Now that you have read the previous parts of this blog series, which were “plan” and “create”, it is the time to launch your online store!
If you have done everything listed in the previous two entries, you should be ready to kick off your website!
LAUNCH
1. Pre-launch
Once your website goes live, there will be no point of return.
Thus, this is the last chance for you to do a final check on your site before it launches, so you better take full advantage of it!
Prior to launching, you should evaluate your site and test out all the possibilities that might occur. Things that you should check out:
TEST TEST TEST
You should test the website layout on different types of devices (Mobile / Tablet / Computer).
This is to make sure that people who access your site have an optimal experience.
You must include the design that gives the same experience for different screen sizes and page-load times.
You need to optimize the site for mobile users so that visitors won’t leave due to inconvenience.
Did you know that, by having a mobile responsive website, it will automatically change to fit the device the user are accessing the site on?
If your site is mobile friendly, it will benefit from the search engine optimization (SEO) as Google reviews mobile and desktop website activity. The rankings are based on how people access the website.
Announcing the pre-launch
If your e-Commerce business has a social media site, you should start publishing posts to announce the pre-launching dates or announcement related to your site.
A pre-launch sneak peek is a great way to gather virality and create a buzz around your brand on the social media platforms.
For example:
If you have started building an email list for your newsletter, you can start sending the announcement to your subscribers too.
You can also try word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising by announcing your e-Commerce business pre-launch to your family or close friends.
BONUS TIP: Remember to proof-read all the contents that you intend to publish on the site.
2. LAUNCH
So, how are you going to let others know about your brand new e-Commerce store?
You need to have a viable plan to attract the attention of as many people as possible.
You can do this by having promotions on your e-Commerce store.
If you have built up a subscribers list, you can also start sending them discount codes if they make purchases in your store.
You can even run a contest to reward the users depending on the platform you have chosen.
Do some community building as well by chatting in various social media groups or even forums.
