Building a new website? Five essential rules you cannot overlook | Hari Kant & Eli Alston, Altius Software

5 Essential Rules You Can’t Overlook

Who are we? Hari Kant Eli Alston

Community engagement“ The process by which community benefitorganizations build ongoing, permanent relationships forthe purpose of applying a collective vision for the benefitof a community. - Wikipedia

Engagement tactics … Offline … Community Engagement Social Networks Online Mobile Websites

A new web era is here People are overwhelmed by the volume of online content available People have high (and increasing) expectations of the web People have many options for engaging online How do you expose, interact, and engage with the modern web visitor?

It’s about the experience5 rules to create an engaging web experience…1. Map the visitor journey2. Evoke emotion3. Provide great tools4. Pick the right partner5. Crawl-walk-run

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journeyRule #2 – Evoke emotionRule #3 – Provide great toolsRule #4 – Pick the right partnerRule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

A visitor’s journey Take Discovery First Visit Action Stages Actions Motivations Barriers

Use a journey mapA graphical representation of the visitor’s journey Beginning, middle and end of engagement From the visitor’s perspective Emotional and rational perspectives

Web visitor journey Adapted tool for web site development Consequences for web visitors are different Variable entry points need to be considered Shift your perspective from inside-out to outside-in

Roundup Goal  Understand web journey from visitor’s perspective Outcomes  Appreciation for web journey  Discovery of barriers  Proactive solutions The first step to creating an engaging web experience!

Practical Tips Don’t map every nuance. 80% is good enough Web journey spans multiple working teams in your organization - collaborate! Imagine what you want the visitor to think, feel, and say after the journey

Emotion matters “ Emotional design turns casual users into fanatics,ready to tell others about their positive experience.” – Aarron Walter Do you how to get visitors to laugh, smile, shout out, or take heartfelt action?

Hierarchy of user needs Emotional Usable Reliable Functional

Organizational Personality Personality is the platform for Emotion Branding is not enough Meaningful, heartfelt content  Blogs instead of press releases  Success Stories Speak from the constituent’s point of view  Source content from all constituent types

Personal and Interactive Opinions matter  Visitor Comments and Ratings Personalized content  Tag content to quickly identify with key programs  Multiple newsletters for different topics/segments  Landing pages for visitor segments  Advanced personalization based on the visitor profile Publish content on a regular schedule

Authenticity “ Reflecting the reality of people’s lives in your wordsand actions.” – Richard C. Harwood The 3 A’s of Public Life Emotional connection is only sustained through authenticity.

AuthenticityVisitors want: Content to reflect a base sense of reality Content to reflect their experiences and values To be given the whole story straight This is increasingly difficult in today’s strategic and competitive world This requires both courage and humility

“I love your markers, but I’d like to tell youit’s polluting. So can I please send some ofyour markers back? I love your product, buthate pollution," Zachary, age 9.

Roundup Goal  Evoke visitor emotions Outcomes  More memorable experience  More personal experience  More engaged visitor  Increased trust in your organization

Practical Tips Write as you would speak Reflect the views of your visitors Allow and encourage visitors to contribute Publish on a regular schedule Be authentic by highlighting wins and losses Use colour and multimedia in your collateral and messaging

Things on the Front Page of Things Visitors Go To Sitea University Website Looking For campus photo slideshow campus address academic press releases calendar applicationletter from the full name forms president of school course lists statement of school’s philosophy usable campus map

Outside-in thinkingDo you know what your visitors want? Not just reports, organization info, and press releases! Journey mapping allows solutions to be identifiedWhat actions can you… Automate? Enhance? Simplify?

Roundup Goal  Develop great tools to help automate, simplify, and enhance visitor actions Outcomes  Website becoming an online toolbox  Reason for visitor to return (and tell friends)  A great web experience!

Practical Tips Usability > aesthetics Consistent and coordinated across all channels (computer, tablet, mobile) Create tools that are specific to your cause and audience Share program impact with metrics and stories

Interlude

Web experiences are complexCreating a great web experience requires anunderstanding of: Design Usability Content Tool creation Technology platform options

Build yourself or partner?Existing and planned internal skill set? Do you need to hire expertise? Is someone familiar with web experience design? Do you need to have this skill in-house?Cost sensitivity? Real vs. hidden costs Initial vs. long-term Total cost of ownership

Website implementation options1. Build from scratch2. Online CMS3. CMS Platform + customize4. Agency or consultant

Build from scratchCreate custom website from HTML, Javascript, CSS etc. Don’t even think about it! Requires too much expertise, risk, and cost Unsustainable with internal staff Better options out there

Online CMSOnline low-cost, self-service, subscription CMS thatrequires no coding. Hosting, maintenance, analytics,support included. Pros Cons Cheap, simple, quick Self-service Pay as you go One size fits all

CMS Platform + CustomizeOpen source or commercial CMS. Extensible and wellarchitected. Requires hosting, upgrades, expertise. Pros Cons Sophisticated and feature-rich Complex, big, technical Ecosystem of developers, You have to manage it! (upgrades, consultants, and tools hosting) Full control High internal costs

Agency or consultantTechnology is outsourced. Don’t worry about design,customizations, or maintenance. Pros Cons Benefit from expertise and High external costs experience Technology managed for you Risk in choosing right partner Stay focused on constituent’s needs Custom solutions/tools

How important is technology?In the new era of web experience, technology is yoursecond concern… Technology should support your desired experience, not define it Many similar technological options Differentiator is the experience you create, not what technology you use A good partner will guide you!

Option shootoutOption Best fit when… Quality Web TCO ExperienceBuild from No other option works ? $$$$scratchOnline CMS Small budget and small Low $ requirementsCMS Platform Have in-house expertise, Med $$$ want full technical controlAgency partner Focus on visitor’s experience High $$$ not technology

Practical tips Know your internal technical capability Never build from scratch – too many other options Pick a full-service partner that fits Good partners will aim to understand true requirements Focus on creating the web experience, not managing technology

Have you heard this before? "We need to launch all of our properties at the same time.“ "If we plan well enough it will be perfect.“ "12 months sounds reasonable to redevelop our website." "Once we go-live, we are good for 3 years."

Reality check Technology and visitor needs change very quickly Visitor web experience has become very complex No one has the formula for the “perfect” websiteTherefore… 12 months is too long for a redesign Nothing is perfect the first time If you are not continually improving, you are falling behind

AND, web experience isn’t easy “ building great [web] experiences is a complexenterprise, involving strategy, integration of technology,orchestrating business models, brand management andCEO commitment.” - Jeananne Rae, Motiv Strategies

Learn to crawl, then walk, then run Start small and simple Dont be afraid of making (small) mistakes Experiment, test, refine & repeatThis encourages: More frequent feedback with your visitors A "fresher" website Significantly reduced risk of failure

Five things you can do next week1. Pick one typical visitor and map his/her web journey. Then validate this with real visitors.2. Write a blog post that is authentic, opinionated and emotional3. Develop a unique web tool to address a common action performed by visitors4. Create a program to periodically interview visitors to get feedback on their web experience5. Have a conversation with your technology partner about your visitors web experience

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Building a new website? Five essential rules you cannot overlook | Hari Kant & Eli Alston, Altius Software

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