Once you understand that a website launch is a process, several important points come into play:

• No major marketing campaigns should be planned to coincide with the launch. You should wait a while – say about a month – to let your website run and make necessary adjustments before putting any big plans into action.
• Everything needs to be retested after the launch. Once you go live, you need to make sure that everything is working as it should be, which could lead to major adjustments before you can really consider your website up and running.
• Your website designer should offer you a 30-day period – call it a warranty period – during which adjustments can be made to ensure that you get the site that you planned and asked for.
• Aside from the adjustments that will need to be made in the first month, plan for tweaks and improvements over the long term as well. You should never consider your website a static asset.
• Be prepared for your organic search rankings to drop for a short period immediately after the launch of your site. This is because Google needs to remap the new website. For this reason, you should never launch during peak selling season. Rather leave your launch for a time that is typically quieter for your business.
• Before you start your launch, you and/or your web designers need access to all necessary components, including passwords, relevant staff members and more. It is not uncommon for a website to get to the launch stage, only to find that certain key administrative factors are missing, causing unnecessary delays.

Find out more about CIPR Communications‘ approach to web design services by listening to the seventh series of our podcast. For more information about when to launch a website, as well as all other aspects of website design, from site maps to website development, as well as content marketing, SEO and other services, read our blog, listen to other podcast episodes, or contact us.