tsh masterclass - why your website can kill your business and 7 powerful ways to prevent it
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How your website can kill your business
How your website can kill your business
And 7 powerful ways to prevent it
About me
Founder & lead content strategist, Alpha Content
MBA - journalist publisher
Strategising around content since 1994
Creating content from caravanners to VCsManaging content getting teams to work together, right skills, Grew up in entrepreneurial environment father set up 2 high-tech businesses, still goingSmall and large companiesWhat Alpha Content does help companies make their websites and other digital communications more effective for their business, and help them set up practical ways of managing it
What we do
The right content for your users
The right content for your business
The right way to keep it going
The danger zone(aka launching your website)
What you want...Scalable website Fresh contentConsistent contentFlexible navigationStrong internal search Motivated staffIndependent of individuals
And then...
New navigation categories
Staff changes
Great marketing ideas
New revenue lines
Change of emphasis
Introduction of new media
Dynamic new investor
Party!!!
Team changes
Different terms
New categories
New marketing idea needs adding
Users not doing what you want
(c) Louis Hart-Davis
What you want...Scalable website Fresh contentConsistent contentFlexible navigationStrong internal search Motivated staffIndependent of individuals
What you (often) getOut-of-date contentConfused designMessy navigationChaotic internal searchStaff conflict/competitionStaff apathyExpensive relaunch
Let's save your business
1. Define your business needs and stick to them
Why a web site?
Make money
Reduce costs
Increase customer satisfaction (loyalty)
Examine every component
Bin/change everything that doesn't do one of those things
2. Help your customers
DO things
Focus on tasks
Web users DO things: solve problems, do tasksBuy something, fix their gadget, find health diagnosis, get travel directions
They want low-effort, easy experiences
Forget the long tail
Top user tasks will make up most traffic 25% of demand = 5% of content
60% of demand = 20% of content*
Get the most important tasks right
Offer other things only if you have time
Always keep your top tasks prominent
*Gerry McGovern 2010
Use facebook as eg keep in direct touch with friends add-ons are secondary
3. Show off your content
(not your tech skills)
Content leads the design
Create real content before designing
Design always serves the content
Content type follows task
Channel follows content type
Content typeArticleBlog postVideoImagesMapsUser-generatedPollComparison toolsShopping cartAudioCurated content
TaskGet news updateFind reviewsBuy productFind delivery costsCheck locationLook up symptomsFind instructions
ChannelMain websiteMicrositeMobile websitePhone appTablet appEmailSocial networksIntranet
4. Create your digital culture now
and save having to change it later
Engage your team...
Articulate and share your digital goals
Don't be possessive
Include web in inductions
Culture of continual improvement weekly/daily 15 min meetings
Align incentives
...but centralise final control
Appoint a web chief not a committee
and give them real power, including over: Style
Format
Navigation
What's published
Home page
5. Never finish your website
Essential ongoing work
Test continually: A/B splits, user tests, qualitative and quantitative
Have a process to expire old content:
wrong content is worse than no content
Measure the success of user tasks, not content creation
6. Set and document
your processes
Simple content workflow
draftdraftdraftdraftdraftreviewapproveexpirerejectpublishreview
Essential documents
Shared goals and objectives
Workflow with responsibilities
Creation calendar: who/what
Expiry calendar: who/what
Tone of voice (TOV) guide
Style guide for other media (video/audio/curated/social)
7. Buy your help early rather than late
(save , get better results)
Early-stage helpContent strategyInformation architectureUser researchUser testingCopywritingEditingExpert reviewTone of voice guidelinesVideo style
Ongoing servicesContent creation eg blogsUser testingSEOData analysisCopywritingEditingVideo/audio production
An overcrowded chicken farm produces fewer eggs (Chinese proverb)
And finally...
Thank you