Building an Effective Website for Non-Profits
Transcript of Building an Effective Website for Non-Profits
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Taking the Audience’s Pulse
•How many people work on your website?
•How many people are overseeing an ecommerce site?
•How big is your website?
•Who uses a blog?
•Who outsources their website?
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Overview
•The importance of a web site, worth the investment
•Real world constraints
•Each topic could be an hour
•Google it, do it
•Conversation, ask questions
Let’s Jump In
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It’s Simple…1. Planning – Ideation & Definition
– Determine why, set out your goals– Specify who you are building it for– Determine needs– Set budget, evaluate in-sourcing and outsourcing
2. Execution - Build & Maintain– Write content– Build prototypes– Create designs– Build and deploy
3. Improve & Optimize– Measure performance & evaluate– Iterate on #2
Part of the plan!
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Setting the Stage
•Starting from scratch vs upkeep
–First 90 Days analogy, Michael Watkins (turnaround, salvage, continue success)
•A Balancing Act
–Planning & Strategy vs Execution & Tactical
–Creativity vs Science
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Interweaving
As we go through the over-arching steps, we will add to the tenants of running a website
Build on a foundation
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Determine Why
•A site needs stated purpose
–Money? Attention? People?
•Specific activities
–Sign-ups, leads, social following, online store, etc.
•Document Everything
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Product Management
•Captain of the Ship, Quarterback, Director…
•Prioritization
•Site Strategy
•Wear the hat
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Get in the Goal
•Set Targets and Track against them
•Create a Dashboard (example)
•Stay Focused
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The Audience
•Define who you are talking to: personas
•Speak to that audience
•Limit by making tough decisions
•http://www.forrester.com/
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Needs
• Lots of blog posts? Sign-up forms? Credit cards?
• Static one-off?
• Execution & Support
• Mobile? Go responsive
– 55% cell owners go online
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Budget, In vs Out
•Wide ranging costs
•Be smart about spend, do what you’re good at, get help with the rest
In-sourcing• Requires staffing, guidance,
leadership• Quicker reaction time• Longevity, dedication
Outsourcing• More expensive• Trust• Less hassle
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Thus far…
•We know why
•Specific visitor activities
•Goals are set
•There is a defined audience
•Our needs are clear
•What next?
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What is content?
•Copy•Photos•Video•Podcasts•Infographics•Articles•Music•Updates
•Illustrations•Diagrams
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http://brownsharpie.courtneygibbons.org/
Entropy (n.): Lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.
(Google)
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• A website, like any system, will decline into disorder if left to itself.
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Problem 1: Silos• Stakeholder interviews
• Understand who impacts the project, how, and what they want.
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Problem 1: Silos
•Content workflow diagram
•Understand how content is created, who affects it, and how.
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Problem 2: Clutter
• Content inventory
• Understand what content you have. Can be quantitative or qualitative.
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Problem 3: Lack of Insight
• Voice chart– Understand how you come across to your users.
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Problem 3: Lack of Insight
•Channel map
–Understand how users interact with each piece of content you create.
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Problem 3: Lack of Insight
•User testing
–Understand whether users are able to find/do what they need.
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There’s so much more...
• Governance
• Maintenance
• SEO
• Gap analyses
• Reports
• Style guides
• Content matrices
• Analytics
• Expert reviews
• Content reuse
• Editorial calendars
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Helpful resourcesfor getting started
Content Strategy for the Web,by Halvorson & Rach
Letting Go of the Words,by Redish
Content Rules,by Handley & Chapman
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Write
•Have a clear message - http://letsembark.com/
•Create an inventory & map
•Set tone and voice
•Use a calendar
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Content Management Systems
•Use one
•Lets you manage and publish content easily
•Types
–Wordpress, Drupal, Squarespace, etc
•Easy to modify
•Ecommerce Platforms
–Magento, Spree Commerce,
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Set the Experience
•What is UX? IA? Hard to define…
•Map the user’s experience by persona
•Set homepage, major section, and page goals
•Build Prototypes
–Allows for discussion and manipulation
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UX Design Tools for Prototyping
•Axure – http://www.axure.com
•Balsamiq - http://www.balsamiq.com
•Visio
•Pen and Paper
•Whiteboards!
Check the app marketplace!
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Thus far…
• We know why
• Specific actions
• Goals are set
• There is an audience
• Our needs are clear
• Content comes first
• Experience maps or prototypes
• How do we make it enticing?
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Web Design Time
1. Stay consistent with color and typography
– Offline synchronization
2. Have a design or pattern library, style guide
– http://developer.android.com/design/index.html
3. Use mock-ups
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The Genius of Design(ers)
•Photoshop, Paintshop, Illustrator
•Spend time on Illustrations, photos, the graphical
–Not on bulleted lists, padding, font sizes (set by style)
•Leverage templates
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Build and Deploy
• Use source control
• Have a test environment, or two, or three
• Build a rigorous deploy process
• Deploy on schedules
• Project management tools
• Hosting
– Redundancy, Speed, Uptime, Security, Price
– Do Not DIY
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Optimize
•Analytics Tools
–Google Analytics, free, easy to use
–Revisit the process & flow
•Use Data to inform actions, back into the flow of work
•AB Testing
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Tips
• Avoid using dates except where prudent
• Avoid Flash
• Use a blog, write regularly
• Have reports emailed to you
• Responsive design
• Google Webmaster account
• Landing pages
• Nonprofit Website Best Practices
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Will [email protected]@wlybrand
QuestionsFavorite/Worst website?Site for Evaluation?