What happens after my website launches?

The first two weeks

Submit the sitemap in Search Console and check that pages are being indexed. Watch for 404 errors from old links that weren’t redirected. Test every form by submitting it yourself. Check the site on your own phone and on someone else’s.

Small issues appear here. A good designer includes a short window to fix them without charge.

The first three months

Rankings can wobble after a launch, especially if URLs changed, and then settle. Use Search Console to see which searches you appear for and GA4 to see what visitors do. Look for patterns: pages that get traffic but no enquiries, or searches you show up for but rarely get clicked.

Ongoing care

Every site needs some maintenance. On a builder, the platform handles software updates and you handle content. On WordPress, plugins and themes need regular updates. On a static or prerendered site, there’s less to patch, but hosting, backups, domain renewals and small edits still need an owner.

Decide who does this before launch. “We’ll figure it out” tends to mean nobody does.

Keep improving

The best-performing small business sites change a little every few months. A new service page. Fresh project photos. An FAQ that answers what people keep phoning about. A clearer call to action on the page with high traffic and few leads. Small, steady edits based on real data beat a big redesign every five years.

After I launch a site, I watch Search Console and the forms closely for the first few weeks, fix anything that surfaces, and send a short note on what the early data says. Clients on the Pulse Plan get hosting, security, updates and ongoing refinements. Clients who’d rather handle it themselves get the code and notes on how it all runs.

Either way, I’d put a calendar reminder to review the site every quarter.