I’m doing the capital mistake when launching rethord.com, and I hope you know it. I know all about it, it would be shameful not to, given my track record with blog launches and projects started over the last ten years. And yes, I’ll go into that at another time.
So what is it already?
Always have your site ready before the launch. No under construction signs or stuff like that, it’s not only unprofessional, it’s also tacky (I’ve left them out here though). Don’t launch sites that aren’t done yet!
We all know that rethord.com isn’t done. The beta page tells us that.
What should I have done to launch the blog correctly?
- Have more content! Categories returning “nothing’s here” pages isn’t OK. Always have enough content when you launch, a full front page is practically a must.
- Be quiet about stuff not ready yet! While telling people that the site is beta might sound like a great way to keep your back clear, it does also give the impression that you didn’t pull yourself together and just finish the job. Which is true of course. The ideal launch always seems fully fledged from the beginning, and when you add the new features you’d planned all along, it looks all the better!
- Don’t link it ’til it’s done! I did this as well, mostly out of laziness. This is stupid really, because although I had rethord.com up and running on September 20th, it was in no means ready. I did display the beta page though, which might’ve saved me some disappointed visitors never returning.
A launch is a big thing. You should always make it your best one to date, and always give a great first impression.
First impressions last, you know that and I know that. That’s why it is so stupid to launch something that isn’t presenting itself at its finest.
It’s always more fun doing things impulsively .. works best for me when I go shopping … during dinner times!
Torn between having a project drag on for a year, or putting up an incomplete site, I’ve taken to launching sites in phases. If the plan is to include elements A, B, C, D, and E, but I know it will take longer to develop the content for D and E, I’ll plan a site that includes all 5 elements, but only include A, B and C in the Phase One launch. While I know more info is forthcoming, the users won’t as I won’t include any navigation to D and E until launching phase 2 which includes those sections.
When phase 2 is launched with elements D and E, I can announce that the site has been updated and expanded (instead of saying that the site has just been completed).
This seems to work pretty well, especially when dealing with clients who want to launch before everything is ready. The trick is breaking the content up into logical navigational chunks, so that each section is complete before it goes live.
Fun is fun, Hart, but perhaps not so clever all the time.
I think you’re doing it in the second best way, Heidi. The best being to have it all done right away, something that isn’t favored today since it’s both expensive and time consuming. Look at all the betas in the Web 2.0 sphere, they’re proof enough. Still, if this was something else than a semi-personal site I wouldn’t launch it this way, now I made a point of doing it. So I agree with you.