The website launching process can be a daunting act. In this article, I explain a few steps you can go through before launching a new website. These steps can help you launch a site smoothly without any hurdles.
a. Web server resources: Use Amazon S3, a high-availability and cost-effective content distribution solution as your web server. It is not a bad idea to use highly scalable and affordable web server resource like Amazon S3 regardless of how big or small you think the traffic you'll get.
b. Social media accounts: Create social media accounts before hand. Create accounts mainly in Facebook and Twitter. Start inviting people beforehand and let them know about your website launch.
c. Keep the content ready: Make sure that your website has content ready for at least a month. This also helps you to concentrate on activities involved in the stage of your website's growth.
Have a list of things you need to do after the launch. The list could include points like increasing the user experience, driving traffic etc.
d. Check the technical details before hand: Make sure that all the technical issues related to the website are cleared. Check the cross browser compatibility. Your website may look great in IE but may look awful in Firefox. You need to check these things.
e. Proofread: Read everything. Read it again and again. Read every single headline. You'll always pickup something you need to change. See if you can reduce the text. See if you can put the content in paras. Try to add images wherever possible.
f. Links and RSS feed: Make sure that all your links are working. Create an RSS feed for your site and see if it is working properly. Valid your website and fix if any errors are encountered. Create a sitemap for your site.
g. Launch on Schedule: Launch the website on the date announced. If there is something that is yet to be finished, release the on the next update. This focuses you to stay on point. Create a "upcoming features" section and include all the pending tasks there. Add and delete the list depending on the requirements of the visitors.
h. Contact friends and family: Tell about your site to your friends and family. Ask them to spread the word.
i. Provide easy ways to contact you: Provide different number of ways for people to contact you. Let them contact you in Twitter or Facebook or from your website form.
