What to Expect When You Are "Expecting" a New Website -- Part III of III

The name is Bond. James Bond. And the new blonde Bond rocks! The creators of the newest James Bond movie “Casino Royale” have completely reinvented Bond.

The new Bond is tougher. More masculine. Decidedly sexier. The movie is less cartoonish and more realistic. The romantic plot line is fantastic. It seems like the creators want to broaden its appeal to women as well as the traditional male Bond fan. It worked for me!

Just like the creators of the new Bond, when you are building a website you have the chance to reinvent your image. Take an inventory of what works for your company and what doesn’t. Think of your new website as a fresh start. A chance to redefine in a clear and compelling way what you do and how you do it.

If you have been following this article series, you should have a solid understanding of what to expect when you are managing a website project. The first eight steps are:

1. Define the website project goal
2. Design the homepage
3. Gather the website materials
4. Create the navigational map
5. Design the interior pages
6. Set up a live test website
7. Load the content
8. Proof, proof and re-proof

By following these steps and working hand in hand with your webmaster you are ready to go live. This is exciting!

Step #9 – Go Live

I recommend going live over a weekend. That gives your webmaster 48 hours to straighten out any bugs before your doors open for business on Monday. You should expect a few bugs like broken hyperlinks, blurry pictures, and typos. Even though you have proofed the website several times, your eye will miss a few errors. At this point you should have someone who has never looked at the site sweep it for final corrections. Triple check your contact information and make sure it is correct.

In addition to fixing a few minor errors, your “Contact Us” registration form may require tweaking. Registration forms can’t be tested until the website actually goes live. You need to test the registration form and make sure you can complete a registration. Further, you need to make sure the completed registration forms are emailed to the correct staff member for follow up.

Step #10 – Monitor the Website’s Effectiveness

This is the most overlooked step in the website process. How do you know if your new website is working for you? Chances are because you were involved in building the site you aren’t objective about its effectiveness. The best way to measure website effectiveness is by utilizing a website analytics company. Picture hooking up your website up to an EKG machine and giving it a stress test on a treadmill…that’s website analytics. The best website analytics company is http://www.webtrends.com/. You can purchase a small business version of WebTrends for as little as $35.00 per month. After you sign up for an account, your webmaster connects your website to the analytics monitoring station. Via an online report, you can monitor the following:
Number of unique visitors to your website
*Total number of visits
*Average length of visit
*Number of pages viewed per visit
*What pages are viewed
*How visitors find your website
*What visitors do on your website
*What makes visitors leave your website

A website is never finished. Step number ten is about constantly monitoring and tweaking your site to maximize its effectiveness. The website analytics feedback is critical. Who knows…you might just want to change your identity completely and be the next blonde Bond!