In a previous post (Site Promotion Plan: Site Promotion Methods Defined), I said I was going to detail the part of my Content Strategy that deals with my Site Promotion plan. To do that, I first need to describe the Website Life Cycle – because for a site promotion plan to be effective, it needs to be linked to that life cycle.
Essentially, a Website Life Cycle follows the same general pattern as any other life cycle. At its simplest, it looks like this:
The Website Life Cycle
Inception
Inception is the start. In my definition, it includes everything that a site needs for it to perform it’s main function. This means that some websites that have been around for a while still fall into this category – but most get there pretty quickly. Let’s use Amazon as an example. At its start, it’s primary function was to sell books. Therefore, it needed to be able to display inventory to an audience and enable them to buy. If it existed as a website but only displayed the books, then with this definition, it would still be in its inception phase.
At this stage, the website might be quite small. It might also attract very few visitors.
Growth
Growth starts only once the site is capable of performing that main function. Growth might be defined as including additional functionality, doing more of its core functionality, or attracting more visitors. With Amazon, it included all three.
This stage can last as long as there is a driving force pushing the site to better and bigger things, until a competitor starts taking significant chunks of the market, or until the market is saturated.
Given that the world is still new to e-Commerce, that saturation point is likely to be a long way off with Amazon.
Stabilisation
Stabilisation happens when there is no more drive for growth and change, and the saturation point is reached. The size of the site becomes static, as does the number of visitors and the number of conversions. Be aware that stabilisation isn’t a good thing, because it’s a precursor to decline.
Decline
If nothing is done at the stabilisation stage, decline is inevitable – because whatever caused the change from growth to stabilisation is still acting. In this case, decline could refer to the number of visitors, the number of conversions, and sometimes even the size of the site.
How does the size of the site decline? Websites aren’t static. Sections might be disestablished (Amazon, for example, might come up against a competitor specialising just in Music, and decide that it’s no longer profitable to compete). If the site is large and the maintenance budget is cut, links may break.
Cycle Regeneration
The good news is that a site doesn’t have to decline. It’s a cycle, but it doesn’t have to be singular. You can build one cycle on top of another, starting the next just as things start to stabilise in the current one.
To start that next cycle will need some careful planning. Where is the market heading? What changes do you need to make?
It’s like Madonna reinventing herself for each album, to keep her existing fans and gain new ones at the same time.
Done well, a site can re-start the cycle as often as there is a drive to do so.
My Blog
My blog is still in the Inception phase. It’s live, doesn’t yet what I want it to do. I envisioned it as a useful, comprehensive resource for those starting out building a website. I figure there are some useful aspects to it already, but it’s got some way to go before it becomes comprehensive. Maybe in a couple of months, if I have the time I need.
For those who are interested, it’s on it’s third cycle – although I have to admit I didn’t start each of the new ones early enough. Both times, I let it decline quite badly before doing anything with it.
This time I’m planning it properly. I’ve got my strategy in place. So I should be able to manage it much better in the long term.
(Note: for those who are interested, this life cycle is very similar to a Product Life cycle from the world of economics. There’s a good reason for this: a website belongs to that world, too. It is a product, even if it doesn’t sell anything.)
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