This webinar was sponsored by the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project in partnership with the Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace (MNREM) and Blandin Foundation. It focused on strategic web design to help businesses reach goals like finding new customers, investors, or employees. The webinar covered usability, calls to action, functionality, findability, and metrics for measuring a site's success. Attendees learned tips for testing sites and were invited to future webinars on social media.

1. MNREM Webinar
Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace
As part of the Minnesota Rural Intelligent
Communities (MIRC) Project
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

2. This webinar series is sponsored by MIRC – Minnesota Intelligent
Rural Communities in partnership with the MNREM - Minnesota
Renewable Marketplace and the Blandin Foundation. MNREM is
a project partner in the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities
initiative. MIRC is a coalition of 19 statewide partners and 11
demonstration communities funded in large part through an
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The work of the
coalition focuses on bringing the full promise of broadband
technologies to rural Minnesota communities, businesses and
people. Blandin Foundation serves as the project administrator.
More about MIRC is available www.blandinfoundation.org
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

3. Strategic Web Sites
Ann Treacy
broadband.mnrem.com
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

4. WHAT IS A STRATEGIC WEB SITE?
A web site that helps you reach business goals
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

5. WHAT ARE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS?
Reach new customers
Interact more with Find employees
current customers Reach new investors
Build brand recognition
Interact more with Reach policymakers
current investors
Manage your reputation
Promote renewable energy
Promote Minnesota
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

6. Strategic Web Sites
 Usability
 Call to action
 Functionality
 Find-ability
 Metrics
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

7. USABILITY
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

8. What do you do? 5 second test
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

9. Recognize the F Pattern
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

10. Accessibility
• WAVE ADA Test • Don’t use graphics to
wave.webaim.org convey info
Functionality
• Browser Compatibility • Flash can be iffy on
http://browsershots.org many platforms
• Do you care about
printing?
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

11. CALL TO ACTION
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

12. Think back to your Goals
• What is a successful visit to your site?
– A purchase? A RFQ? A job application?
• How easy is it for the visitors to follow that
path?
• How appealing is it?
• How is the visitor rewarded?
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

13. What do you do? 5 second test
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

14. Bonus Activity: Check out
• Sites in your industry
• Sites your target visitors
visit
• Sales sites
• Use what works
• See what doesn’t work
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

15. FUNCTIONALITY
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

16. Functionality Tests
• Run a quickie test:
http://watson.addy.com/
• Check each page for
– Accuracy
– Typos
– Links
http://www.seventwentyfour.
com/
• Check the code:
http://validator.w3.org/
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

17. METRICS
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

18. Metrics Sneak Peek
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

19. QUESTIONS?
If you have an interest in further training on
Strategic Web Sites in your area, please let us know.
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.

20. Next Steps
• Future sessions
– Next webinar in April “Social Media”
• Join us online
broadband.mnrem.com
Blog address – mnrem.com/blog
©2011 Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace. All Rights Reserved.