… helped a client “prelaunch” his web site.
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!
Today’s post was timely – and made me nervous because today I launched a new website – e-learning course in a members-only website (www.ohsethics.com). It is a joint project with a professional association. It is the result of over 3 years of effort. They sent out an e-mail to their entire membership wtih the announcement. Hopefully it all works – fingers crossed.
Always scary! But, the (very) nice thing about online is that mistakes are nearly always fixable. Gone are the days when the big box of brochures finally arrives and your eye goes right to the typo!!
Congratulations, Thea.
Your timing is great! I’ve been working on my new responsive WordPress site for months now (to replace my not-phone-friendly 6-year-old site) and I think this would be a great way to get some helpful feedback and extra eyes helping me out!
Fantastic, Anne!