide feedback, whether on the website, your social media pages or both. Whenever you get audience feedback, make sure to start a dialogue with them. This builds a rapport that can help turn first-time customers into loyal and repeat ones.

Get statistics savvy

One of the key ways to understand how well your new website is doing is to analyse statistics and trends, including who is visiting your site. It’s important to be on top of key factors such as when the visitors are coming, how often and which pages they’re going to. This is all really useful information that can give you important clues about your audiences, what is working well (or not) on your site, and what potential changes you might need to make to improve things. In order to analyse these trends, get set up with Google Analytics.

Remember that this should never be a one-off activity. You should monitor your website’s progress regularly to help you really understand what the customer experience is like.

If you’re yet to launch your website, why not check out Go Sitebuilder to see just how easy it is to create your own website. Sign up for a free 14-day trial – no credit card required – and get started on creating your dream website.

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How do I attract customers to my website?

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Your beautiful website has been designed and published, and now you want to share it with your customers. We have some tried and tested techniques that will have you driving traffic to your website in no time! Here are some easy-to-follow strategies for attracting customers to your website:

Have a presence on social media

Let’s start with the most obvious one: social media. Creating pages about your business on relevant social media platforms can boost visitor numbers to your site. The beauty of making a name for yourself on social media is that it’s free. So, this is a worthwhile strategy for new or smaller businesses who may have limited advertising budgets. Include links on your social media pages to your website, and entice audiences to visit your site with offers, product information and updates.

Start a blog

Who doesn’t love a good read? Blogging is a great way to keep people coming back to your website. Writing a regular blog on subjects that you are an authority on will entice visitors back to your site again and again. It’s not only people that appreciate a well-written article, but search engines do too! Don’t forget to sneak in a few choice keywords into your content, as these can help send your site soaring on search listings.

When you give readers the option to comment or to share your blogs, this can also help you reach more people. Always make your blog content is relevant to your target audiences, offering them an insight into topics that they would find useful and interesting.

As well as blogging on your own site, consider providing a guest blog posting on another related and respected website, including a link to your web page so viewers can click through to your site.

Get SEO savvy

Using search engine optimisation strategies will allow your website to climb the ranks of search listings. This will help people find your site name easier. If your website makes it to the first page of search listings then it’s likely to be getting more clicks than if it were on any other page – that’s how important SEO is!

Some simple SEO tips that really make a difference include making sure you fill out the meta titles and descriptions on your pages and adding keywords that apply to your services throughout your site. It’s also important to keep your website’s information current, updated and relevant, as these are all attributes favoured by search engines.

If you’re new to SEO, we’ve created this easy guide for complete beginners. It’s honestly not as hard as it sounds!

Try Paid advertising

There are lots of free or budget-friendly strategies you can use to attract customers to your site, but if you want to get your website off the ground you might wish to consider paid advertising. Pay per click (PPC), for instance, is one commonly used option. By carefully selecting keywords relevant to your site, an advert for your website will appear online when people enter these keywords into a search engine. Clicking on the advert will then direct visitors to your site, helping to swell your audience numbers. It’s a quick and easy way to get people to you.

These are just some of the ways you can attract more customers to your website. Even if you try other ways of attracting customers, remember to use an analytics tool to make sure you know what works best for your business. There’s no point in repeating something that isn’t producing the results you want. Your time is precious so invest it wisely.

If you still haven’t created your dream site or you are thinking of starting something new, try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days and see just how easy it is to build your own website – no pros or technical skills needed!

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How do I launch a new website on social media?

Close up of a mobile phone displaying some social media analytics. A green plant is in the foreground and background.

Whether you’re an established small business or you’re fresh off the starting blocks, in today’s world it all starts with a website. From there, it’s about getting the word out – and what better way than social media? It may seem like a simple case of creating a few profiles and watching the likes roll in, but the reality can be quite different. So, if you’re asking yourself how to launch your new website on social media, this quick guide is for you!

Step 1: Create your brand identity

One of the most common mistakes new businesses make when launching a social media presence is failing to stand out. With so many companies now utilising social media as a core marketing channel, it’s more important than ever to develop a true brand identity. Throwing a logo together in Microsoft Word simply won’t cut it, so be sure to take some time to build a brand that is visually consistent, engaging, and instantly recognisable – then update your profiles so they all reflect it. Be creative and choose a strategy that really represents your business and its values.

Step 2: Build a social media launch plan

Once you’re happy with the overall look of your profiles, it’s time to consider the ‘meat’ of your social media strategy – the content. Put simply, you can’t expect to set a page live and then see the follower numbers immediately skyrocket – it doesn’t always work that way. So, in order to support your launch, you’ll need to prepare the content you’ll be posting in the first weeks, or even months, of your new social profiles. This content could be blog posts on your new website (a great way to build traffic), videos, images (even fun things like memes), infographics, and so on.

Step 3: Incentivising new followers (the right way)

Okay, so let’s assume you’re up and running and you’re following a content calendar to drive visitors from your social channels to your website. What’s next? Well, you want those numbers to go up, of course! As we explained, the “build it and they will come” approach doesn’t work in today’s world. The key to building a social following for your website is incentivisation, at least at the beginning. These incentives can be anything you like, but one great option is to hold giveaways for small things (like gift vouchers) which won’t cost much but will drive engagement. Just don’t forget to ask people to like and follow to enter!

We hope this quick guide will help you hit the ground running when it comes to launching your website on social media. Of course, if you’re still in the early stages of launching your business and you haven’t yet built a website, there’s no better place to start than with our 14-day free trial of Go Sitebuilder.

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What are the best digital marketing launch strategies?

Male sitting at a desk next to a large vase of pink flowers. He is wearing a dark blue shirt and using a laptop

Launching your website creates a new, exciting opportunity for your business. It’s your chance to share your unique story with the world and start growing your business online. Launch day is an opportunity to get people talking about your site so make sure you capitalise on this with a great launch strategy.

But what makes a great marketing launch strategy? The first thing to do is to choose a suitable domain name. Using a professional domain name is a must for any successful launch strategy since an individualised domain name is more likely to be memorable to the new website user. That’s why Go Sitebuilder includes a free domain name with every subscription: helping to get your new website off the ground! Once you’ve got that covered you’re ready to head onto the next steps…

Start early:

Planning for the big day should start well ahead of your launch date, even before you have finalised the website design on your website builder. Your top priority is to start collecting emails, so start getting the word out on social media, or other channels, and get people to opt-in to your updates. Keep in touch with these people via email, introducing them to key features on the coming website. This will keep the launch day exciting for customers, and keep your business in everyone’s minds.

Create anticipation:

Whether you have an existing customer base or you are using your website to create a completely new brand, it is really important that you emphasise the anticipation in the lead up to launch day. One way to do this is to offer a private, early look at your new website. This is a valuable VIP-type teaser, but it is also a great way to create loyalty to your brand – right from the word Go!

Capitalise on new users:

Launch day is often the biggest day of traffic in the first year of trading. So, it’s really important to prolong the impact of all those extra users. One way to make sure users continue to spread the word about your new website, even after launch day, is to introduce a referral scheme. A referral scheme will offer a reward to customers if they send a friend the link to your launch page and that friend types in their email. This is a really effective way to make sure news about your newly launched website travels.

Having a website is crucial for every business. If you haven’t created yours yet, why don’t you check out Go Sitebuilder? Create your website from anywhere without the need for any technical skills. Try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days to see just how easy it is to get your business online.

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How do you launch a new brand?

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When you’re launching a new brand into the market you will want to make a big splash! Ideally, you’ll be putting out something that is going to make people stop and take notice – ensuring you are the brand or business they remember. Here are our top tips on how to launch your brand with maximum effect.

Give yourself time

You can do things quickly and launch your brand immediately but it is extremely unlikely that that method will have the impact you desire. Give yourself plenty of time. Make sure you are happy with your logo or business name, your website is created and you’re ready to go live across social media. Plan your launch in full, giving yourself a date down the line to aim for, which will allow you the time to get the awareness out there. Ensure that when you join the market, your presence can make an immediate impression.

Make the splash everywhere

Once you have decided on and set up your digital platforms, make sure that all of them have your brandmark on them. Put your logo, business name and message on everything, ready to have the standout impression when you launch. In order for customers to know and remember your brand, it needs to be made recognisable right from the start.

Enhance anticipation

When you have everything good to go and your big launch is planned, you now hold the opportunity to build excitement around your big day. Use social media to tease your followers and potential customers with hints, mystery videos and cryptic clues that get the momentum building, and make your website launch one that cannot be missed.

Don’t forget to enjoy every moment! You’ve just taken an exciting step in growing your very own business and you should be proud to share it with the world.

If you still haven’t created your website, or you’re hoping to set up something new, Go Sitebuilder could be the solution. With hundreds of design possibilities, Go Sitebuilder uses beautifully pre-designed sections and templates so you can build the website you’ve dreamed of, without any technical skills needed. Sign up for a free trial and see just how easy it is!

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4 fool-proof ways to drive traffic to your new website

Launching a website

There’s nothing quite like launching a fresh, new website – especially as a small or new business. After all, your website is part of your public image and your most important digital marketing asset. But, what happens after you’ve hit the publish button?

Your traffic can, and will, grow organically once your site is online but it’s likely to take a long time for you to see the growth you’re really looking for without boosting it yourself. Thankfully, there’s a wealth of easy-to-follow options for driving traffic to your website. We’ve explored some of these options below:

Option #1: Work on your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is the heart of any solid digital strategy. Put simply, it’s a staple of on-page and off-page techniques which can help you bring organic (i.e. not paid) traffic to your website. Quality SEO will bring your website higher in the search results when users look for your target keywords, meaning more traffic for you. It sounds scary and complicated but this easy to follow guide will get you started on the basics. Once you understand the basics, keeping your website up to date with fresh content is the best way to play your SEO-game!

Option #2: Create a content strategy

Another great way to keep people coming back to your website is to frequently publish interesting and engaging content. In fact, a solid content strategy is really the backbone of successful digital marketing. The great thing about content production is that it’s low-cost (or free if you’re willing to put pen to paper) and easy to do if you leverage your industry knowledge. Create a plan of the types of content you think your visitors would find interesting or useful and set up a calendar for when you want to post each article or page.

Option #3: Explore the world of guest blogging

Here’s a method of traffic generation which can bring traffic to your site in two different ways. By doing a little outreach and working with related websites, you can arrange guest blog posts whereby you write some content for them, and they allow you to link back to your website. Not only will this bring relevant traffic to your site, but it’ll also generate backlinks which are an essential ingredient to quality SEO.

Option #4: If you’re in a rush, try some paid ads

While the strategies we’ve shared so far are all proven and effective, they can take a little time to reap the traffic rewards. SEO, for example, can take a few weeks or even months to start showing positive results. If you need traffic faster than this, PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising is always an option. With a program like Google Ads or Facebook Ads, you can bid a small amount of money to place your ad higher up in the search results. It can be a great way to give your new business a jumpstart.

If you’re having trouble driving traffic to your website, try out one or more of these ideas and you’ll soon start to see some positive results. And if you’re yet to build the website of your dreams, why not try out Go Sitebuilder today? It’s the easiest way to create a professional website for your business – no technical skills required!

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What are the best new website launch campaigns?

Website launch campaigns

Are you nearing the end of creating your very first website or perhaps a website redesign? Have you thought about how you’re going to share your beautiful new site with the world?

The best way to introduce your stylish new website design is with a website launch campaign. A great launch campaign can help new and existing customers discover your business website and start turning visitors into customers.

Website launch campaign using Go Sitebuilders website builder

What is a website launch campaign?

But what is it? A website launch campaign is simply a communications marketing strategy to introduce a website launch. It generally consists of messaging before the launch as well as after to generate traffic to the new website. Something all successful strategies have in common is that they are responsive to changing website traffic. A great way to ensure you can be flexible in responding to customer needs is to use a website builder that allows you to create and update your website via your smartphone. But this isn’t the only important strategy!

Our experts take a look at some of the most successful strategies for introducing your newly launched website:

Special discounts

A special offers themed launch campaign is highly effective at bringing in new and old customers alike. It is a particularly popular approach with e-commerce sites, where there are ample opportunities to encourage users to complete an action of value. Some customers will actively seek out websites that offer these discounts (like free shipping or 20% off) which make for a highly effective website launch.

Competitions

Everyone loves the opportunity to win something, and this can be used positively in a website launch campaign. A well-run competition can do more than introduce users to your new website, it can also encourage your visitors to check out key pages on your website. For example, you might run a website scavenger hunt. This offers visitors the chance to win a prize or discount, whilst ensuring that they explore pages of your website – driving people to read, click and interact with your new site. 

Showcasing content

It is really important that you think about the content that you want your visitors to see during your website launch. Do you want them to understand more about your business and brand story, or is it more important that they view your products straight away? Whatever your goal, users rarely explore the full website themselves, so make sure you highlight important content and pages.

Two popular ways of doing this are to either:

  1. Create a showcasing video of the important new content
  2. Create a landing page dedicated to the launch of your new website. The landing page could highlight all of the important content you want people to see and drive them to click through to other pages of your website.
Homepage of a website launch using Go Sitebuilders website builder

These are just some of the great campaign tactics you can consider when launching your website. Even if you decide to try other types of campaigns, remember it’s always important to take a step back and give yourself some time between finishing your website and sharing it with the world!

“Lots of my customers have commented on how easy it was to find and use my website – that wouldn’t be possible without Go Sitebuilder and my own domain name.”

Polly Evans – pollyevanshypnotherapy.com

If you still haven’t created your dream site or are thinking of starting something new – try Go Sitebuilder free for 14-days and see just how easy it is to build your own website with no technical skills needed!

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The step-by-step guide to SEO audits for new websites

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Creating a new website for your business is an exciting, rewarding, and motivating experience. Once you’re happy with the look and content of your website it’s time to launch and start bringing in new leads and customers. One great way to start off strong is with a Search Engine Optimisation audit.

To some small businesses Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can sound scary and complicated, but you’re more competent than you think you are! We’ve broken down a list of things you can do to examine the SEO of your new website (without too much stress!).

Step 1: Review your page titles and structure

SEO is all about ensuring that your website ranks highly in search results for your target keywords or terms. For this reason, you need to make sure that your page titles or browser titles include specific keywords (e.g. if you sell golf clubs you might want to use the keyword: “golf club store”) and that they’re structured in a way which includes these terms on every page.

Step 2: Ensure page content is optimised for SEO

Even more important than the titles of each of your website’s pages is the text content they contain. Not only should this encourage visitors to want to engage with your business and check out other pages, but it should also be clearly geared towards the keywords and phrases that you’ve decided on. Remember to never “stuff” your content with these words, but definitely ensure they’re the focus within the content.

Step 3: Check that your site is secure

Back in 2014, Google made it clear that it would give a slight SEO boost to websites which use SSL. Essentially this is a form of security which encrypts the data users enter on the site. It’s especially useful for e-commerce websites, but all sites should really be using SSL with the “https://” prefix if they want to maximise their SEO results and build credibility for their brand.

If you’re wondering what SSL is or why your small business needs it, click here for an easy to follow guide.

Step 4: Create (or verify) your sitemap

Sitemaps are a core part of the ‘back-end’ of SEO and are – as the name suggests – a list of all the pages on your website. They usually come in the form of .xml files and can usually be found by simply adding “sitemap.xml” to the end of any domain. If you already have a sitemap on your website, double-check that it’s up to date as part of your SEO audit.

Step 5: Submit your site to Google’s index

One critical step that a lot of new websites forget is to actually submit their URL to Google. This can be done via the free Google Search Console tool which anyone can sign up for. Once your site is verified, you’ll be able to submit your URL to Google for indexing, at which point Google could visit at any time to add you to the search results. The Google Search Console is also a critical tool in the toolbox of any good SEO practitioner – so give it a go.

Follow these simple steps and your new website will be well on the way to search engine success. Still in the planning stages for your new website? If so, Go Sitebuilder can help you launch quickly with SEO features built right in. Start with a 14-day free trial and see just how easy it is to build your own website and get started with your SEO basics.