7 steps to announce (and celebrate) the launch of a new website

Creating and launching a new website is an impressive milestone, and announcing it is a great PR opportunity. However, with so many potential angles and marketing strategies to use, it’s natural to feel intimidated. What are the best ways to announce and celebrate the launch of a new website? And how can you maximize initial exposure?

Polish the website first

Most people make significant mistakes when creating a new website. It doesn’t matter how talented the developers you hire are, how much time you spend developing the website, or how much money you spend on it. There are going to be bugs, errors, and typos that you need to take care of before going live. The last thing you want is to announce a new website, drive tons of traffic to it, and be disappointed to find out that none of your new-wave visitors are capable of loading or seeing the content you’ve developed.

Spend some time with your developers doing testing and quality assurance to make sure your website is properly loading on all devices and browsers, and that it’s free of typos and simple mistakes. It’s not the most glamorous work, and it can be time consuming depending on the scale of your site, but it’s well worth the initial investment.

Start building hype in advance

Don’t limit your potential by only announcing and advertising your new site once it’s ready to go live. Instead, you should start doing this work weeks, if not months in advance. Let your fans and followers know that you have a new website in the works, and give them sneak previews of what they can expect from the new website to build anticipation.

These are some of the best strategies to help you do it in:

• Email newsletters: If you already have a list of email subscribers, take advantage of them and start teasing your forthcoming website in your newsletters. Email marketing is close to free, so it’s one of the most cost-efficient tactics you can use.
• Social media: Organic posting and marketing on social media is also free, so it’s similarly cost-effective. It’s also a great way to reach new people, especially if you’re willing to target specific niche audiences to maximize your relevance.
• Paid ads: If you have the budget for it, paid ads can also be great for announcing your coming website, as long as those ads are tied to something valuable to you presently. For example, you can use ads to lead people to a signup form that will give them a discount when your new site goes live.
• Your existing website: If you have an existing website and people visit it regularly, make sure you have an announcement about your new website there. You can even include a live countdown timer to build even more hype!

Submit press releases

Press releases can be excellent sources of promotion. Once your website is fully tested and ready to go live, write up a press release about your new website, including its purpose and its new functionality. You can then distribute this across hundreds of different press channels and publishers to maximize your exposure—though you’ll probably have to pay to do it.

Create incentives to visit

Only your most loyal fans will visit your website without a clear incentive to do so. For everyone else, you need a bit of bribery. These are some of the best incentives to get people to visit your website:

• Discounts: In coordination with your new website launch, consider offering a discount or a massive sale on your bestselling products.
• Freebies: Similarly, you can offer things for free – free samples and entries for giveaways are ideal and easy for most businesses to accommodate.
• Premium content: You can also offer premium content, such as a free eBook or whitepaper.

Use compelling CTAs

Some calls to action (CTAs) are simply better than others, so put some thought and effort into your calls for new web traffic. Don’t just tell people to “visit our website.” Instead, make visiting your website irresistible by explaining the value that people will get from visiting it.

Celebrate internally

Finishing the new website is a massive win for your business, so you deserve to celebrate it with the people who made it happen. Make plans to celebrate internally, such as throwing a party or hosting an interesting teambuilding event.

The bigger push

When you’re done announcing and initially celebrating your new website, you can begin making plans for the next phase of your marketing and advertising efforts. With the support of tactics like search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, and more, you can keep growing traffic and supporting your audience growth.