The idea is simple: Rather than sending a big “here it is!” announcement to everyone you know, first send a “can you please give this a look?” announcement to 50-100 people you know well.

Just ask them to have a look around, check the links and point out anything that seems broken or obviously wrong – there’s a good chance they will find functional problems.

With the Today I web site, for example, I almost didn’t take this extra step before launching last year. It’s only a one-page site, after all, what could I have missed?

Turns out somebody discovered that on a tablet (e.g., iPad) there was no way to subscribe. Oops!

Then, once you’ve handled any problems that your first group uncovers, go ahead and tell the world about your (error-free) new site!