Search Engine Marketing Blog: piloSEO

So I bought into all the hype and pledged to download Firefox 3 on Download Day. I figured that since I would download it eventually I would try to be part of the world record attempt. I have been using the latest release candidate at home for a while and I like it but I held out at work for a few extensions to be updated. Since those updates were made I had been looking forward to updating the 3.0 at work and I was ready to do it this morning when I got into work.

Probably should have planned for a bit more downloads

Well, the time came to get the newest Firefox update so at 1:00 PM EST I tried to access the various Mozilla and Firefox sites and they all kept timing out. They were being bombarded with visitors and downloads and they did not have enough bandwidth to handle it. When I finally did gain access to the different sites they were not yet promoting 3.0 for download. You could find it but the featured download was for 2.0. After a short long while the new update was finally available. I was able to download it but the whole thing got a bit irritating.

I got a little upset but in the end I was satiated because I was able to download Firefox 3 and I understand the problems associated with big launches like this. Most Firefox users are not going to abandon it because of this but something like this could destroy a business without the loyal user base of a company like Mozilla.

Don’t make the same mistake

Most businesses do not have the same type of rabid fanboys that Mozilla has. Making a big mistake like Mozilla made could end up costing big bucks as well as the trust of users and customers. This combination could destroy a business that is attempting to make it to the next level. If you are planning a big promotion (like say, attempting to break the single day download record) and expect a significant increase in bandwidth usage you should probably plan for it. It is probably a good idea to make sure the website is updated and ready for the big promotion when it is supposed to launch too.

Mozilla made a few mistakes for the Firefox 3 launch but in the end they will probably be just fine. Most businesses can’t take that hit so it is important to plan for it and make sure your site is prepared to handle whatever gets thrown at it.

Popularity: 21% [?]

• Does Twitter take a crap every day?
  So, for the third day in a row Twitter has taken a crap on me. What's the deal here. I understand that sites go down...