1.
Building a Modern
B2B Website
Tricks and Tips from the Trenches
Greenville HUG - June 28, 2018
Kyle James
Digital Project Manager
SmartBug Media

2.
Agenda
Start with Why
It’s all about Personas
Best Practices & Examples
HubDB Examples (If Time)
QA
2
1
2
3
4
5

3.
3
Start with Why01

4.
4
Simon Sinek - Start With Why - TED Talk Short Edited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw

5.
5
It’s all about Personas02

6.
6
Nobody cares what you do! They only
care about solving their own
problems.
--Kyle James

7.
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A buyer persona is a representation of
your target customer. It’s a picture you
paint based on research and interviews
with actual customers. It goes beyond
basic demographics to include the
intangible elements that make a person
tick.
What is a Buyer
Persona?
If you can understand
who your buyers are
and what makes them
tick, this tells you what
to build.

8.
Knowing Personas Help
Understand Buyer Problems → How to present your product as the solution
How they like to consume content → So you can communicate in their desired
channel
What info they need to make decisions → So you can create material that
gives them this
How they make sales decisions → So you can engage them properly
8

9.
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■ Pillar page of content
■ Downloadable Guide
■ Persona Template
https://www.smartbugmedia.com/inb
ound-marketing-personas
Free Guide on
Personas

10.
10
Best Practices w/
Examples
03

11.
Sticky Nav
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https://www.rutter-net.com/ Improves User Experience by
■ Makes Navigation always
available
■ Always have a CTA viewable
■ Reduces importance of footer
■ Looks/Feels modern

12.
Hero Background Videos
12
https://www.discmdgroup.com/ Improves User Experience by
■ Helps tell a story
■ Improves Interactive Feel
■ Personally I don‘t like them
(slows load times and is
distracting)

13.
Social Proof
13
https://www.smartbugmedia.com/
Includes
■ Client logos
■ Testimonials
■ Case Studies
■ Reviews
https://www.tempo.io/

14.
Why / How / What
14
https://www.keystonetechnologies.com/
Improves User Experience by
■ Speaks in visitor language
■ Streamlined

15.
Resource Centers
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https://www.topia.com/relocation-resources
Improves User Experience by
■ Help buyers trust you expertise
■ Helps them make decisions
■ “Customers are already 57%
through the purchase process
before they approach a supplier.”
source

16.
CTAs on Pages
16
https://www.projectpals.com/
Improves User Experience by
■ Breaks up sections on a page
■ Improves page flow
■ Offering visitors next steps
■ Creates ACTION

17.
Gated vs Ungated Content
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https://www.smartbugmedia.com/inbound-marketing-personas
The Pillar Page Concept
■ Generating leads vs creating trust
and thought leadership
■ KNOW YOUR PERSONA
■ What is a pillar page -
https://blog.hubspot.com/marke
ting/what-is-a-pillar-page
http://www.wildwewander.com/diy-truck-camper

18.
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1.
Always be testing. Run
analytic reports on a
schedule (Monthly) and
test hypothesis
2.
How much information do
you ask on a form to
complete a conversion?
Know your persona and
value of the offer.
3.
Digital “conversation
marketing” is getting a lot
of buzz. Are you staffed for
this and does it make
sense for your persona?
Additional Thoughts
Some additional things to tinker with

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HubDB04

20.
HubDB has bridged the gap to allow HubSpot
hosted websites to close the gap on 95% of the
functionality you can do in other CMS systems
like WordPress.
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21.
HubDB Overview
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HubDB is a flat table architecture that
allows for database type content to be
dynamically pulled and displayed on
pages hosted on HubSpot’s CMS.
HubDB is NOT a relational database
schema. Think more spreadsheet.
■ HubDB Help Documentation
■ HubDB API
■ HubDB Design Documentation

22.
Partner Directory
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https://www.tempo.io/partner-directory

23.
Testimonials
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https://www.smartbugmedia.com/

24.
Events
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https://www.beaconquality.com/ease-events-webinars

25.
Resource Centers
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https://www.pulsara.com/resources

26.
Interactive Map
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https://www.urolift.com/find-a-physician

27.
Interactive Map
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http://us.doubleapaper.com/store-locator

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Questions05

29.
Thank you.