New website, now what?

How SMEs answer enquiries faster after a website relaunch. A checklist for businesses across Switzerland that are planning a new website or have just gone live.

First things first: Tefib does not build websites or do web design. Tefib is an AI inbox for SMEs. This guide is about what happens in the inbox after a website redesign.

Why a relaunch ends up in the inbox

A website redesign is mostly about design, copy and images. Whether the new site pays off shows up somewhere else: in the enquiries arriving through the contact form and by email. Whether it's a joinery in Aarau, a fiduciary office in Baden or a practice in Bern: if something jams there, you often only notice weeks later, through jobs that never arrived.

1. Contact form: test it before your customers do

After go-live, send test enquiries, including from a phone on mobile data.
Check where the email lands: in the right mailbox, not in spam and not with the web agency.
Have form emails sent from an address on your own domain and set the customer's address as Reply-To. Emails that pretend to come straight from the customer are often rejected as spoofed.
Repeat the test after every update to the website, plugins or form service.

2. Email routing: who gets what?

A relaunch often also changes the domain, hosting or DNS. MX records, which decide where your email is delivered, are easily lost in the process. Have the DNS records compared before and after the switch.

Decide which address is public, such as info@ or kontakt@, and who reads it.
A forward or alias is handy. But check that replies go out from the right sender address.
Plan for holidays and sick days: who covers the mailbox when the usual person is away?

3. Quote requests: ask the right questions in the form

What costs the most time is rarely the reply itself, it's the back-and-forth. If the form asks for the key details up front, you can send a first quote sooner.

Location or postcode and preferred timing
Scope in plain words, for example area, quantity or dimensions
An option to attach photos or plans
Preferred way to be contacted and when

Still keep the form short. Make fields required only where you really can't proceed without them.

4. Response times: only promise what you can keep

People who send an enquiry often write to several providers. Quite often the job goes to whoever sends a useful answer first. Set an internal target, for example the same working day. Only put on the website what you can manage in peak season too.

5. Auto-replies: helpful or annoying

An acknowledgement is good if it says when the real answer will come and what happens next.
Avoid phrases like “we'll get back to you as soon as possible” if nothing follows for three days.
No noreply address: customers reply to the acknowledgement, and those replies must not get lost.
Watch for loops. Two autoresponders answering each other can fill a mailbox in minutes.
An auto-reply doesn't replace an answer. It only buys you a little time.

6. Measure enquiries, or the relaunch stays a gut feeling

Before the relaunch, note how many enquiries per month come in via the website and email.
Afterwards, count the same channels the same way, for example form submissions per week.
Track how long it takes to send the first reply and how many enquiries turn into a quote.
Ask new customers briefly how they found you.

7. Data protection: what the nFADP means for your contact form

Since 1 September 2023, Switzerland's revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP, in German nDSG) has been in force. For a contact form, the main point is transparency.

Your privacy notice says what data the form collects, what you use it for and who it may be passed on to.
If data goes abroad, for example via a form service or analytics tool, the privacy notice names the country.
Only ask for what you actually need for the enquiry.
If you specifically target customers in the EU, the GDPR may also apply.

This is an overview, not legal advice. If in doubt, a short check by a specialist is worth it.

8. Swiss hosting: three questions for your agency

Where the website is hosted is only part of the answer. For enquiries, three places matter:

Where does the website run, and where are form submissions stored?
Which service sends the form emails?
Where is your mailbox, and which tools read it?

The last point is often forgotten. Every tool that processes your email is part of the answer to where your customer data lives.

More enquiries after the relaunch: who answers them?

If the new website works, more enquiries come in. That's the goal, but it's also work: each one has to be read, sorted and answered, often with the price list, calendar and customer data open on the side.

This is where Tefib comes in, in the inbox and not on the website:

Filters spam and spots which emails need a reply, in Outlook or Gmail
Drafts replies in your company voice, from company profile, documents and customer context
Asks for missing details from your checklist and marks gaps instead of making things up
Prepares quotes from your price list and templates
Suggests times from your calendar

You review and send. By default nothing goes out without your click. Application, database and AI run on Microsoft Azure in Zurich. Your data does not leave Switzerland.

One requirement: form emails land in a mailbox on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. That belongs on your relaunch checklist anyway.

Frequently asked questions

Does Tefib build websites?

No. Tefib does not build websites or do web design. For a website relaunch you need an agency or a website builder. Tefib helps afterwards, in the inbox, to answer the enquiries.

What should I check first after a website relaunch?

Whether enquiries arrive. Send test enquiries through the contact form, check the mailbox and spam folder, and have your domain's MX records checked if DNS or hosting was changed.

Why do contact form emails end up in spam?

Often because the form sends the email in the customer's name. Many mail servers treat that as spoofing. Better: the sender is an address on your own domain, with the customer as Reply-To. And set up SPF and DKIM correctly for your domain.

How quickly should I reply to an enquiry?

As quickly as you can reliably manage. An internal target such as “the same working day” helps. A useful first answer, with targeted follow-up questions if needed, matters more than a quick stock phrase.

What does the nFADP require for a contact form?

Mainly transparency: the privacy notice states what data you collect, why, who receives it and whether it is transferred abroad, naming the country. This is not legal advice; if in doubt, ask a specialist.

Can Tefib answer enquiries from the contact form?

Yes, if the form emails arrive in your mailbox on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Tefib sorts them and drafts the reply, with a quote and suggested time if you like. You review and send.

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