Roadmap for Building an Amazing Website MSBDC October 30, 2019 tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Overview Introductions Planning Content & Building After Go Live Hands On Q & A tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Who I am derek allard - derek@tunnel7.com Website designer, Internet marketer Work with clients to build smarter digital presences to increase return on investment tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Who Are You? Have you been involved in a website project? Was your experience positive? What were/are your biggest pain points? tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Today’s Goals Offer real world insight into website projects Think about all the steps that contribute to success Gain a perspective you may not have had just yet Answer your questions tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Websites Are Foundations And, like foundations, they should be strong Work on all devices Have compelling content (images, video, text) Support digital marketing efforts in a direct way Kept current technologically tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Planning
Goals, Users, Problems Goals: What action do you want users to take? Users: Who are we targeting / want to target? Problems: What problem is your company solving? Let these guide the website building process tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Internal Resources Who will be writing the content? Where will photos and videos come from? Who will maintain social media profiles? Who will maintain the website after it goes live? Thinking through these questions now will ensure you have a solid plan for success tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Research Your assumptions about website users and the reality don’t always match up It’s your job to sleuth out what users want from the your website What are competitors doing? User surveys and user testing are invaluable tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
The more input you get from actual users the better off you will be
Understand Requirements Have a good understanding about marketing and technical needs at the start What social channels will you use? Do you use email marketing or digital advertising? Is search engine optimization an important factor? What are the technical requirements and integrations? Answers to these will help define the build of the website tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Content Modeling Content is the most important part of any project Define content types (blog, bios, faqs, etc.) for the website and fields that are needed for each channel By planning content granularly like this at the start you will inform the navigation and pages of your website tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Sitemap / Wireframes Sitemap: Maps out the pages / sections of the website Wireframes: Rough layouts focused on content placement and calls to action These will get you thinking about what the website needs to meet goals These two items ensure your website is well organized and logically laid out tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Planning steps should inform and guide the entire project
Website Options Do it yourself Website builders (Squarespace, etc.) Hire a design firm to build it with you All will have pros and cons tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Write Down Three Actions You Want Users To Take On Your Website
Content & Building
At The Start Make sure you own your domain name Set your domain to auto-renew at your domain registrar to ensure you never lose it Make sure your website uses a secure connection (SSL certificate) tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Branding Create a logo that matches your brand What is your brand? Hip/Trendy? Conservative/ Professional? Define a color palette and fonts to unify visual representation of your brand Having a style guide will ensure these elements are followed correctly tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Branding Create a logo that matches your brand What is your brand? Hip/Trendy? Conservative/ Professional? Define a color palette and fonts to unify visual representation of your brand Having a style guide will ensure these elements are followed correctly tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Gathering Assets Photography - stock or professional? Videography - a professional intro video can be compelling Professional photography / video will be more specific and unique to your business Stock vs. do it yourself tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Content Writing Writing for a website is more brief and to the point Define who is writing the content Consider a professional writer if writing isn’t your strength If multiple writers establish voice for your brand Website content speaks directly to users and is focused on calls to action tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Website Design Everyone gets excited by the design … make sure it is based on the planning work you did You don’t need to design every possible page of a website … instead think of templates (home, listing, detail, etc.) Make sure you account for mobile devices Custom vs. prebuilt template tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
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Calls To Action Should match up to the goals of your website Register, Buy Now, Sign Up, Contact Make calls to action as clear as possible (think buttons and visual elements that draw the eye) If you can incentivize calls to action do so tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Programming Transform your design into an actual website Getting all content entered into the content management system Building out functionality and templates Integrating with any third party systems (mailing lists, eCommerce, etc.) Website builder vs. custom website design … but for both you will not be programming - your role is content tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Content Audits Go through the website with a fine tooth comb about two weeks before go live Make sure voice of the content is consistent, calls to action are clear, all images look good Grammar and typos should all be correct now tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Before Go Live Make sure redirects are setup before your new site goes live (needed only if you already have an old site with different URLs) We always write a go live plan to make sure nothing gets missed … perhaps overkill for you but still useful for your content and asset needs Be thorough tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Write Out Three Calls To Action With A Supporting Incentive
After Go Live
Roll Out Marketing How are you going to get people to the website? Email marketing, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Print ads Have a strategy for all marketing efforts (not just the tools for it) What is your messaging? Where do people get sent to on the website? tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Your Website’s Role Your website will be where many goals actually happen Direct users to the website for these specific actions Be strategic … every ad, social post, print piece should have a defined path where users can take an action tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Landing Pages Generally you don’t want to send users to any old page of the website Landing pages are simplified layouts (no navigation) focused on getting users to take one specific action If marketing efforts are used, use landing pages to increase conversions tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Who Loves This? In most organizations there is one employee who loves social media This is the person to put in charge None of us are any good at things we don’t like tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Who Loves This? In most organizations there is one employee who loves social media This is the person to put in charge None of us are any good at things we don’t like tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Analytics Tells you if your website and marketing efforts are performing well Will also steer you in directions for smart improvements A/B testing, best traffic sources, most popular pages, conversion rates, etc. Analytics is a powerful tool for constant refinement tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Overview Introductions Why Google Analytics? Setting Up & Defining Goals Overview of Reports Tips & Tricks tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
SCREEN CAPTURE Google Analytics is the most common and will show how your efforts are working Don’t rely on data from social channels (tends to make things look more impressive than they are) Be ruthless in scrutinizing which social channels are working and which are not tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
Keeping Current Websites are meant to be kept current Don’t let content get stale Have a plan for getting new content on the website News, blogs and event listings are a great way to ensure current content Technically, the website should be kept current too tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
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