Here is a quick checklist to run down when you’re launching a new Web site.
- Identify the market you’re addressing.
- Document or classify the vertical you’re in.
- Assess your resources.
- Set specific goals to serve as key performance indicators.
- Outline the steps you will take to achieve each goal.
Who is the target audience? – Especially with ecommerce sites, I often find people don’t really know to whom they are selling something. Think about it. 200 million+ Americans surf the Internet. Maybe 100 million of them purchase goods and services online. But how many of those people are interested in whatever you’re offering? Just write a short description (1-3 sentences usually suffices) of the people for whom your site is intended.
Know your competition. – I’m not talking about doing competitive intelligence. You cannot do competitive intelligence until you have identified the players. Odds are you never look beyond the first 10 results for your most valued queries. Do you really know whom you’re competing against? You should be able to divide your online competitors into major players, minor players, and wannabes. If you’re just getting started, you’re a wannabe.
Assess your resources. – How many Web sites can you leverage in promoting your new site? How much advertising and product packaging can you leverage into promoting your new site? How about public appearances? Events where you can/will be a vendor? Who are your network partners? A real marketing plan takes into consideration where you can get your message out and how you intend to do that. Don’t think about links. Think about promoting your site.
Write a list of achievable goals. – Write down ten things you will work toward. Publishing a specific number of pages, ebooks, or other documents counts as only one goal. Building daily visits counts as one goal. Obtaining links counts as one goal. What about your advertisements? What about your promotional plans? Include specific goals for everything, but don’t go past ten. When you’ve crossed 7 items off your list you can start composing your next 10 goals but finish the last 3 items on the first list before you tackle the next 10.
Tell yourself how you intend to deliver the results. – The results are how you fulfill your goals, not how many conversions you get from your site. Beside each goal write a brief Plan A and Plan B. Never take on a goal without a backup plan. Your plans can be as simple as “buy an ad in the local newspaper the week of June 4, 2010″ or as complex as a detailed 20-step plan for delivering 10,000 copies of a book to a major conference.
The point is that if you don’t know what you’re doing halfway through doing it, you’re stuck. Write down what you intend to do and refer back to your notes each week. You may need to adjust your plan halfway through but that’s okay as long as you know what you’re giving up and what you’re gaining.
Every Web site is different but you can follow these simple steps to launch new sites over and over again.
Written by Michael Martinez
