How to Market a Brand New Website
Digital marketing for startups and new websites is more difficult than it has ever been. Competition is more fierce, existing budgets are more robust and customers are more distracted, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. It can now take 3+ years for new websites to emerge out of the hypothetical Google Sandbox and start ranking for thousands of keywords: How to Promote a New Website Marketing a brand new website can be a challenge, but with the right strategies, you can drive traffic and increase conversions. Here are six effective tactics you can use: Optimize your website for search engines using relevant keywords and meta tags. Leverage social media to build a following and engage with your target audience. Invest in pay-per-click advertising to target specific keywords and demographics. Collaborate with other websites and influencers in your industry to gain exposure and backlinks. Utilize email marketing to build relationships with your audience and promote your offerings. Offer incentives or promotions to entice visitors to take action on your website. “The Dip” for New Websites Seth Godin has a best-selling book titled The Dip. And while it’s certainly shorter than most of his other books, it’s arguably one of his best. It centers around the concept of knowing when to quit on an idea and when to continue pushing through. The basic premise is that most people have an unrealistic idea of what growth in business looks like. They believe it happens exponentially from the start (something Godin calls the “Naive Curve”). But this is rarely true – even with the best ideas. In reality, most people start with lots of energy and excitement. And as they launch a new business or even prepare for a new website launch, they experience an initial jolt of results, which sends positive feedback and encourages the entrepreneur to put in more effort. But then something inevitable happens: Results flat line while effort simultaneously increases. It’s at this point that people experience “The Dip.” Unfortunately, most people throw in the towel at this point. But as Godin puts it, this is a “bad quitting point.” Because the dip is typically followed by a rebound (which is where the real results occur). One of my favorite quotes from the Godin’s book: A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner When launching a new website, you have to resist the tendency to believe in the “Naive Curve” and instead embrace “The Dip.” This isn’t a pessimistic outlook – it’s just a realistic one. If you launch a website correctly, you’ll experience your fair share of results over the first 24 to 72 hours. But then things will flatline a bit. And if you aren’t careful, you’ll be tempted to throw in the towel. However, as you now know…true growth is just on the other side. By developing a proactive site launch plan to market your new website, you’ll reach this point faster and more efficiently. In this article, I’m going to show you: The What and Why of a website launch plan How to set yourself up for a successful new site launch by doing all of the right things before going “live” What to do on launch day to maximize your traffic and long-term results Post-launch website marketing tips for scalable traffic and conversions How building the right team makes all the difference when marketing a brand new website If you’re ready to learn the correct way to launch and market a website for maximum impact and lift, you’re in the right place. Keep reading and I’ll dish my favorite secrets for success. The What and Why of a Website Launch Plan I’d venture a guess that 95 percent of new websites don’t have any sort of formal launch plan. They simply hit “publish” and then take a wait-and-see approach. But I’d also venture to say 95 percent of most websites flop faster than a middle-school boy jumping off the diving board at the neighborhood swimming pool. All of that to say this: A website launch plan is not a requirement, but having one typically improves results and could even put you 90 to 180 days ahead of where you’d be if you just started publishing content without any real marketing or promotional strategy. When you first launch a website, nobody knows you exist. Google doesn’t know, strangers on the internet don’t know, even most people in your personal and professional networks don’t know. And it’ll stay that way for several months if you don’t develop a plan to intentionally systematize your launch. A launch plan is basically a formalized website promotion strategy for announcing and promoting your website to the right people in an effort to gain initial traction that can be parlayed into exponential growth over the following weeks and months. As the classic saying goes, a failure to plan is a plan to fail Without any formal launch plan, you’re basically publishing content for an empty room. It’s possible that some people will eventually wander into the room by accident, but why not send invitations? There’s no singular formula for developing a website launch plan, but it’s typically going to encompass three major phases: Pre-Launch. These are the steps you take just prior to launch to ensure your website is ready to go live. It’s a very specific set of steps that need to be checked off in order to ensure your launch day and post-launch processes go smoothly. Launch Day. On launch day, all cylinders are on fire. Assuming you were intentional with your pre-launch approach, you’ll see a pretty decent amount of lift in the first 24-72 hours. The more you can take advantage of this traffic and exposure, the better. Post-Launch. While launch day is certainly important and full of excitement, it’s just one day. What you do after launch day is even more important.