If you didn’t know, Beyoncé announced a world tour nonchalantly after her Super Bowl halftime performance with a 15-second ad. And for the last 15 or so hours, her site has been taken down repeatedly — more than likely by the mass amounts of traffic it’s getting.
You may not be getting Beyoncé sized waves of site visitors, but that doesn’t mean your latest launch isn’t capable of taking down your entire website. Sometimes the situation is one you can’t see coming or haven’t prepared yourself for, but if you are launching a new anything, the following steps will help you avoid showing this to your site visitors…
Stagger your announcement
Announcing your launch during the halftime show is bound to flood your site with tons of traffic. When you add all of your social networks to the mix (and maybe even a newsletter), your site is going to get hammered with traffic since all of those folks are seeing the news + link at the same time.
To help ease the stress on your site’s server, you can stagger your announcement. For example, your email subscribers could get first dibs on whatever it is you are offering. Even if it’s an hour early, that exclusivity is a pretty awesome way to show them you love them.
From there, you could start with your favorite social platform + focus on engaging with those that like + comment along. Instead of stressing about posting on every platform ever, you can stay present where your peeps are while giving your server the chance to deal with the traffic.
After that, follow up with your non-favorite platforms + methods of communication. This could be guest blog posts, personal emails to influencers to share the news, podcast appearances, etc.
Staggering your announcement will stagger the traffic hitting your site. That consistent flow of traffic instead of one giant spike is going to help keep your site up + running.
Warn your hosting company
You may not know the numbers to expect, but warning your hosting company of your upcoming launch is never a bad idea. If they are worth their weight, they will help your business succeed by discussing your options + possible issues.
For example, the hosting service that we provide includes the promise that your site won’t be taken down if traffic suddenly spikes. We, and our hosting partner Flywheel {aff link}, don’t believe in punishing peeps for success.
Giving your hosting company a heads up at least 1 week before the launch allows for time to chat about the options + set up possible solutions before visitors head to your site in droves.
Have help on speed dial
The biggest bit of advice I always give to entrepreneurs launching anything is to have your tech support prepped + available to you. If your favorite nerd doesn’t know that you are launching, how are they supposed to know you may need them at a moment’s notice?
Plus, they may have maintenance scheduled during your launch window, which is the last thing you want to do. Again, they aren’t mind readers, so keep them in the loop.
Contact your VA or developer (or the person you turn to for tech support) at least 2 weeks in advance to line up the game plan for if things don’t go flawlessly. The more time you give them, the better it will be for them, for you + for your site visitors which is a rare win-win-win!
Just remember, even Beyoncé has tech troubles sometimes + that’s ok! But there are things you can do to avoid crashing your site during your next launch which will help keep your visitors reading, signing up, purchasing + loving the latest project you are putting out into the world.