In a competitive business landscape and a world of digital potential, there comes a time when a website relaunch is in order. It provides an opportunity to overhaul a company’s online HQ, with enhanced brand image, improved user experience, better search engine rankings, increased functionality, and analytics and reporting. There’s often energy and excitement around the launch, but it’s in the period after this that it really proves its worth. The day that it goes live is just the start.
A successful company website is a dynamic tool that can be used by multiple stakeholders within the business to help them reach their objectives. It should be relatively low maintenance, but by tending to certain aspects after it goes live, you can really maximise its potential. We’ve drawn up our list of the five areas for marketers to focus on after in the period following a website launch.
1) Monitor Google Analytics
There’s a lot of data on Google Analytics, but many businesses don’t take advantage of it. It’s an invaluable source of insights into how users are interacting with a website, what content is performing well, and where there may be opportunities for improvement. Google Analytics can be used to track key metrics such as traffic sources, user demographics, bounce rate, and conversion rates. By analysing this data, businesses can identify which marketing channels are driving the most traffic to their website, which pages are performing well, and which pages may be causing users to leave the site. This can feed into digital and marketing strategies to improve user engagement, increase conversions, and ultimately drive more revenue.
2) Report on SEO positioning within a competitor set
In business, it has always been a good idea to keep an eye on the competition. And when it comes to SEO, there’s a wealth of data that allows you to look at others in your sector to see what’s working for them, and what isn’t. This allows you to win bigger and more frequently. Reporting on SEO positioning within a competitor set involves gathering data on a range of key metrics, such as organic search traffic, keyword rankings, backlinks, and domain authority. By identifying areas where a website is falling behind its competitors, you can make more informed decisions about how to improve SEO efforts and increase visibility on search engines.
3) Build and monitor a dashboard
A dashboard is a visual representation of key website metrics and data that can be easily tracked and analysed over time. There are a number of tools that can be used to create it, like Google Data Studio and, Databox, for ease of use. Before building a dashboard, it's important to define the goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be tracked, for example, website traffic, conversion rates, page load times, and engagement rates. It then needs to be connected to your data sources, such as Google Analytics. You can also include other marketing statistics from or social media platforms, SEO monitoring tools and email marketing platforms. The dashboard should be designed to provide an easy-to-read overview of all digital marketing performance. Choosing the right visualizations, colours and layouts makes the data easier to understand and interpret. Once the dashboard is built, it should be regularly monitored to track website performance over time. This may involve setting up alerts to notify stakeholders when certain KPIs reach certain thresholds or conducting regular reviews to identify areas for improvement.
4) Quarterly reviews to look at what’s working and what’s not
It’s a good idea to schedule in quarterly reviews after a website has launched and see these as part of a journey of continuous improvement. Reviews can allow you to spot and address any issues that may have come to light after the development and testing phase. They can help you identify areas where the user experience could be improved. This may involve tweaking the design or navigation to make it more intuitive or improving site speed to reduce load times. It’s a time to check in on content, performance monitoring insights and potential improvement to steer strategy going forward.
5) A wish list for ongoing enhancements
A good company website will be low maintenance, flexible, easy to use and have the potential to grow and evolve with the company. When a new site has increased functionality from its predecessor, stakeholders in the business can leverage it in their new initiatives. To realise the potential of a new digital platform, you can build a wish list for ongoing enhancements, and work towards putting these in place. What’s on the list depends on the goals and needs of the business.
A new website can be a powerful tool for connecting with all of a company’s audiences, from clients to employees, investors and suppliers. But the day when it goes live is just the start. With smart use of the data that it delivers, and periodic input from key stakeholders, it can drive ongoing improvements and help you reach your business goals.
About Embrace
Embrace is a London-based digital creative agency that delivers substance, not just surface appeal. With a knack for getting closer to a business and its communication challenges, the agency discovers unexpected opportunities, and creates powerful ideas that take brands further. If you’d like to talk to us about your marketing needs, do get in touch.