Launch now or wait? This is a question many a client ponders when we are building a new website for them. The scenario goes like this, you’re having a new website built and the company building it is almost done, but you haven’t gotten all the content together. What should you do? Well, the first question is when can you have the content together? We all know content is the hardest part of any website. It can be extremely difficult to produce when you are busy or experiencing writer’s block. So, in our experience, it’s best to launch your new website when it’s at a point that it is better than your current one.

A good website is never completed. You should always be adding content to help your SEO as well as help your users find out more about you. Did you know content is probably the single most important ranking factor when it comes to Google? You see, Google has programs that are constantly scanning and reading websites content. This is called indexing and it’s how Google finds out about you and what services you offer. So, the more content you have the more knowledgeable you look in your field to Google.

The decision to pull the trigger and go live on a website can be a hard one to make since we are always our harshest critics. However, if your website is 10 years old at this point, it is better to launch a new website incomplete than wait. Plus, if you put an incomplete website out, you are also more likely to produce the necessary content more quickly.

So why may I want to wait to launch until I get everything together? Well, that answer is simple. You want to make sure all necessary functionality is complete. So, if you are building an ecommerce store, you want the checkout process to be functioning before launch. Products though, you can always add those as time goes on. Just make sure any “mission critical” functionality is working.

Additionally, the sooner you get your new website up, the sooner you can begin testing and making any adjustments using heat maps and A/B testing. This will start to get your new website user flow optimized more quickly, leading to a better conversion rate faster.

Time to quit agonizing over the image you’re using on your contact or the content you don’t have time to produce. Get your new website live as quickly as possible and start making a return on your investment. Trust me, you will be happy you went live!