So you just launched a website. What’s next?

It’s one thing to build and launch a website. But what do you do once you’ve got it up and running?

Many think the launch is the finish line but it most certainly isn’t.

There are several additional items that should be on your checklist to protect and improve your website over time. All these post-launch tasks will help your business, making them worth the investment.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Did you know that Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day?

You want a piece of that action!

It’s important to write your content in a way that it will be well received by BOTH your reader AND search engines. There are many additional steps and tools that can help your site’s rank and improve its position in search engines and it’s important to utilize every single one of them.

Site security, responsive design, keywords, fresh content, social media and metadata are just a few examples of what can be optimized to improve search engine rankings. an SEO checklist. (For a good intro on the topic, check out this blog: “SEO Made Easy – Ultimate Guide to Explode Your Traffic in 2019.”)

That being said, SEO isn’t an exact science and it’s constantly changing. If you’re new to working with SEO, keep in mind: you’re not going to jump to the #1 spot overnight. So be patient!

Social Media

Next on the website checklist is social media.

Social media is a must for any business that wants to succeed. It’s a great tool when running a business, and an even greater tool with a properly built website.

Growing an audience of loyal fans and driving traffic to your website should be your top two goals with any social platform. Whether you choose to take advantage of the product catalog features in on Facebook or Instagram or you like the idea of boards on Pinterest, social media is important.

The overall digital presence of your business plays into how your website ranks. If a business has more engaged, active visitors on its Facebook page than its competitors, it will most likely rank higher in Google as well.

Security

All websites need to be secure. Google is trying to force all website traffic to be encrypted. This requires an SSL certificate (HTTPS) and prevents hackers and identity thieves from stealing or tampering with the connection between the consumer and the website.

To learn more about the importance of an SSL certificate, click here.

In addition to a secure connection, it’s important for websites to be actively monitored and updated. Make sure to keep all third party plugins and scripts up to date, preventing the abuse of any known vulnerabilities.

Depending on the level of personal information gathered on your website (e.g. address, credit card, etc.), it is highly recommended to provide another layer of protection by using a firewall, such as Sucuri. A firewall acts as a barrier between the visitor and your server. It can prevent malicious traffic, DDOS attacks, brute force login attempts and much more.

Website Checklist Conclusion

Websites can be a tricky business. Simply having a website isn’t always enough to generate business. It’s important to work with the tools mentioned above to improve your online presence and increase your website traffic.

If you would like to learn more about this topic, or how we can help with your social media strategy or ad creation, please reach out to the NewPoint team.

If you are interested in more food marketing topics, please visit our “Food for Thought” page.

Alternatively, check out NewPoint’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.