We just launched our website. How will people find it?

So, you’ve spent the last few months, diligently writing content, liaising with designers & developers and finally your website is ready for the outside world to see.  You decide to go live, but what happens next? 

Answer: Not much unless you’ve planned for it.

This is where your web strategy comes into play. A web strategy (simply put) is like a business plan for your activities around your web presence.  A good web strategy should include the following:

• 1. How do you get people to visit the website?

  • Search Engine Optimisation.
  • Pay Per Click campaign (PPC campaign, like Google Adwords)
  • Newsletter Marketing (mailing lists)
  • Advertising & Marketing (offline as well online)
  • Blogging (as well as your own blog, get others to blog about you)
  • Interacting with your customers through social media (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit)
  • Word of mouth (Have a launch party and tell people)
  • Make the most out of offline opportunities to promote your website. Display your URL on everything you can from your stationary to your car.
  • Virals

• 2. What do you do with people when they get to the website?

  • Lead the visitor on a journey through your business and make sure your story is being told.
  • Try to ensure the visitors are seeing the most important information.
  • Build a relationship with the visitors and let them interact with you.
  • If you are selling a product make it easy for the visitor to purchase it
  • Get them to sign up to your e-newsletter
  • Give them a reason to re-visit your site. (through newsletters, promotions etc.)

• 3. How do you measure if your site is being successful

  • Analytics (Google Analytics, examine how long people are staying on your site, are visitors returning etc.)
  • Conduct A/B testing and examine the results.

• 4. Manage  your online reputation

  • Monitor what people are saying about you with tools like Google Alerts and Twitter (monitor keywords)
  • Participate in online communities and engage with your audience

Web strategy is part common sense, part technical know how; part trial and error, part rigorous planning; and a good dose of experience. Theres a lot you can do yourself; and certainly you're going to need to commit to producing content, but if you're serious about getting found on the web you need to bring in the experts.

Related tags: Planning, Non Profits, SEO