Re-Launching Your Website

There are some instances when you may have started a website only to find out that it wasn’t working for you. It may be that the products you once sold are no longer available, or that you have identified a new  niche market or service that will bring in bigger profits.

When the main focus of your website changes, it is time for a re-launch. You cannot continue to be recognised for something you no longer provide. Plus, it is necessary to do some techniques in optimising your site, being properly indexed by the major search engines and reaching the top of the SERPs for a new product or new direction.

Re-Launching Your Website can feel like a daunting task. Don’t fret, just follow this advice to institute a successful re-launch of your business.

1. Communicate

Before you officially perform a re-launch, make sure that you spread the word of the upcoming change. Post a prominent notice on the home page with the new URL, if you are changing domain names. Add a line to your Email signature that clearly states when and where you are making a move or major change. Send out a newsletter that details all the changes, and how it will benefit your existing clients.

It is much easier to keep your current client base than to form a completely new one. If you can convert your current customers to future clients of your new site, you won’t experience too much of a lag in sales or a diminished amount of traffic. Consider running a contest to incentivize your existing followers to visit the new site or offer a discount to entice them to try your new products.

2. Website Considerations

If your e-commerce company is moving to a different URL, put the proper 301 redirects in place so that new visitors can find your site. Make sure that you test the redirect links are working correctly. Use the Google search page to input “site:yourwebsitesname” (replacing yourwebsitename with the new URL) and this will list all the pages. If you haven’t properly redirected each one, some may be missing.

If you use Google Analytics or another outside statistics program, you will need to update the code for the new site. If you are seeing a high bounce rate – the number of visitors who click through to your site and then immediately leave – in your statistics, you may have failed to take into account some aspect of optimising your new website.

You will probably want to include robots.txt files on the old site so that it is no longer indexed by the major search engines. This will prevent problems from the search engines seeing the two sites as having duplicate content.

3. Advertising Campaigns

Don’t forget to change your current pay-per-click or affiliate marketing campaigns. Obviously your keywords and strategies will change along with your products or services; get rid of those keywords and phrases that are no longer relevant. The sooner you do this, the more money you will save.

Test your current ads to be sure they are linked to the correct URL. Remember to update any programs used to track conversions on your site, as well.

Re-Launching Your Website can be very beneficial if it is approached in the right manner. It is hard to leave behind everything you have built up for your obsolete site, but in the end, a new venture could be the best way to make a bigger profit.