The Pre-Launch Success Plan
There have been many times on this site and on others where the criteria for building a successful blog have been discussed, but I have never gone over what it takes to make a successful site/blog before it launches. I would advise myself to follow these guidelines since I get a bit overzealous with every launch and always seem to launch a bit too early.
The Design
Depending on the purpose of your site, the role the design plays in it will vary. For a blog a great design is good, but isn’t as key as the content that is already present on the site. For more web-based application sites, the design goes a long way into attracting and keeping those first customers. The reason 9rules was a success was because of the initial design we had of the site that kept people coming back despite the lack of content that could be found on the site.
The Content
Over at Business Logs I wrote about pre-launch content and how important it is to a site. In this community you see too many people announcing the launch of their sites and the only content that can be found is a “Welcome to my site” type entry. People bookmark sites with great content. People add sites to their RSS feeds with great content. Not too many people can remember a site with one entry welcoming them.
Try to have at least 4-5 quality entries on your site so at the very least visitors have something to explore and are given a better idea of what to expect in the future from you.
What is it?
Initially when you launch, I think it is a good idea to have a visible description of what your site is about. It’s probably better to always have description of what your site is about on the homepage, but over time some people choose to discard it and put it on the homepage.
After your visitors get passed the design of your site they are going to wonder what it is about. If they can’t find it or have to search too hard for it they may just leave especially if all you have is one entry. Let them know where they are and why they should be there.
The Review
When it’s almost time to launch a site it is easy to get so excited that you launch it, announce it, and only come to find some major errors when people start visiting it. I should know as I seem to do this with every site I create :-). Before you launch you should ask a couple of people to review the site to help point out anything blatantly wrong or missing that you may have overlooked.
Creating a successful site begins before it launches. You may have a plan in place explaining how the site will grow and become popular over time, but how well you are prepared before the launch can dictate how hard you have to work to acheive your goals for the site.
With all of that said I see a million things that need to improve on all of my sites. Both a gift and a curse for writing these kinds of entries I guess.
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Having people who can test is essential and I make sure I have a few who are always wiling participants. A site on launch without content is a put off straight off the bat – agree big time with that one. Just as you have a design and development check list – this works well as a pre-launch check list.
By karmatosed on June 26, 2006 8:02 am
Don’t appreciate you ripping ideas off of my post. I kid, I kid. Good write up, though I think some sort of marketing strategy is also a good idea.
By Matt on June 26, 2006 11:25 am
[...] The Pre-Launch Success Plan » Wisdump [...]
By Blogalistic » Blog Archive » How to start off your blog successfully on June 26, 2006 6:11 pm
[...] Muchas veces escribo artÃculos para los que ya han iniciado su blog, pero mucha gente llega aquà sin haber iniciado el suyo. Asà que, aquà va el plan que nos presentan en wisdump y que estarÃa muy bien seguir si tienes pensado crear o empezar un blog. El diseño Dependiendo del propósito de tu blog el papel desempeñado por el diseño puede variar. Para un blog un gran diseño es bueno, pero no es clave o , al menos , no tan importante como el contenido. En aplicaciones basadas en la web, el diseño importa a la hora de atraer y mantener a los primeros visitantes. [...]
By Plan antes de crear un blog. » BlogMundi on June 26, 2006 6:41 pm
The strange thing is sites with great designs but little compelling content always get repeat visitors in need of some eye candy. The converse usually doesn’t happen.
By weisheng on June 26, 2006 7:23 pm
It also helps to have a decent vocabulary, and to re-read and edit your posts before publishing them. That way, you don’t have these sorts of solecisms as in your post above:
1. ‘Passed’ instead of ‘past’ (second paragraph under ‘what is it?’
2. What exactly does this mean:
‘It’s probably better to always have description of what your site is about on the homepage, but over time some people choose to discard it and put it on the homepage.’
It’s on the homepage, but then it’s discarded and put back on the homepage?
I suppose the people who tested your site before you published it missed these, eh?
By Motmaitre on June 26, 2006 8:09 pm
[...] ThatMatt – Launching a Successful Blog – Tips and TricksWisdump – The Pre-Launch Success PlanPerformancing.com – Pre Blog Launch ChecklistProblogger- The Pre-Launch Success Phase of a Blog Posted in Blogging and Blogging Tools [...]
By Bloggers Buzz on June 27, 2006 5:13 am
[...] The Pre-Launch Success Plan » Wisdump There have been many times on this site and on others where the criteria for building a successful blog have been discussed, but I have never gone over what it takes to make a successful site/blog before it launches. I would advise myself to follow these (tags: blogging howto prelaunch) [...]
By devlon duthie » Blog Archive » links for 2006-06-27 on June 27, 2006 1:45 pm
[...] The Pre-Launch Success Phase of a Blog 26 06 2006 Scrivs has a good post on some of the things to consider before you launch a blog. [...]
By The Rashad’s Zone » The Pre-Launch Success Phase of a Blog on June 29, 2006 12:46 pm
[...] What you should do before launching a new blog. [...]
By Woeba » Web Design Roundup 2 on June 29, 2006 2:23 pm
[...] Wisdump [...]
By Blog Pre-Launch Checklist - DENNISBULLOCK.COM on July 6, 2006 11:18 am
[...] Original post by Scrivs and software by Elliott Back WebmasteringShare and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
By Cape Tech Herald » Blog Archive » The Pre-Launch Success Plan on July 11, 2006 6:22 am
[...] Muchos son los emprededores que han iniciado un blog tematico, pero es probable que aún no tengas el tuyo, asà que aqui te presento unos pasos que te ayudaran a planificar de la mejor manera tu proyecto, te recomiendo seguirlos ya que son muy interesantes. Por supuesto gracias a wisdump: [...]
By Planeando el primer blog by Internegocios - Negocios por Internet. on April 13, 2007 1:50 pm
[...] Over at the unfortunately named, though often pretty good read Wisdump, there’s a neat post about the steps you need to take before launching a blog. [...]
By Pre Blog Launch Checklist : Performancing on July 15, 2009 4:26 pm