How to announce a website redesign to your customers

How should you announce a new website?

Announce it to the people who already know you first, and keep it short. They are the ones who will use it, and they will tell their friends. A good announcement says what is new, why it helps the customer, and where to go. It does not need a party.

A sensible order looks like this:

1. Check the new site yourself, on your phone and on a computer.
2. Tell your staff, so nobody is surprised at the counter.
3. Make sure the old web addresses still lead somewhere.
4. Update your Google Business Profile and any other listings.
5. Send one email to your customers.
6. Post once or twice on social media.
7. Put a small sign or card where customers are already standing.

What should you check before you announce it?

Test the things customers do most, because that is where a mistake costs you. Do this on a phone as well as a computer, since customers may open the site on a phone.

• Your phone number, address and opening hours are right and easy to find.
• Any booking, quote or contact form sends a message, and the message reaches you. Fill it in yourself and watch for the email.
• Any payment or deposit step works from start to finish.
• Your menu, price list, services or photos are current.
• Every page loads without an error. Click each button in the menu.
• Your email address and logo match what is on your sign and your cards.

Ask one customer or friend who has never seen the site to find your opening hours. If they struggle, fix that before you announce anything.

How do you email customers about a new website?

Send one short email, with one reason to click. Lead with what is easier for them, not with the fact that you have a new site. Put your name in the sender line so it looks like it came from a person they know.

Three things make the email work. The subject line says what they can now do. The body is under 100 words. There is one button or link. Use the template below and change the details.

Only email people who have agreed to hear from you, and include a way to opt out.

Should you update your Google Business Profile?

Yes. Your Google Business Profile is the box that appears when someone searches for your business name or finds you on Google Maps. It is often the first thing a new customer sees.

• Check that the website link in your profile is the right address for the new site.
• Check that your hours, phone number and categories are still correct.
• Add a post. Google lets you add updates, offers and events, and says posts stay visible for about 6 months unless you set dates.
• Add a few new photos if the new site shows photos of the business.
• If you take bookings, add or update the booking link.

To add a post, sign in to your profile, choose Posts, then choose Update. Add a photo, a sentence or two and a button that links to the new site. See Google's own steps under sources below.

What should you post on social media?

Post on the accounts your customers already follow, and no more than twice. One post on the day, and one a week or two later as a reminder. Use a clear photo of the new site on a phone screen, or a photo of your own work, rather than a long explanation.

Pin the post to the top of your page for a week if the platform allows it. Put the web address in your profile description as well.

What about a sign or a note at the counter?

A small sign works well because your customers are already standing in front of you. Put it where they wait or pay, and keep it to one line and one web address.

• A card by the till: "New website. Book online at [your web address]."
• A line printed on receipts, invoices or appointment cards.
• A sticker or note inside a bag, box or on a delivery.
• A line on your van, window or door when you next reprint it.
• Your email signature and any menus or flyers you print next.

If you print a web address, type it into a phone first to be sure it opens the right page.

How do you tell your staff?

Tell them a day or two before customers hear. Staff are the people who get asked, and "I did not know we had a new site" costs you trust. A short message is enough.

• Show them the new site on their own phones.
• Tell them what has changed and what has not, such as hours or prices.
• Say who to tell if a customer finds something wrong.
• Give them one sentence to say: "You can book online now, it is on our website."
• Remind them where any new booking or order messages will arrive.

How do you check that old links still work?

Old links still work only if each old address sends visitors to the matching new page. Customers have saved your old address, Google has listed it, and other websites may link to it. If those lead to a "page not found" message, people leave.

Google calls the fix a redirect: a setting that sends anyone who opens an old address to the new one. Google says to use a permanent redirect when you are sure the change will not be reversed. Ask whoever builds your site to set these up. Then check them yourself:

1. Before launch, list the old addresses people use most: the home page, your menu or services page, your contact page and your booking page.
2. After launch, type each one into a browser and confirm it lands on the right new page.
3. Check the links in your old emails, your Google Business Profile, your social accounts and your printed material.
4. Look again a week later. Some links turn up only when a customer finds one.

Google also notes that it may keep showing old addresses in search results for a while after a move. That is normal, and the redirects are what carry people across.

When is it worth getting help?

You can do all of the above yourself. The part that most often goes wrong is the technical part: forms that do not send, old links that break, and bookings that go nowhere. If your site takes bookings or payments, or you have years of pages that people link to, it is worth having someone check it before you announce.

That is the part we do. We build websites for small businesses and set up the forms, bookings and redirects, so nothing breaks the day you tell customers. To see what we make, look at our sample work. It is sample work only: every business in it is made up, and the pages say so. When you are ready, get in touch for 20 minutes about your business.