Last-Minute Launches & Quickie Websites

Sometimes a company, organization, or individual needs to launch a last-minute or quickie website. By “last-minute”, I mean yesterday… rather, today… in the next two hours—time is of the essence and we need to launch immediately. By “quickie website”, I mean we need something up there for now—we’ll tweak it later. Either way, Kern Tech Support can help you get your website launched in an hour or two if that is what you need.

What makes such a hasty website launch necessary? The answer is “lots of things!” We can’t always predict the circumstances that produce such a need for instantaneous and sometimes drastic action, but here are a couple of things I’ve experienced.

Scenario 1: Last-Minute Website

Your boss tells you a camera crew will arrive this afternoon to film a segment on the fund raiser your company is sponsoring. He tells you to get a website up before lunch so he can announce it during the interview which will be aired on the afternoon news broadcast. Further, he wants people to be able to donate money to the cause through this website. This scenario might seem unlikely, but this sort of thing happens all the time.

Now, obviously, this situation is best avoided. It should go without saying that a 2 hour launch is not going to produce a beautiful website the same as a project that is thoroughly developed. But, there is no reason to panic. We (you and I) can do this.

First, purchase a domain name for the event. You want the public to be able to easily find your event on the internet without having to type a ridiculously long domain name such as “specialevent.mywebsite.com/moreinformation.html”. A simple domain is easier to remember and is likely to draw more visitors.

An event domain, in my opinion, is better than directing people to your company’s website where the event details are not the main focus. Don’t worry, the domain “myevent.info” can be pointed, or redirected to the server where your company’s website is located. In other words, the event information will still be on your company’s website, but the special domain will lead directly to the special event page.

Second, expect a multi-phased launch:

• Phase I: A simple page with event and contact information is formatted and launched within an hour or two (day 1).
• Phase II: A more sophisticated website with navigation, more information, and contact form is developed and launched (day 1 or 2).
• Phase III: Visitors are able to donate money to the cause using an online form (day 1 to 3 depending on checkout options).

The goal of a last-minute launch is achieved.

Scenario 2: Quickie Website

Funding for website development is not yet secured, but the launch will happen within a few months. The domain name and hosting has been purchased. The index page contains a cheesy looking “under construction” page, a search page from a hosting company, or worse, a file-tree for the root directory. On top of that, company agents all have business cards with “me@mywebsite.com” email addresses.

Whatever you do, avoid purchasing a domain name and leaving the index page blank. A simple page like the one described in Phase I above is better than a “coming soon” or “under construction” message. Visitors who see those messages are automatically inclined to believe your business is still under construction as well. The underlying message is that you can’t do what you’re out there telling people you can do.

A professional webpage with company logo and sales or contact information is essential to ensure your business venture has an air of legitimacy should someone research it on the internet. A placeholder page is needed until the website can be further developed. A placeholder page can be coded rather quickly for a fraction of the cost of a complete, functioning website and should not be forsaken.

The “last-minute” and “quickie” websites demonstrate cases where launching the website takes precedence over the layout and design. Quality and quantity of the content also take a back-seat to simply getting the website launched. The good news is whether your website is launched in a matter of hours or days; it will likely need to be updated frequently over the following weeks. By then, your website will indeed look like it was developed with a lot of foresight and thought.