You spent weeks or months building and preparing your company’s website for its launch. Now your site is finally up and running –congratulations!
You may be thinking, “Wow, I’m glad that’s all over!”, but the truth is, when it comes to your website, launching means you’re just getting started. A huge part of website ownership and maintenance comes when the site has already been created and has started to generate traffic.
But what else could there possibly be left to do?!
Well, we’ll tell you. Read on for 9 website managing tips you’ve simply got to remember and stick to once your site is up and running!
While you’ve no doubt poured loads of time already into launching your site, there are likely still a few loose ends that could use a tune-up. With so much going on throughout the building and launch of your website, there’s a good chance you’ve brushed past some minor hiccups. Now’s the time to tweak these.
Once your site is up, do a thorough check for things like site speed, image formatting, and the effectiveness of site forms and sign-up functions. Comb through your whole site with a watchful eye and get everything in tip-top shape!
Okay, to be fair, you should probably have already accomplished this tip before your site launched-but if not, don’t worry! There’s still time to make sure your content management system (CMS) is a good one.
Your CMS should be easy to use, flexible, customisable, and secure. If you’re feeling a bit out of sorts when it comes to your CMS, consider contacting your company’s IT server for advice on how to be sure your CMS is serving your site in the best possible ways.
Again — we’re hoping you’ve already dabbled in this tip while building your site. But if not, once your site is launched, you’ll definitely want to get in contact with professionals who will serve things like your site’s writing, marketing, and design.
If you’re trying to do everything yourself, it’s unlikely that all aspects of your website will be high-quality. Hiring writers, designers, and web content specialists ensure that your site stays as quality and polished as you dreamt it’d be. Plus, it takes a time-consuming task off of your plate.
Now that your site is live, it’s important that you use it effectively.
Remember the days when you were dreaming of having a website? It was because of all the ways in which a site could serve your company’s marketing efforts! And now’s the time to kick those efforts into gear.
Your site should be the hub for all your marketing strategy — from social media content to email marketing, to blog posts and other informational content. The only real way to drive your site’s traffic is by posting good, solid marketing content. You’ll need to be thoughtful and strategic with every last marketing effort.
One thing that’s sometimes difficult to keep in mind is that, for most of us, our site exists to serve our customers. That said, it’s important to remember that customer feedback about your site should rank extremely high when it comes to your site improvement efforts.
Consider having a “comments” page where clients can submit feedback about your new site. Think about offering customers a small incentive for completing a survey after using your site.
And remember — your site is for the customer! Implement their feedback in order to make future customers’ website experiences even better.
One crucial thing to remember when it comes to your website: Everything is changing all the time. Unfortunately, your website isn’t something you’ll be able to set up and leave alone for the next couple of months. You’ll need to take strides consistently to improve and adapt your site to changing technologies.
You’ll need to optimise your site for search engines. You’ll need to be sure your headlines, calls to action, and web design are all serving your site. This likely means you’ll never stop needing to alter and improve your site for the current state of the web.
The main method of monitoring how well-suited your website is for the Internet and your site’s intended audience is by monitoring your site’s analytics. Like continuously improving and adapting your site, the analytics of your page is something you won’t want to neglect.
Use Google Analytics or another similar tool to help you determine which areas of your audience your site is impacting. This can help you to determine things like the most effective posting schedule, the areas in which your marketing efforts are lacking, and other efforts you can make to improve and heighten the impact of your site overall.
By running a website without a strict, frequent plan for maintenance and protection, you start to run the serious risk of breaches in site security and function. If you let the maintenance of your site’s protection go for too long without attention, you’ll likely find yourself with a hacked site that could take months to reign in.
Schedule a frequent and regular check on website backups, updating themes and plugins, sweeping databases, and testing the site’s general function. This may seem a bit overbearing, but chances are, you’ll be glad for the regular maintenance.
For your site to perform at its very best all the time, it may come down to one thing: Handing the day-to-day of your site off entirely to professionals. A website manager who’s been trained in the art of keeping sites in tip-top shape will be able to ensure that all of the above tips happen at all times.
Plus, let’s face it: You’re busy providing services and drafting killer content plans! Consider passing the baton to a professional or group who can dedicate loads of its time to keeping your site up and running in the best possible ways.
Website managing may seem a bit overwhelming, especially in the weeks after your site’s initial launch. However, the time and energy that goes into making sure your site is correctly managed will be worth it.
For more information on how to properly manage your website, and for more great web hosting content, check out our hosting page.
