Your website launched — now what? The post-launch countdown: the marketing, measurement, and iteration work that follows.
You just launched your new website. Congratulations! Before you take a breather, there are a few things to put in place that set the site up for long-term success.
Near the end of every website build or redesign, clients ask us the same questions: “What does ongoing support look like?” “What should we budget for?” “What should we be watching?” “How do we keep the site performing well for years, not months?”
Our answer covers three areas:
- Maintenance and updates
- Staying active and continuing to make changes
- Test & Measuring results
Just like a car, a website needs routine maintenance.”
1. Maintenance and Updates
We like to explain to our clients that a website is like a car. Periodically, you need to get your oil changed and do some routine maintenance. It works best if you are proactive about this instead of reactive. Doing this regularly allows you to catch any small issues before they become bigger issues.
With a website, it can be the same way. Technology changes fast and there are always new advances or even security issues to be aware of. That is why we recommend at least a quarterly website audit and update. This usually involves:
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Security – we check the hosting and server setup to make sure it is secure and up to date.
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Server capacity – we ensure adequate database and file storage on the server.
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Performance and CMS (content management system) update process – we make sure future updates can be easily administered or rolled back. We also test any releases since the last audit.
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Site speed – a performance audit for key pages on the site using tools like PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report, to make sure they still load fast and pass Core Web Vitals.
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404s – we check analytics and monitoring tools for broken URLs and fix or redirect them.
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Crawl errors or search engine technical issues. We use Google Search Console to analyze and fix crawl errors or search engine indexing issues.
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AI-search visibility – we confirm AI crawlers can still reach the site and check whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are citing it.
Make sure ongoing support and maintenance is a line item in your annual marketing budget.
Great websites are constantly changing, like a well-tended garden throughout the seasons of the year.”
2. Staying Active and Up to Date
We see your website as the cornerstone of your marketing initiatives. The website is your best opportunity to show how serious and how much you care about the business you do. It should be updated regularly with new content: blog posts, FAQs, case studies, and other material your buyers care about. Fresh, specific content is also what search engines and AI assistants reward.
The technology behind a website tends to show its age within a few years. The worst thing you can do with a brand-new site is to just let it sit there for 2 years until the next redesign comes along.
It’s a marathon, not a race. We continually coach our clients on the impact of incremental changes. Sprints toward major overhauls are great and impressive but, you get more long-term value/sustainability from the slow burn. A well-engineered website is dynamic in the way it delivers content and it easily allows for new media, and content to keep individuals returning and engaged.
What can be optimized based on the data? What is and isn’t working? What might need to be changed? “
3. Measuring Results
It’s important to create measurable goals (KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators) in order to determine the value of the project in the long run. Increased page views, higher sales, more contact form submissions, are examples of these goals.
We use analytics platforms like Google Analytics 4, Search Console, A/B testing tools, user studies, surveys, and other data to help assess what the results are and how to help you identify areas that could be further improved. From that ongoing analysis, we recommend the changes most likely to deliver better outcomes.
Asking the same questions over and over is how you stay ahead of competitors: What can we optimize based on the data? What is and isn’t working? What needs to change? What will drive more engagement and action?
In short: test, learn, and improve for the whole life of your website, not just the launch week.
Launching soon, or launched and not sure what’s next? We offer ongoing website care plans that cover maintenance, performance, SEO, and content. Let’s talk.
