Launch Is The Beginning

28%
OF ALL MAJOR STRATEGIC
INITIATIVES FAIL.
ONLY
49%
OF ALL PROJECTS ARE
COMPLETED ON TIME.
A business’ website plays so many different
roles: it is the public face of the brand, the top

60% OF “SUCCESSFUL”
PROJECTS NEVER MEET THEIR

of the sales and marketing funnel, a laboratory
BUSINESS GOALS.
for testing fresh ideas, the lure to recruit future
employees, and the main point of contact for

Source: Project Management Institute
most potential new customers.
morale, and lost time for the competition to

IN THE TECH-INFUSED 21ST CENTURY
out-execute you.
WORLD, A STRONG WEBSITE IS JUST AS
IMPORTANT TO A BUSINESS AS A QUALITY

According to the Project Management Institute’s
PRODUCT OR A STATE-OF-THE-ART
2017 Pulse of the Profession, industry
PRODUCTION FACILITY.
managers report that nearly a third (28%) of all
major strategic initiatives fail. As if that isn’t

Given a business website’s vital importance,
bad enough, only half (49%) of all projects are
ensuring its effectiveness is crucial. Yet, if
completed on time. Worst of all, nearly two-
you’ve been in sales or marketing for more
thirds (60%) of supposedly “successful” projects
than a few years, you’re all too familiar with the
LAUNCH IS THE BEGINNING
never actually meet their business goals. The

elephant in the room: most complex technology
ability to maintain positivity in the face of these
projects fail.
truths is a key part of the entrepreneurial spirit,
Those failures mean more than lost revenue but so is the desire to significantly improve
which cannot be recovered. They equal inflated those success rates.
project costs, long-term damage to internal
02
You can’t just throw money to solve the problem. In light of these dire stats, how can you
Research suggests that pumping funds into a prevent these failures? To do so takes a
project (the most general way we try to provide deep understanding of the pitfalls that cause
help from above) actually hurts chances for major projects to stumble toward the finish
success rather than helping them. A Gartner line or cause them to prove ineffective after
survey determined that IT projects with budgets completion. Let’s take the first step by exploring
of over $1 million actually fail at a 50% higher the ground-level reasons key initiatives fail.
rate than those with budgets below $350,000.
While, PMI’s 2017 Pulse of the Profession
survey determined that only 4% of major project
failures were the result of insufficient funds.
$1 MILLION+
BUDGETS HAVE
50% 4%
HIGHER FAILURE RATE THAN OF PROJECT FAILURES WERE THE
BUDGETS BELOW $350,000 RESULT OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS
Source: Gartner & PMI Pulse of the Profession

03
HOW CAN OUR MOST
IMPORTANT PROJECTS FAIL?
37%
When the Project Management
Institute’s team asked managers
for the single biggest reason major

19% POOR LACK OF CLEAR
COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES
projects failed, here were the three
biggest vote-getters:
18%
LACK OF COMMUNICATION
BASED ON THESE RESULTS,
BY SENIOR MANAGEMENT
74% OF MAJOR PROJECT
FAILURES ARE THE RESULT OF
COMMUNICATION SHORTCOMINGS. are actually working on day-to-day can be
substantially different from what was initially
pitched to them. This can cause confusion,

Put another way, only 26% of projects failed
damage morale, and result in an end product
because of execution. Before the first design
that fully serves neither the project’s original
concept or line of code was crafted the vast
goals nor the additional goals that crept into
majority of projects are already doomed for failure
the project over time.
due to broken lines of internal conversation.
The very nature of large-scale, long-term

That means those of us leading the discussion
projects makes them highly vulnerable to
are not doing a good enough job clearly defining
even the smallest shifts in vision. It’s easy for
actionable goals, empowering our teams to
those at management level to forget that the

succeed by setting their own goals, sticking to
pace of changing direction in one’s mind is
these goals, and communicating with our teams
exponentially faster than that of readjusting
in a positive, productive, ongoing manner.
or altering a project at ground level, and these
According to the PMI, nearly half (49%) of all disconnects within the chain of command
major projects experienced scope creep, which cause friction that often lead to final products
means the project individual team members that are below expectations.
04
WHAT DOES THIS
Whether creating a new website, leading a
rebranding, or driving innovation with a cutting-
MEAN FOR OUR edge app, we should never take for granted that
MOST COMPLEX
crafting any complex creative project will be a
straightforward process.
INITIATIVES? Even if you begin with the best possible
designers, writers, coders, and strategists on
your side, there’s still a lot that can go wrong,
and the research from PMI suggests that the
majority of those things that go wrong happen
at the project manager level and above. If
execution matters less than communication,
then the most important task project leaders
can take is refining their thinking in advance of
their next initiative.
Equally importantly, if the majority of projects
pass their debut without achieving their desired
goals, then launch isn’t the finish line. Launch is
simply one stop along the way in a larger, more
complex, journey.
05
LAUNCH
IS THE
BEGINNING
06
Let’s take a look at all of the work that goes
into a truly successful journey, one that thinks
well beyond launch. We’ll begin by simulating
we’re leading a website redesign within an
established business, but the recommendations
within this guide will broadly apply to any
complex development initiative of your own.
And to spice things up, we’ll employ a metaphor
that illustrates the stakes and snarls of any
ambitious project.
07
THE
LAUNCHING A BUSINESS WEBSITE
IS A LOT LIKE LAUNCHING A ROCKET
INTO SPACE.
SPACE In 1962, President Kennedy explained to the nation why “We
AGE choose to go to the moon,” putting the public and his own
government scientists on notice that he expected greatness.
When a business’ leadership team chooses to design and
develop a new website, it similarly encourages hope for the
potential future of the company while also placing pressure
on the entire project team.

08
09
The key at this step is vision. Leadership
must announce the project with a strong
vision already in place as well as an ability to
articulate that vision to the rest of the team, as
President Kennedy did during the space race.
Achieving something as important as launching
a rocket or website requires total buy-in from
all the individuals involved, and that can’t exist
without a clear, confident explanation of what
they’re creating, why they’re creating it, and
how they’re going to do it. Nobody’s ever gotten
a rocket off the ground without selling the
engineers on their gleaming vision of the future.
Once the project team has been assembled
and motivated, it’s important to determine
what the rocket is going to look like. How will
it be shaped, and how will that shape support
its function? What features will be useful for
its work in space? What logos will go on the
outside? In website development, this is the machine, but a successful launch wouldn’t
work of the marketing team. They draw upon be possible any other way. Through seasoned
their experience, research, and established best analysis propulsion specialists divine a perfect
practices to create a website that speaks to the balance of weight vs thrust, to ensure the
unique identity, goals, and customer base of the momentum is great enough to escape Earth’s
company. Like rocket engineers, their quality of orbit. That’s the Content and SEO teams.
their design will directly impact the success or They improve the effectiveness of the rocket,
failure of the project. supercharging the mission through a wealth
of powerful, audience aligned content. Should

The massive boosters of a rocket may look
their delicate measurements be even slightly
comically out of proportion with the rest of the
off, the shuttle will drift in unexpected ways.
10
After the rocket is completed and launch day draws near, the control room team in Houston grows
increasingly nervous, desperate to get those astronauts into space safely. They know the risks as well
as anyone, they’ve seen how the rocket performed in countless tests, and they appreciate how high
the stakes are. That’s the IT team. They do everything they can to ensure a successful launch, but
they know too well that unforeseen problems often present themselves when you’re journeying into
uncharted territory. They’re cautiously optimistic that your new website will help grow the business, but
they’re also prepared to spring into action at anything from a hiccup to a nightmare scenario.
Once preparation is complete and the launch
window has been confirmed, it’s time to call
in the press and get the cameras focused
on the launchpad. That’s where the Public
Relations team comes in. It’s time to take the
leadership vision that united the project team

at the beginning of the process and pass it
forward to the public. You want people to know
what a great rocket you built, and by creating
awareness for the launch, you’re increasing
the number of eyeballs on your website in its
first days.
11
Finally, when launch day arrives, you need
your team of astronauts to climb into the
rocket and give the mission a human face. They
must harness the tools built into the rocket to
complete their mission, but they also rely on the
work of the engineers and technicians who built
the rocket to keep them safe and supported.
Those brave astronauts are your Sales Team,
who must trust your new website both as a
funnel that will bring them leads and a toolkit of
content that will help convert those leads
into customers.
Once all these professionals have done their work
and all systems are go, it’s officially launch day:
for the rocket and your website. Time for blastoff!
As the rocket fuel ignites, there is a massive,
blinding flash and a gigantic puff of smoke.
There’s a brief moment of violent chaos followed
by stunned silence and confusion. “What
happened?” people ask, “Is everyone okay?”
Just then, the rocket emerges from the burning
fire, pushes its way off the pad and up toward

the sky. The designers release audible sighs of
relief, and tears of joy and pride roll down the
cheeks of the leadership team who planned
the project and saw it through to completion. ...BUT WAIT A MINUTE!

There’s a brief celebration, maybe a little bubbly
THAT ROCKET IS STILL UP IN
popped, and then, for almost everybody, it’s
THE SKY!
back to business as usual.
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EMERGENCY!
AFTER THE INITIAL EXCITEMENT OF
THE LAUNCH, EMOTIONS QUICKLY SHIFT
TO RENEWED FEELINGS OF FEAR AND
UNCERTAINTY AT EVERY LEVEL.
The astronauts panic in their first before seen hiccups on the fly.
moments of weightlessness, as The IT team at mission control is
your sales team grows concerned losing sleep troubleshooting and
that the new website isn’t fixing bugs so the whole rocket
generating the number of inbound doesn’t come crashing down.
leads they were anticipating. The

Then, of course, there’s upper
marketing team reviews the
leadership, who invariably begin
launch footage and expresses
to panic because everybody else
frustration with P.R. that they
is panicking. Maybe this whole
didn’t get a good enough close-up
rocket thing was a mistake?
of the logo on the rocket or explain
Suddenly, they’ve passed the

the marvels of its various features
baton back to the project manager
to the public effectively. The
saying, “Fix it. Now!”
content and SEO teams are up late
consuming coffee by the pot full
as they scrutinize the data flowing
in, attempting to fix a few never
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SPACE MADNESS In the moment, it’s easy to feel like you’ve been
sucked right out of that rocket and are gasping
for air in the vacuum of space. In reality,
though, your launch was still successful.
THE CHALLENGES YOUR WEBSITE IS FACING AND THE FEELINGS
YOUR COWORKERS ARE EXPERIENCING ARE ALL PERFECTLY NORMAL.
EMOTIONS WILL RUN HIGH BECAUSE OF FEAR AND AN APPRECIATION
OF THE STAKES, BUT IT’S YOUR JOB TO HELP EVERYBODY, ABOVE AND
BELOW, LEARN HOW TO BREATHE IN THIS NEW SITUATION.
That means reassuring your team members It’s crucial to understand what not to do in
using the data available to you. When your these moments.
launch control team is concerned the rocket

The biggest mistake you could make would
might fail, remind them of the exhaustive tests
be to immediately make wholesale changes
it passed before launch. Should marketing push
to your new website, revert back to your old
hard to plot an emergency course of action,
design, or rush into planning another full
encourage them to revisit the sound thinking
redesign. That’s equivalent to aborting the
in their original blueprints. If your sales team
mission while you still have astronauts up in
is concerned the new website will never meet
space: it’s faithless knee jerking that will only
goals for lead gathering, give them a side-by-
harm business and morale. Your team trained
side comparison of the improvements when
hard and put in hours of work to make the
comparing the old system to the new one.
mission a success. You must have faith in them,
These conversations will remind each team that,
yourself, and leadership’s original vision. You

even if the new site isn’t meeting performance
must stick to the plan and allow yourself, and
goals yet, it’s a much better brand conversation
everybody else, to float on.
tool than what came before it. Overall, your
goal at this stage is to convince people “Relax.
We’ll get where we’re going soon!”
14
PLOTTING
THE COURSE
In the crucial days post-launch, you and your
team will need to keep active to ensure your
rocket stays intact. If any pieces shook loose
during take-off, they’ll need to be fixed quickly
and effectively – remember, lives are at stake.

MAKING DRASTIC CHANGES QUICKLY,
No rocket launch is perfect, nor is any AND WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
astronaut onboard, but prioritizing the highest POST LAUNCH MANIA, MAY HAVE FAR
priority patches can cure those anxious post REACHING EFFECTS WHICH ARE HARD
launch jitters. TO PREDICT ACCURATELY.
Your temptation may be to obsess over the

Or your preferred method may be to drive the
analytics and optimize the site as quickly as
individual teams harder. Double-checking their
possible, but the fact of the matter is that
work, criticizing their lack of perfection, while
this could be dangerous. You’ve done your job
challenging them to do more, faster. They’ve
effectively to this point, but you can’t get any
all put in their share of sleepless nights, and
kind of an accurate read on the performance of
turning an ally into an enemy won’t increase
the rocket for some time. Websites take a few
effectiveness. This approach can only breed
weeks to stabilize, and so do tired rocketeers.
distrust, burning out a team before they’re able
to see the results they’ve worked hard for, while

undermining their position in this process.
Take a few days to breathe. Plan a mini-vacation,
even. That might sound completely crazy, but
remember: you just put a rocket up in space
and the journey is just getting started.
15
THE REAL
This is where leadership is truly tested.
Your rocket, like every rocket before it, captured
PROBLEMS people’s imaginations better on paper and
in theory than it does in practice. All anyone
APPEAR
internally can see today are the compromises.
Maybe the numbers aren’t up to expectations
WHEN YOU
or projections. Maybe the cost of the rocket
seems higher than it did in the thrilling build
ACHIEVE
to launch. Maybe the bosses are disappointed
your customers didn’t throw a parade for you.
Whatever the reasons individual team members
YOUR choose, the shine is going to come off your
rocket pretty fast, and that’s when the mission
MISSION
becomes most vulnerable.
Voices will invariably arise from within the
team wanting to pull the mission in numerous

When you first rallied your team around your
different directions. One team of engineers will
vision to put a rocket in space, there was
say the plan was flawed from the start, wanting
tremendous energy and excitement throughout
to build a bigger rocket to travel to Mars.
the business. The promise of being part
Another faction will pitch calling the crew back,
of something new and innovative brought
retooling the rocket, and launching again next
everybody together and generated a great deal
year. Others will want to cancel the mission
of sustained passion and hard work.
outright and simply take a nap.
Then, on launch day, it was nervous anxiety LAST BUT NOT LEAST, A SMALL,
that brought everybody together and motivated VASTLY OUTNUMBERED GROUP
them to do some of their best thinking during WILL ADVOCATE FOR TRUSTING
crunch time. Now that the rocket’s up in space, THE SHIP ACHIEVE ITS GOALS,
though, maintaining that passion for the work LETTING DATA INDICATE WHAT
throughout the team grows much more difficult. SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT.
16
PROJECT HANGOVER
When you were designing your rocket, it felt like We’ve all been part of projects that drag on far
getting it into space was the main objective. too long or whose names dare not be spoken
out loud in the office because of their well-

Now that you have astronauts above the
earned bad reputation for draining energy,
stratosphere and the buzz of launch day has
but the truth is that any amount of physical
passed, though, it’s clear that there’s work left
or mental work is survivable, as long as
to do: the astronauts must explore new territory,
enthusiasm is part of the equation.
as your sales team makes new connections; the
engineers must use the lessons of launch to BEING “ENTHUSIASTIC” DOESN’T MEAN
design improvements to the rocket’s function, EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM NEEDS TO
as marketing moves onto new campaigns that LOVE THE WORK, THOUGH; IT’S ABOUT BEING
strengthen the site; the ground control team DEDICATED TO THE WORK BECAUSE THE
must constantly support the mission, as your PROJECT’S VALUE IS CLEAR AND THE DAY-
IT and customer support professionals work to TO-DAY TASKS FEEL PURPOSEFUL.
keep the site live.

When that enthusiasm is exhausted, though,
All this continued work can lead to major it leads to inaction, and inaction means your
fatigue and burnout, especially for a team mission is done for.
that’s followed the project since inception. Due

As you continue your journey, every member
to the persistent myth that launch is the end
of your team will likely experience some level
of the process, those folks probably thought
of fatigue and frustration, but it’s your job as a
they would be done “transitioning to the new
leader to ensure that fatigue doesn’t turn into

website” months ago.
exhaustion of enthusiasm and inaction.
THIS KIND OF “BIG PROJECT HANGOVER”

Let’s talk about what common issues to watch
CAN LEAD TO A MAJOR LETDOWN IN
for and how to fight them.
ENTHUSIASM ACROSS THE BOARD IN A
COMPANY, WHICH IN TURN MEANS FEWER
GOOD IDEAS AND LOWER QUALITY WORK.
17
SPACE MADNESS
Website development is subject to the common your team of bright, curious minds. However
pitfalls of technical projects, one of which is those same folks may be less enthusiastic
creative letdown. about transitioning into rocket maintenance,
day-to-day communication with the crew, and

The initial thought of designing, building, and
mission-related paperwork. This realization
launching a rocket was motivation unto itself for
is what we’ll call Space Madness.
1 2 3
THERE ARE THREE FORMS
OF SPACE MADNESS
BELIEVING IN RECORD FEAR OF THE
THAT DIRECTLY LEAD TO
AUTOPILOT BREAKING UNKNOWN
WEBSITE FAILURES:
That’s the main reason so many website rockets sputter and crash without ever achieving their goals.
Not that your crew wasn’t prepared for launch day. But that they weren’t mentally prepared to move
beyond launch, into the months and years to come.
Let’s take a deeper look at these dangerous mindsets so that we can solve them in advance.
18
1 BELIEVING IN AUTOPILOT
Your rocket is never going to explore space and Maintaining a strong site that attracts new
make scientific breakthroughs for you by itself, visitors, converts them into leads, and prepares
no matter how well you designed it. them to move toward purchasing is an ongoing,
manual process. Even with the best marketing

Similarly, your website isn’t just going to bring
and sales automation tools, people’s hard
a steady flow of leads to your marketing and
work is a necessity. Content must be created
sales teams just because it looked good at
and updated, metrics must be analyzed to
launch. “If you build it, they will come” may be
determine what’s working and what isn’t, and
true of spectral baseball players in cornfields,
the look of your homepage should be tweaked
but if you just drop your website down on the
occasionally to keep things fresh. If you’re
internet and leave it there for people to find,
not updating your site to optimize the user
leads will trickle in at a snail’s pace.
experience and adding new content regularly,
any traffic gains you see at launch will tail off
THERE ARE before you know it.
1,800,000,000 Astronauts wish for autopilot so they can
go back to their old jobs. But if you’d like

LIVE WEBSITES.
exceptional results, it will take an exceptional
Source: InternetLiveStats.com
ongoing effort.
19
2 RECORD BREAKING
Every space cadet dreams of setting records. As we mentioned back in the introduction,
To be the first to achieve a goal is more than scope creep occurs in almost half of all major
a victory over the competition, it is a personal projects. Crewmembers dreaming of breaking
testament to the value of one’s own effort. records are natural allies with scope creep,
since they’re less concerned about the cost or

When you and your team were still riding the
timing, needing instead the sweet reward of
high of launch day, you probably over-estimated
external acclaim
exactly what your new website could do for the
business and how fast it could do it. There may One of the best ways to ensure your mission
have even been promises to what may happen is a success is to keep the goals and functions
next which have escalated in vision. of your website consistent and actionable.
Clearly defining goals makes it tough for record

The weight of expectations can send any
breakers, as someone will discover their secret
rocket crashing to the ground, and if you’re
mission in advance. Before adding a new page
expecting your new website to transform your
or feature to the site, pause to reflect and
business or industry overnight, you’re setting
make sure it’s doing something to help you
yourself and your team up to be disappointed.
meet a specific goal or aid user experience.
That disappointment can easily lead to utter
This prevents your rocket from turning into a
exhaustion of enthusiasm, which, again is bad
Frankenship of different parts born from wildly
for your crew.
conflicting visions.
Your crew has just successfully navigated
through the expanses of endless space. Maybe

aiming for a few smaller, achievable hops
to gain momentum before your next history
defining achievement would be best?
THERE ARE
5,000,000,000,000
INDEXED WEBPAGES. RECORDS ARE
20
HARD TO BREAK AT LAUNCH.
Source: InternetLiveStats.com
3 FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
If you’re looking for a mindset that can ruin tougher challenge of continuing a mission that
any project, look no further than good old is already underway. But this is a mistake. All
fashioned fear. this does is set back the clock and make it clear
that your company has wasted a great deal of

Every member of your team is keenly aware of
time and money while learning very little.
the importance of your rocket’s mission, and
nobody wants to be the one to screw it up. Fear To fight this kind of knee jerk fear, it’s important
of failure can cause major lock-up for whole to build time and patience into the system.
departments, as nobody wants to be the reason One of the best ways to do this is to make
for the dreaded emergency alarm to sound. a company-wide commitment to a “year of
When you’re moving at light speed through the evolution*” following launch. When you present
void, who knows how many potential disasters the new website as a work in progress with a
lurk over the distant horizon? lot of tinkering needed in the near future, it
reframes the whole project in a more positive

It’s much safer to keep the dangerous exploring
way that allows you and your team to stay
to a minimum.
excited about the new site’s potential rather
than getting bogged down in what it isn’t doing

When leadership gets too fearful, the instinct is
well yet.
generally to bring in a new project manager or
team lead, whose mission is typically to scrap * YOUR ORGANIZATION MAY NOT BE ABLE
the original mission, starting over with a new TO COMMIT TO A YEAR. BUT 365 DAYS
plan that aligns more closely to leadership’s ISN’T MAGIC. THE KEY IS ANNOUNCING
new comfort zone. This means the leader can A LONGER-TERM SHARED VISION THAT
focus on getting people excited about a new EMBRACES DAILY ITERATION.
rocket launch rather than having to face the
21
YOUR MISSION
STATEMENT
Most folks only look as far as launch day when
engaged in a web design project, and until they
know the truth, they’ll never steer the project
vision in a long-term way that sets you, your
team, and the company up for success.

51% OF PEOPLE BELIEVE
THE BUSINESS’ AGILITY IS
CONNECTED TO MANDATES
Now that you know the common reasons websites
FROM LEADERSHIP.
fail post launch, how do solve them all at the
same time? You make the following your mantra.
According to the Project Management Institute,

WEBSITES ARE RARELY INSTANTLY
51% of the people who work with you believe
SUCCESSFUL AT LAUNCH.
that the business’ agility is directly connected
to mandates from leadership. If they don’t see
that the bosses are bought into this vision,
they won’t join the party either. You need
your leadership to clearly join this movement,

committing as they did to their vision around
the new website.

SUCCESSFUL WEBSITES ARE MORE So, now that we’ve made it into space and
LIKELY REFINED BY INDIVIDUALS etched our shared mission prominently into the
MOTIVATED TO ACHIEVE CLEARLY DEFINED hull for all aboard to see, with an understanding
POST LAUNCH GOALS, POWERED BY that launch was just one minor step in our epic
INCREMENTAL DAILY WINS, FREE FROM quest, we have to decide how to prioritize what
MAJOR REDESIGNS OR DISTRACTIONS, happens next.
ACROSS A “YEAR OF EVOLUTION”.
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DELIBERATELY FAILING
During your “year of evolution”, your team will be testing and
experimenting with a variety of site optimizations, content
offers, and upgrades with the goal of empowering your
website to achieve its marketing and sales lead goals. It’s
important again to understand that the vast majority of those
tweaks will not be difference-makers, but that’s no reason
not to do them!
Website development is generally governed by the 80/20
rule: 80% of your results will come from 20% of your actions.
The catch? It’s impossible to know which actions will provide
positive results and which will flop until you start trying them.
That’s right, trial and error is an unavoidable part of the post-
launch process, and just like the example of putting a rocket
in space, you’ll never truly understand what will be most
helpful until the mission is underway. To think that you can
predict ahead of time what you’ll need after launch is nothing
but pure hubris.
THAT MEANS EXPERIMENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
80% THE FAILURES THAT COME ALONG WITH THEM ARE

OF YOUR RESULTS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL TO THE POST-LAUNCH
WILL COME FROM... SUCCESS OF YOUR WEBSITE.
You can neither allow your rocket to float on autopilot
20% through space nor arbitrarily punch coordinates into the
controls; you must use reason, order, and data to help you
OF YOUR ACTIONS.
make the most effective tweaks and additions to the system.
Paretto Principle
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EXPLORING
NEW PLANETS
When you launched your rocket up into the sky, everybody took it for granted that you’d eventually
bring those astronauts to new worlds. That means making sure your website evolves into a useful,
efficient place that sales can rely on day-to-day to attract qualified leads. If you’re not making
analytics-driven initiatives to improve your website during your year of evolution, then you’re setting
your rocket up to burn to pieces upon reentry.
It’s important to be strategic about how you negligible impact, you need to dedicate your
use time in the early months and years of your time and energy to finding those tweaks that
website’s life, and the faster you can zero in on fall within the 20% of changes that actually
what kind of improvements will actually impact make a difference.
the site’s performance, the closer you are to

Let’s talk about some specific strategies
bringing the crew home safe. Since 80% of the
and mindsets you can use to find that most
changes you can make will most likely have
effective focus.
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SHORT-TERM
ACTIONS
If you start restructuring massive amounts of if the fix doesn’t work. During this time, it’s key
content, the rocket’s engines may be pointing to create a quick, positive feedback loop. Timely,
the wrong way. The simplest rule of thumb positive feedback keeps everybody motivated
when it comes to getting your crew safely and ensures your team is in the headspace of
exploring is to start small and focus on website “how do we make things 10x better?”
changes members of your team can implement

It’s always preferred to make a dozen changes
right away.
to a website that can go live this week rather
You must coach your team to emphasize small, than waiting to make a hundred changes live
quick fixes or additions that could potentially next month. If you’re holding back your web
make the most valuable difference. Quick fixes development tweaks and rolling them out in
can be completed, launched, and tested for large batches, you may inadvertently be shifting
effectiveness in just a few days, which means what your website does or how it performs in
instant gratification for you and your team ways that can actually damage user experience
when a fix works and, equally importantly, more or lead conversion. If the data goes sideways, it
valuable data to guide your next decision, even can be impossible to know which of the dozens
of changes was the cause.
That’s why it’s important to stay focused on
analytics, keep the feedback loop tight, and

focus on the short-term actions your team
can take to improve website performance.
By approaching issues with your site
systematically and in a focused manner, you
can actually improve the site you’ve launched
rather than simply transitioning into the next
major overhaul.
25
LONG-TERM,
MEASURABLE GOALS
When you’re guiding your rocket through space
employing short-term actions, you are keeping
your crew highly engaged in the moment to
keep the rocket moving, but your thinking and
goal-setting behind these short term actions
should always be in service of a long view. That
long view means always approaching your
website as an attraction and conversion tool.
Make no mistake, your monthly visitor, lead, and
conversion numbers are the definitive metrics
when it comes to success or failure, and every
goal that you set for your site should be directly
tied to growing those numbers. Anything you’re
publishing that doesn’t directly contribute to
those goals should be logged as a valuable
lesson learned.
Remember, you can’t think long term when
you’re in panic mode. That’s why it’s so
important to take time after the launch jitters
settle to revisit achievable goals for site

performance. The best way to set goals is by
attaching real numeric targets. The best way
to maximize accountability is to attach specific
deadlines to those goals. And the best way to
meet those deadlines is to attach individual
actions that your team members must take to
work toward each goal.
26
DASHBOARD
You can’t plot the course to your destination without knowing which numbers are directly connected
to success, and where you’re trying to take those numbers.
To achieve this, it’s important to have your own internal dashboard. These present analytics in a
straightforward, easy-to-interpret manner, free of clutter. Think of this as your data command center.
Regardless of which metrics you focus on to assess your long- and short-term goals, it’s crucial that
there’s a consensus as to which numbers are most important and why. Without that alignment of
vision, you’ll never get your whole company viewing the website through the same lens.
If you’re unsure which data points to focus on, here are six of our favorites:
1 THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
VIEWING YOUR WEBSITE.

2 THE PLACES PEOPLE
VIEWING YOUR WEBSITE

3 THE NUMBER OF PAGES
YOUR WEBSITE VISITORS

CAME FROM. HAVE SEEN.
4 THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO SIGNED UP TO RECEIVE
EMAIL UPDATES ABOUT
YOUR BUSINESS.
5 THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT
COMPLETED A GOAL, LIKE A
PURCHASE OR COMPLETION
OF A CONTACT FORM.
6 THE NUMBER OF SECONDS
A WEBSITE VISITOR VIEWS
YOUR WEBSITE.
27
All good website performance goals are linked to specific
analytical targets. Your backend data and sales performance
should tell you how you’re doing attracting visitors,
converting them to leads, and closing on deals. Find where
that chain is the weakest and zero in on shoring up that link.
For example, if you’re attracting visitors but having difficulty
capturing their information for marketing purposes, try
presenting a gated content offer that you feel is relevant to
a moment in the customer journey that’s key to the leads
you’re trying to attract.
Once you have your dashboard most people’s instinct will
be to obsess over these numbers day to day, but you must
breathe deep again and remember that your rocket launch
was part of an ongoing mission. Attaining your attraction and
conversion goals is a process, and it’s crucial not to get hung
up on perfection. Instead, focus on what small, short-term
changes are driving overall improvement. Think in terms of
percentages and not raw data. If you have a sense of your
competition’s business, judge your site’s performance by its
scale and success compared to the competition, rather than
looking at analytics on their own.
A LEADER DRIVES THEIR ROCKET THROUGH ASTEROID
BELTS WITH THE SAME CONFIDENCE AS UNCHARTED

NEBULAE. NOT BECAUSE THEY’RE LEADING BLINDLY.
BUT BECAUSE THEY TRUST WHAT THEIR DASHBOARD IS
TELLING THEM. JUST AS MUCH AS YOUR CREW OR SHIP,
YOUR DATA IS AN INVALUABLE ALLY.
28
ADMITTING THE
UNKNOWNS
We’ve been talking about a rocket launch, not
therapy, but it’s still true in business that you
will never solve the problems you refuse to talk
about. As you lead your team of astronauts,
rocket engineers, and control technicians on
their shared mission, you must foster a culture
of open dialogue and empower people to
discuss complex, potentially scary questions.
Some folks in leadership will shake their
heads and ask, “Is a website even a good
way to attract business in our industry?” The
marketing team will shake their heads in
agitated frustration and add, “We’re not sure
how to attract more traffic with this tech!” Your
lead salesperson jumps in and bluntly asks,
“Why aren’t we getting any leads from this
content marketing campaign?”

In the moment, these concerns often get ENCOURAGING AN ONGOING, CONSTRUCTIVE

brushed aside as distractions or pushback from DIALOGUE ABOUT THESE TOPICS BOOSTS
burnt out team members. However, If you run MORALE AND ENSURES YOUR TEAM IS
from the big questions, they will invariably catch KEEPING THEIR PROBLEM SOLVING HATS ON
up to you in damaging ways. Team resentment is BEYOND LAUNCH DAY.
the first step to inaction because why try when
your saboteur is just down the hall?
29
A DEDICATED TEAM
WITH CONTEXT
One industry trend that’s not helping your team the project better than anyone. They were in
maximize project success beyond launch day on the initial meetings, they signed off on the
is the interchangeable rotation of personnel blueprints for the rocket, and they celebrated
in and out of different roles. Sure, there’s with a glass of champagne on launch day. While
always value to fresh eyes and a full tank of some fluctuations in staffing are unavoidable,
enthusiasm, but consistency within your web keeping a unified team together with a shared
development team will yield the best long- and context and purpose gives you the best chance
short-term results because they understand for success.

30
TALKING TO
HUMANS
If you stay focused on analytics, your rocket leadership. Those folks have plenty of great
is smart enough to tell you what kind of input, but if you ask them the open-ended
maintenance and additional functionality question of “What should we do next?” you’re
it needs. But data alone can often miss the going to get more answers than you can ever
whole picture. It’s your responsibility to take manage or execute. Often these answers will
that information and balance it against real be powered by their own personal content,
conversations from actual human beings. technical, or strategy goals.
When you’re trying to figure out what change INSTEAD OF ALWAYS ASKING INTERNALLY
to your business’ website will be the most FOR NEXT STEPS, WHY NOT VENTURE OUT
impactful, don’t always start by consulting the AND ASK THE AUDIENCE OF YOUR NEW
development team or having a meeting with WEBSITE; YOUR CUSTOMERS.
31
DARK MATTERS
WHEN YOUR PROJECT’S MISSION Paid Search is a great example of a tool that can feel like
IS TO ATTRACT AND CONVERT a rocket booster, but if it’s your primary way of attracting
AND THE INITIAL RESULTS ARE viewers, your business will be sunk before your sales team
TEPID, IT CAN BE TEMPTING has even gotten a chance to convert those leads. Intelligent
TO LATCH ONTO SOME WEB use of Paid Search is a delicate art, but more often it is used
MARKETING SHORTCUTS. like an emergency escape pod, used as a last ditch effort to
survive. The best long-term strategy is to attract visitors by
strengthening and improving your site in a way that attracts
that same search engine traffic organically.
Another major distraction is social media. Social media is a
key element of any marketing strategy in the 21st century,
but most viewers aren’t showing up to spread the word about
certain types of organizations. If your pages aren’t creating
buzz on their own, publishing them over and over on social
media isn’t suddenly going to turn into a flood of page views
and conversions. Always be willing to test new ideas, but
know that social media success isn’t viable for every brand
or industry.
32
Buying followers, links, or reviews could be a business ANY STRATEGY THAT
ending mistake. It may be tempting to speed up your EXTERNALIZES TRAFFIC AND
success with a nudge from an external vendor who will get CONVERSION RATHER THAN
their hands dirty with some less than moral tactics. These MEETING THEM HEAD-ON AT
tricks may even work in the short-term, helping inspire THE WEBSITE LEVEL IS BOUND
internal and customer confidence. Yet, these sneaky tactics TO FAIL IN THE LONG TERM.
eventually catch up to every business and can cost a pretty
penny, and oodles of time, to fix.
33
TRAFFIC
BOOST
Content is your rocket’s fuel. Without fuel, you can’t expect to ever complete your mission, regardless
of how brilliant the astronauts are or how well-designed the rocket is. More than anything, content is
what attracts search engine users to your website and converts them into marketing qualified leads.
You can’t succeed by focusing on any one kind of content, though. You need material specifically
targeted for each of your customer types and each stage in the buyer’s journey.
Your goal should be to create content that Your competition’s strong content should be an
builds your business’ authority in the market, indicator of areas where you need to improve
provides visitors with useful, engaging material your site. Your competition’s weak or missing
they’ll want to share with others, and helps your content pieces are opportunities to serve
sales team understand where potential leads visitors better and build authority on the web.
are in their discovery process.

Why doesn’t every company do this? Content
The key is to ensure your content has a unique creation is a slow, often grueling, process of
tone or value compared to the competition. daily wins. Everyone would much rather focus
That requires your team becoming familiar on (and believe in) fantastic stories of overnight
with the content strategies of your nearest startup success, than a company who earned
competition and long-term goal competition. their way to relevance.

34
INCOMING
TRANSMISSIONS
Like content, inbound links are also vital fuel for your website rocket.
Links are like endorsements from your strategic partners, evangelists,
and delighted visitors that tell an additional audience that your site is
strong and useful. Visitors who come to your business site via inbound
links are far more likely than standard search engine traffic to spend
additional time on a page or click through because they have already been
primed to see your site a trustworthy, important place by someone else
they already know.
If you’re not building inbound links, your rocket’s potential is lost and your
astronauts will be bobbing helplessly in the ocean, waiting for someone
to come pick them up. To make sure you’re building links proactively, be
sure to submit your company site information to local directories, industry
organizations, and strategic or community partners. If you’re struggling
to think of relationships you can leverage to build inbound links, it can be
useful to look at who is linking to your competition. You may not have the
same relationship with those particular organizations, but they can help
you understand which of your partners, customers, or business allies can
help you get additional eyes on your website.

Again, this takes time. But it is essential to keep your rocket on course.
* You can find what websites link

to your competition by visiting
HTTPS://AHREFS.COM.
35
T-10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
COUNTDOWN
When it comes to building your business’ website, launch is just the first
stage in a multi-year journey.
In order to maximize site performance and business results, we must

retool our way of thinking about major web development projects to see
them as an ongoing, day-to-day efforts that require analytical thinking,
enthusiastic, creative minds, and a keen understanding of what actually
attracts visitors and drives conversion.
ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR TEAM COMMITTED TO THINKING AND WORKING
THIS WAY, YOUR MISSION CAN’T HELP BUT SUCCEED.
36
YOU DREAM IT.
WE CREATE IT.
DREAMING OF A FULL-SERVICE CREATIVE PARTNER?
Cubicle Ninjas specializes in super effective creative, across many
diverse disciplines, and at blazing fast speeds. GIVE US A TRY!
HELLO@CUBICLENINJAS.COM OR 1.888.77.NINJA
LET'S WORK TOGETHER

Launch Is The Beginning

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28%

OF ALL MAJOR STRATEGIC

A business’ website plays so many different

roles: it is the public face of the brand, the top

PROJECTS NEVER MEET THEIR

employees, and the main point of contact for

morale, and lost time for the competition to

IMPORTANT TO A BUSINESS AS A QUALITY

major strategic initiatives fail. As if that isn’t

never actually meet their business goals. The

which cannot be recovered. They equal inflated those success rates.

project costs, long-term damage to internal

rate than those with budgets below $350,000.

While, PMI’s 2017 Pulse of the Profession

survey determined that only 4% of major project

failures were the result of insufficient funds.

BUDGETS BELOW $350,000 RESULT OF INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

Source: Gartner & PMI Pulse of the Profession

Institute’s team asked managers

for the single biggest reason major

COMMUNICATION SHORTCOMINGS. are actually working on day-to-day can be

substantially different from what was initially

pitched to them. This can cause confusion,

The very nature of large-scale, long-term

those at management level to forget that the

rebranding, or driving innovation with a cutting-

INITIATIVES? Even if you begin with the best possible

designers, writers, coders, and strategists on

your side, there’s still a lot that can go wrong,

and the research from PMI suggests that the

majority of those things that go wrong happen

at the project manager level and above. If

execution matters less than communication,

then the most important task project leaders

can take is refining their thinking in advance of

their next initiative.

Equally importantly, if the majority of projects

pass their debut without achieving their desired

goals, then launch isn’t the finish line. Launch is

simply one stop along the way in a larger, more

into a truly successful journey, one that thinks

well beyond launch. We’ll begin by simulating

we’re leading a website redesign within an

established business, but the recommendations

within this guide will broadly apply to any

complex development initiative of your own.

And to spice things up, we’ll employ a metaphor

that illustrates the stakes and snarls of any

government scientists on notice that he expected greatness.

When a business’ leadership team chooses to design and

develop a new website, it similarly encourages hope for the

potential future of the company while also placing pressure

on the entire project team.

must announce the project with a strong

vision already in place as well as an ability to

articulate that vision to the rest of the team, as

President Kennedy did during the space race.

Achieving something as important as launching

a rocket or website requires total buy-in from

all the individuals involved, and that can’t exist

without a clear, confident explanation of what

they’re creating, why they’re creating it, and

how they’re going to do it. Nobody’s ever gotten