Just getting a website isn't enough
It is likely that upon the launch of a brand new website, one concludes that the process is now finished and no extra work needs to be done. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is that the some believe they will instantly start getting visitors by the proverbial "bucket-load", whereas in reality only those who are expecting the launch actually visit. Generating large levels of traffic takes time.
“Ah”, I hear you say, “but I have both a Facebook and a Twitter account. These will provide the visitors”. Unless you already have thousands, this is unlikely. The underlying issue is that, as with the website itself, no one knows that you exist.
To illustrate this, let's compare a website with a traditional shop. New shops open on a fairly frequent basis; however, this doesn’t mean that they will be a success. In fact, new shops generally struggle because they are not known to the public at large – only high street brands can survive without help. And this is precisely my point: a new website may not be a known high street store. Those websites which are (continuing the analogy) are those which a user does not have to find – like Amazon, eBay or Google.
Put simply, no one would ever launch a new store without publicising it, placing adverts and generating word of mouth. The web is no different – to be successful, new websites must be actively advertised online, in traditional media and by word of mouth. Excellent, fresh content and SEO are a solid foundation to build upon – but require a lot of time to deliver results without help.
In short, the launch of a website isn’t the end of the process – it’s the beginning.