Key Things to Address After Launching Your Website

Your Website is Live—What’s Next?

Congratulations on launching your new website! It’s a big milestone for your business, and whether you worked with site designers or a web design company, you’ve taken a critical step toward building your online presence. But the journey doesn’t stop here—there are still essential tasks to tackle to ensure your website is secure, functional, and optimized for success.

1. Secure Your Website with an SSL Certificate

An SSL Certificate ensures your website URL appears as “https://” instead of “http://” and displays a padlock icon in the browser bar. This reassures visitors that your site is safe for browsing, especially for tasks like filling out forms or making purchases.

• Why It Matters: SSL is a Google ranking factor, and websites without it are less likely to rank well in searches.
• How to Get It: Log into your hosting account (not to be confused with your domain registrar) to purchase and install an SSL Certificate. Many hosting providers include one for free during the first year. After that, costs typically start at $98 annually.
• Professional Help: Consider hiring a professional web designer or your hosting provider to install the certificate correctly and avoid errors.

2. Set Your Hosting and Domain to Auto-Renew

Avoid the risk of your website going offline by setting your hosting and domain services to renew automatically. This is especially important if you worked with a website design agency or web design and marketing company to build your site—it ensures all that effort doesn’t go to waste.

• Keep Payment Info Updated: Regularly update your credit card details to prevent service interruptions.
• Enable Notifications: Opt-in for account alerts from your hosting provider so you’ll get reminders before anything expires.

3. Upgrade to a Professional Domain Email

Using a branded email address (e.g., info@yourbusiness.com) instead of a free service like Gmail boosts credibility and professionalism. If you’ve partnered with a webpage designer or web development and marketing agency, they may offer guidance in setting this up.

• How to Set It Up: Most hosting providers offer email services starting at $3.99/month. Alternatively, check your cPanel for free domain email options.
• Use Gmail Integration: You can link your domain-branded email to Gmail to manage everything in one place.

4. Schedule Regular Website Backups

Backups are essential to protect your website from unforeseen issues. Whether you worked with a local web designer or a website design company, safeguarding your investment is critical.

• Backup Options:
• Use hosting services that offer automatic backups.
• Leverage cPanel to create manual backups.
• Install plugins like All in One WP Migration for WordPress sites.

5. Monitor Downtime with Alerts

Website downtime can hurt your reputation and visibility, especially if you offer services like web design and marketing services or website creation services. Use tools like UptimeRobot to monitor your site and receive instant alerts when it goes offline.

6. Test Your Contact Forms

Your contact forms are crucial for capturing leads. Regularly test them to ensure they’re functioning correctly, as updates to your web design and web development plugins or themes can sometimes cause conflicts.

7. Optimize for Mobile Experience

With mobile traffic dominating the internet, it’s vital that your website is fully optimized for smaller screens. Whether your site was created by site designers or a web design and marketing company, test your site on mobile devices to ensure buttons, forms, and navigation work seamlessly.

8. Protect Against Malware

Malware poses a significant threat to websites. To secure your site, consider these steps:

• Hosting Malware Protection: Many hosting providers offer monitoring and removal services.
• Security Plugins: Install tools like Wordfence or Jetpack to detect and remove threats.

9. Keep Plugins, Themes, and CMS Updated

Regular updates for plugins, themes, and content management systems (CMS) like WordPress are crucial to maintaining your site’s security. Many web agency services offer maintenance plans to ensure your site remains up-to-date.

10. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Launching a website doesn’t guarantee that people will find it. SEO is essential to make your site visible in search engine results, especially if you offer services like website design social media or marketing and web development.

• What to Look For in an SEO Agency:
• A track record of success with web design services or similar industries.
• Transparent processes and no locked-in contracts.
• What SEO Does: Optimizes your website to rank for keywords like “web design and SEO” or “web design and marketing services.”

Final Thoughts

Launching your website is just the beginning. Whether you’re working with a web design agency, a digital website agency, or maintaining the site yourself, addressing these key tasks will set your website up for success. From securing your site with SSL to optimizing it for search engines, each step is critical to ensuring your website performs as a powerful tool for your business.