10 easy ways to take your website from good to great

10 Easy Ways to Take Your Website from Good to

Great

October 1, 2012

2

House Rules

• Interrupt me– No, really. It’s OK.

• Ask questions• Something specific? – I’ll stick around after

• Copious note takers can relax: – slideshare.net/sietsema– hello@teachtofishdigital.

com– @sietsema

Sorry.

More like:

1Analytics

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Analytics Is Not

35%

27%17%

20%

Neat!Pretty NeatSomewhat NeatNot Neat at All

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Defining Analytics

It’s About Us:• What are we trying

to accomplish?• Have we been

successful to date?• Is success within

reach?• What needs to

happen to improve?

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Defining Analytics

It’s About Them:• Who are our best

customers?• To what are they

likely to respond?• What resonates

with them?• Are there others we

should consider?

Why?

So What?

The Only Two Questions:

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11

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“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

2Way Finding

Patience on the Web

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Short Term Memory

7 ± 2

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Tips for Way Finding

Allow visitors to determine navigation priority

• About Us• Subscribe• Places to Go• Things to Do• Travel Guide

• Travel Guide• Things to Do• Places go Go• About Us • Subscribe

YOUR NAVIGATION SAYS: YOUR ANALYTICS SAYS:

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Tips for Way Finding

Allow visitors to know where they are and get back easily

• Show State

• Bread Crumb Navigation– Food >> Dining >> Seafood >>

Scoma’s

AVAILABLE AVAILABLE AVAILABLE ACTIVE AVAILABLE

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Tips for Way Finding

Start using (and tracking) site search

• Functionality is familiar• Use insights to build relevance• http://www.google.com/cse/

• Test effectiveness

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Tips for Way Finding

Show visitors what’s next…

“YOU’LL ALSO LIKE” ALWAYS BE CLOSING

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The Website Usability Bible

3Responsiveness

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State of Mobile

Source: Morgan Stanley

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State of Mobile

Source: Google

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Responsive Design

Desktop Tablet Mobile

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You Have Options

Responsive Design• 1 Web Address,

No Duplication• Site morphs based on device

PRO• Easy & cheap to maintainCON• Less focus on mobile experience

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You Have Options

Dynamic Serving• 1 Web Address, No Duplication• Content/experience changes based on device

PRO• Better mobile experienceCON• Technical complexity• Higher maintenance cost

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You Have Options

Parallel Mobile Site• 2 Separate Sites:

1 Mobile, 1 Desktop

PRO• Easy implementationCON• Must make content updates twice• Content duplication risk

4SEO

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Share of Search

67%

16%

13%

5%

GoogleBingYahooWho Cares

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How Organic Search Works

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Some Rules Still Apply

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Pages = Destinations

• From One Person to Another– Home Page is Most Likely Destination

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Pages = Destinations

• From “The Google”– Every Page is a Possible Entry Point

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Tools of the Trade

• Find Keywords– “google keyword tool”

• Implement Keywords

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Keywords

• Where does one place them?– Page Titles• Once : Limit 64 Characters

–Meta Descriptions• 1-2 Times : Limit 155 Characters

–Meta Keywords• Repeat every word in Title and separate with

commas

– Headlines, HTML Text & Alt Tags• H1 tags if possible

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Google Algorithm Updates

• Good News: No more writing for robots

5Content Planning

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Bricks vs. Feathers

• What weighs more: – 5 lbs of bricks?– 5 lbs of feathers?

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Bricks vs. Feathers

Content Type Bricks Feathers

Definition Productions Posts & Snippets

Positioning “Thought Leader” “News Maker”

Time Requirement

Days & Weeks Minutes & Hours

Potential Downside

Opportunity Cost Relentless Effort Required

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Content Planning Triangle

SEARCHING

TALKINGACTING

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Content Triangle in Practice

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Content Planning Tools

• Evernote & Scrivener– Organize ideas by

production– Collaborative

contribution & editing– Develop stories and

bricks as a team– Accessible via

desktop, mobile or tablet

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Content Planning Tools

• Create a content editorial calendar–Manage multiple content

types, campaigns, people– Collaborate to create new

content & brainstorm promotion plans

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Content for Hire

• Plan and schedule content

• Find writers and artists to create new compelling material

• Transact and edit• Build a team of

content producers for ongoing projects

6Content Promotion

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New Challenge/Opportunity

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Content Amplification

• Phase 1: Standard Promotion Protocol– Relevant promotion vehicles –Monitor results

• Phase 2: Release the Hounds! (optional)– Apply to trending content– Give content extra momentum

– Budget accordingly

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Ludicrous Speed Examples

• Give content greater priority on the website

• Feature content in email newsletters• Re-run on social media venues

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More Ludicrous Speed Examples• Call on fans, partners & influencers to

share

• Promote via display ads

• Guest blog• Employ social advertising

7Social

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She’ll love you back

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Maintaining Activity

• Choose wisely

Venue Awareness Action Loyalty

Facebook X X X

Twitter X X X

YouTube X x

Pinterest X X X

LinkedIn X x

Google+ X X X

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Maintaining Activity

• Create a social media editorial calendarM T W T F Sa Su

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Work Smarter, Not Harder

• Facebook & Twitter Effectiveness

Photo

Video

Status

Link

FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT BY POST TYPE TOOLS FOR MAXIMIZING TWITTER

February 2012

+

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Allow Visitors to Share

• Utilize social sharing tools and plugins– ShareThis– AddThis– Countless Plugins

– Don’t forget email

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Maintaining Activity

• It’s about more than traffic & followers

August 2012

8Video

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Why Video is Important

• People remember:

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Why Video is Important

• The top search engines:

#1 #2

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Keywords for Google Search

• Where does one place them?– Page Titles• Once : Limit 64 Characters

–Meta Descriptions• 1-2 Times : Limit 155 Characters

–Meta Keywords• Repeat every word in Title and separate with

commas

65

Keywords for Video Search

• Where does one place them?– Video Titles

• Use Keyword Once

– Video Descriptions• Provide keyword-rich text• Link to back to website & relevant content

– Video Tags• Use every keyword in tags• No limit, but keep it relevant

– Use YouTube Keyword Tool - http://goo.gl/g7mU

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Video Content Options & Tips• Webcasts• Interviews• Customer/Reader Responses• Tours or Demonstrations

• Tips– Create a series– Use consistent open and close elements– Include real people be human– Include YouTube Annotations– Embed on the website

9Email Automation

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Build Your List

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Immediate Gratification

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Welcome Emails

• Special time when everything is new

• Ask to be whitelisted

• Offer a special incentive

• Set expectations

• Collect additional data

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Be Relevant

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Building Relevance

• Ask them:

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Building Relevance

• Watch them:

Fishing Trips Near Kansas City OutdoorsCLICK

CLICK

CLICK

Unbelievable Barbecue

HOTEL SPECIAL:Hawthorne

Suites – Overland Park

Food

Discounts

10Experiments

75

“A player who makes a team great is much more valuable than a great player.”

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Test Everything

Message | Creative | Call to ActionAd Specs | Venue | Location | Daypart

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Tools for Testing

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Tools for TestingU

SERTES

TIN

G.C

OM

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Questions?

• Chris Sietsema• Chris@TeachtoFishDigital.com• 480.389.5435

• slideshare.net/sietsema