When to launch a new homepage: pick the quiet week

Key takeaways

The best time to launch a website is usually midweek, in your quietest trading period, in the morning, with your developer and team available. Avoid Fridays, the days before holidays and your busiest season. The aim is to give yourself time to fix problems while few customers are affected.

• Launch on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
• Choose your quietest trading period.
• Avoid Fridays and pre-holiday days.
• Keep support available for 48 hours.

What is the best day to launch a website?

Tuesday to Thursday, in the morning, is usually best. You have the whole working week to spot and fix problems, and support staff are around. Traffic patterns vary, so check your own analytics for your quietest weekday. Monday can work, although it is often the busiest day for enquiries.

• How to create a high-converting homepage for an SME
• Homepage launch day: the order to do things in

Why avoid launching on a Friday?

A Friday launch leaves problems running across the weekend, when your developer, host and staff may be unavailable. Weekend enquiries may be lost without anyone noticing. Businesses that trade at weekends, such as restaurants and trades, need to think about their own quiet time instead.

• Plan a rollback before you change your homepage

How do you choose the right time of year?

Look at 12 months of enquiries or sales, then pick a low point at least a few weeks before demand rises. That gives search engines time to process the changes, and it gives you time to learn. A shop should not launch in November. A heating firm should not launch at the first cold snap.

• A homepage for a seasonal business
• What Search Console says about your homepage

How much buffer should you allow?

Set your launch date a few weeks before you actually need the page. Projects slip, and a launch forced by a trade show or campaign tends to skip testing. As a Global Bridge Labs (GBL) rule of thumb, allow two weeks of buffer, and move the date instead of skipping the checks.

• How long does it take to create a homepage?
• Test a new homepage on real buyers before launch

When should you launch sooner?

Launch sooner if your current site is broken, hacked or displaying information that is wrong or legally risky. A good page now beats a perfect one in a quiet month. Equally, a new business should launch once the page is accurate, as there are no existing customers to disturb.

• Website hacked: clean it up or rebuild?
• A homepage for a brand new business

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern worth avoiding: a launch is set for the Friday before a bank holiday, to meet an internal deadline, and a form fault runs for four days. Nobody chose that risk. It simply arrived with the date, which is why the choice of date deserves a moment's thought.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Homepage launch timing checklist

• Check 12 months of demand.
• Choose a quiet period.
• Pick a midweek morning.
• Avoid bank holidays.
• Check your developer's availability.
• Add a two-week buffer.

• Homepage launch day: the order to do things in
• Tell customers about your new homepage

Next step

Open your analytics, find your quietest week over the next three months and pencil it in as your launch date.