Failure to launch + 10 Design Tips For Your Site

Hope you had a great weekend!

First up, I published a post last week about Frankenstein sites. Do you have one of these beasts?

Below, we’ll talk about the failure to launch. You know, that perpetual “preparing for launch” that never freakin’ ends.

And then I will share 10 current design tips for your website for conversions. These are things I pay attention to when I’m working on sites for a client.

Let’s light this candle….

Featured This Week

Have You Created A WordPress Frankenstein Site That Breaks All The Time?

Is your WordPress site moody and unpredictable? It might be a Frankenstein build. Here’s how these monster sites happen—and what to do about it.

Failure To Launch

Looking to launch a new business? A membership site? A new offer? Well, how LONG have you been working on it?

I have seen too many ideas suffer from a failure to launch.

Not a failure. Because they never even got to that point. Literally, these sites never even get the first bits of traffic. Other than the site’s owner and maybe a few people he told to go there…. nobody shows up.

Because…. it isn’t ready yet.

It isn’t “perfect”.

Or…. “I’m kind of a perfectionist“. Saying it in a joking way, almost like it is something that plagues you and you just have to shrug it off and deal with it.

Or… “I have so much time invested in this, it needs to be right“. That’s another death knell.

Because, here’s the thing about a “launch”…

Unless you’ve done the legwork to build and orchestrate an entire launch campaign and event for a site’s launch, the actual “launch” is going to go by with a whimper.

I mean, what actually changes? Remove the “coming soon” page? Ooohhhh…. I’m sure they were all waiting for THAT to happen!

“Launch” is pretty much a non-event. It goes over like a little fart.

So, spending a ton of time trying to perfect every little thing before that non-event is such a humongous waste of time… I don’t even think I could emphasize it more.

Not only that… if you don’t have PEOPLE actually using the site and giving you active feedback (with their wallets), then you don’t actually KNOW what people need/want. You’re probably wasting your time perfecting things that nobody will even give two sh*ts about!

Sadly, I’ve seen too many people sink months – even years – of time into such projects. Pumping money into it, too, via plugins and developers and hosting. And some people just get so stubborn about it because they don’t want to even ponder the idea that it might have been a waste of time.

I know. Tough talk. But, it’s real.

Failure to launch isn’t very much fun. And the odd thing is… it is so utterly avoidable.

Here’s the thing…

Ideas aren’t worth a damn thing. Only execution matters. And when it comes to product ideas, site ideas, membership ideas…. you want to fail FAST.

Not because failure is destined. But, because it is quick feedback. The faster you fail, then the faster you can adjust and iterate. The faster you’re going to get to the success you want.

Launching a successful website takes experiments, adjustments, and iterations. Very rarely does your first draft end up being the winner. You’re going to change offers, headlines, designs and everything else. Multiple times. I can’t even count the number of things I’ve changed about my own business over the years. Hell, I don’t even do the same thing now as I did when I “launched” the Blog Marketing Academy. So much has changed.

So, you wanna move quick. Implement fast. And fail quickly. And when it happens, you adjust and go at it again. Iterate. Lean forward and move fast.

You don’t screw around trying to make perfection. You shoot for the minimum. You test out one concept at a time and see if it works by offering it and seeing if people buy into it. Do everything you need to do to move quick. Speed up the traffic issue using paid traffic so you’re not slow-blogging your way to it.

Success follows speed of implementation.

So, keep it scrappy. Keep things simple. Test and move on.

Because you have a lot of “launches” to pound out before you find the right combo that’s really going to become your core thing.

Needless to say, if you’re wasting a bunch of time trying to build your website when you don’t know how to do it, that’s a sure path to failure to launch. Or, you could have me pound it out for you and I’ll probably have the thing ready to test pretty quickly. After all, this is what I do all the time. Hit me up.

Concierge Client Update

I’ve been spending a little time building some new stuff into the client profiles on the Blog Marketing Academy website. First up…

Client site profiles.

When you log into your account, you will now see a profile of your own website right in your account. Over time, these profiles will become an informational reference for some things about your site.

Right now, these profiles will include some personal notes from me about your site, information about it’s technical setup, the plugins from the Toolkit in use, and more. I’m also going to be building in a PDF operating manual you can download so you know where everything is. Part of this will be about ensuring all Concierge clients have the ability to be independent of me, if needed. You know, the “if I get hit by a bus” plan.

Not all site profiles have been fully updated, so that will be taking place over time.

None of this replaces Basecamp. Basecamp is working too well and everybody is grooved into it. These site profiles will be for informational purposes and not intended as any kind of support area.

I’m also going to be setting up a client document portal right inside your account. For things related specifically to Concierge, how to use Basecamp, and some other things relevant only to Concierge clients. I’ll be working on this over time.

If you wanna check out the new site profiles, just log into your client account at the Blog Marketing Academy.

WordPress News & Updates

Matt Proposes Phased Plugin Rollouts. Mullenweg has made a proposal to change up the WordPress plugin repository to allow plugin developers to do phased rollouts. Basically, release to sub-sets of people and test iteratively before releasing to all.

WordPress 6.8.2 Released. It was released last week and it went over easily. In all likelihood, your site was updated automatically. It was pretty much a maintenance release, so nothing too exciting to tell you about.

Google Site Kit Most Trusted Plugin. It looks like Google Site Kit, of all things, has been named the “most trusted WordPress plugin”. Frankly, it doesn’t mean much. This is the result of an industry survey by LiquidWeb. And it ranks JetPack as #2, which is a bloated piece of spyware I wouldn’t recommend on anybody. So, this “survey” seems self-serving to me. I’ve never seen issues with Site Kit, though, to be clear.

OttoKit Launches MCP Servers. OttoKit (formerly SureTriggers) is really developing out into a full Zapier replacement. Now, they’ve launched MCP servers. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI systems to external applications and data sources. Sounds nerdy, but this is going to enable you to use AI to direct your apps what to do across the applications – and plugins – you use.

View Transitions 1.1.. If you click around the Blog Marketing Academy site, you’ll notice there’s a subtle faded transition between page views. It is a nice touch, really. That’s done by simply installing the free plugin called View Transitions. He just updated it to 1.1, too. It even works in WP-Admin.

Elementor Teases Angie. Elementor is teasing a new AI tool called Angie with a pre-release page. The promise is an AI tool which works within WordPress and will do things for you. There are multiple projects underway for this kind of thing. In fact, the WordPress AI Team just published their first technical roadmap of the upcoming projects. So I don’t have much doubt that this type of control within WordPress is going to maintream.

Comments About Matt/WPEngine On Lex Friedman Podcast. DHH (David Heinemaster Hansson) is the creator of the programming language Ruby On Rails. He was on the Lex Fridman podcast for an incredibly LONG interview. But, there’s one section in there which they were talking about WordPRess and specifically the Matt Mullenweg/WP Engine lawsuit. Was an interesting exchange. You can click directly to that part of the interview here (Youtube).

The WordPress Architecture Crisis. Kevin Geary has written a scathing post about WordPress in which he discussed the huge problem with WordPress themes and how they’ve conflated design and architecture together. He’s working on Etch, the new upcoming page builder promised to solve all of these issues. I have yet to play with the tool personally.

New “Quick Edit” Idea. Mike McAlister (Creator of Ollie) showed a new concept for “Quick Edit” on X. It allows you to quickly and easily apply similar formatting changes across mutliple similar elements in the block editor. Very useful. The feedback was good, and now there’s talk about implementing this into core block editor. Right now, it is just part of Ollie.

FuseWP Now Works With Fluent Forms. FuseWP is a tool I reviewed a little while back as a potential alternative to WP Fusion. While it is useful, it isn’t really an alternative. But, FuseWP has just been updated to integrate with Fluent Forms, Forminator and Groundhogg.

10 Current Tips For Conversion-Focused Site Design

OK, we’re going to cut the fluff. And move right into action here. Do you want your WordPRess site to convert better — whether it’s email signups, product sales, or client inquiries? Here are 10 quick layout and design tips that make a real difference:

1. One Goal Per Page

For pages designed to get a person to do something, focus on that one thing. One call to action at a time. Don’t confuse them with conflicting things to do. No opt-ins on a sales page!

One thing at a time.

2. Above-the-Fold Clarity

Make sure your headline, subhead, and CTA are crystal clear without scrolling. No sliders. No fluff. Homepage should immediately communicate your selling proposition and call our who you serve. Right there…. top of the fold.

3. Limit the Navigation Menu

Too many menu items = too many decisions. Stick to 5–6 max. Prioritize what actually matters. You can use dropdown menus strategically, but best not to even depend on those. Sub-pages often work better than big, complicated menus. And if you ever go move into sub-submenus, you’ve screwed up.

4. Use Whitespace Generously

Crowded pages feel chaotic and claustrophobic. Give your content room to breathe so people can focus. Aim for lots of white space. Probably more than you think. Too many people have this weird idea that you need to pack a lot on there, but that’s the exact wrong thing to do.

5. Highlight Your CTA

Use a distinct color (ideally your brand’s accent color) for calls to action — and use them consistently. Button colors are best to have as a strong accent color so they stand out on the page.

6. Keep It Simple & Light.

Complexity is a lead weight for conversions. Simple works. A lightweight site just works better. Don’t put things on your site just because you see other people do it. You may not need a sidebar. Comments might be a waste of time. Have only what you need on the site…. and not much more.

7. Make It Mobile-First

Check every page on mobile. Are buttons easy to tap? Fonts readable? Layout clean? If not, fix it. In WordPress, it is easy to preview on mobile and adjust how the site adjusts to different devices. Also, realize that you CAN hide things on mobile. Sometimes, things look great on desktop but will just never look good on such a small screen. So, rather than having it all fold up on itself, sometimes it is better to just hide it completely.

8. Use Real Images (When Possible)

Avoid generic stock photos. Real faces, team photos, or screenshots convert better. You can use AI in some cases and in places that aren’t mission critical. But, for conversion-focused pages, use the real thing.

9. Simple Contrast

Don’t use tons of colors. Concentrate on a few core brand colors. Make sure they work together and don’t clash. Stay consistent. It is always best to define your brand colors at the global theme level so keep it consistent and try not to override constantly in individual locations.

10. Speed Matters

A slow site kills conversions. Use fewer plugins, optimize images, and run speed tests regularly. I recommend using simple fonts, preferably the kind loaded locally and not relying on remote fonts. Don’t overload pages. Don’t overdesign. Say no to sliders. Keep it simple. Simple is faster.

Did you like this issue? Consider sharing the opt-in page on social media to help it grow.
And feel free to forward it on to somebody you think will benefit from it.

The WP Edge is the official weekly newsletter of the Blog Marketing Academy.