SEM Pre-Launch Success: Can You Rank High Before You Launch?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

Increasingly, I see new website launches where a site is ranking well for its key phrases before the site officially launches. How does this happen?

Let’s start with Bing. The search engine hasn’t even launched yet and it’s third in Google rankings. Obviously, pre-launch buzz has played a big part in that. But how?

The key here is in building a big enough buzz that you get people talking about you, and linking to your new website – that is, where it will be located once it launches. Those inbound links, with the proper anchor text, will help you rank for your key terms. Naturally, your website name is a key term. So how can you pull this sort of thing off?

First, you’ve got to have a well-defined plan for your website long before you start marketing. Secondly, you’ve got to start your online publicity campaign long before you launch. Pre-launch PR is absolutely key. And thirdly, you need beta testers. That last point is very important.

Beta testers will make or break you before you even launch your new site. But you want beta testers who are going to talk about you. And if your product is worth raving about, they will rave about it. But the beta testers are not really going to get you ranked. They’re just the injection. The real links that will get you noticed across the Web are the second-tier links. Those people who read the beta testers and will write about what they write about it. Get a couple of hundred vocal beta testers for your new website and that could turn into several thousand people talking about you and linking to you before you ever launch. If you can garner several thousand inbound links before you ever get to on-page search engine optimization, you should do pretty well in the search engines before you even launch your new site.