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A step-by-step guide for SMEs who need a new website but aren’t sure how to get there.

How clearly I remember the disaster that was my very first website project, back in 1997.  I was the junior on a team of people who were convinced that putting up a website must be easy, but who had no actual knowledge of how one got a website from a Photoshop design to a computer screen with clickable buttons.  They made many promises to the client, and because they figured it must be easy – “I mean, this html stuff can’t be that hard, can it? The people who do it don’t dress very well, you know” – the whole buck got passed right on down from C-suite to VP to Director until it eventually landed in my lap.

At which time I discovered that, in the entire 350-person company, there was one person who had any knowledge of how to build a website. Not only was he fully booked for the next 6 months, but the price given to the client was about 1/3 of what it was going to cost to deliver the site as conceived by people who were still getting to grips with email.

Website development has gotten a lot easier in the 15 years since then, but there is still a huge knowledge gap between people who know how to build (or project manage the build of) a website and those who don’t.  More importantly, knowing how to get a website built does not make you morally superior, smarter or cooler than people who don’t – I know plenty of cardiovascular surgeons who can transplant a heart but have no idea how to get themselves a website.

You don’t have to know how to do the coding.
You just need to know the steps involved.

Last week I was speaking to the management team of a small consulting firm.  Their annual revenue is about $11 million, but they’re growing fast and they know they need a new website in order to compete in their marketplace.  However, without a dedicated marketing or IT department, they aren’t sure how to proceed.  To add to the confusion, they’ve received estimates for website development ranging from $15,000 to $80,000.  How do they figure out what they need to do?

This is what I told them.

STEP 1:  STRATEGY CONSENSUS

Before you start talking to website designers, it’s important to get internal consensus among key stakeholders about the purpose and function of the website.  Is the website mostly for credibility/branding purposes?  What kind of information will it need to contain?  Who is the target audience?  Will you be selling products or services via the site?  Does it need to have complex back-end functionality, like connecting to a payroll database?  

You don’t have to have every detail mapped out at this stage, but getting key team members in agreement about what the site is supposed to accomplish will save you a lot of headache later.

STEP 2:  CORE MESSAGING

It’s best to establish core messages for the site as early as possible, even if it’s only in ‘internal’ language.  This includes the 3 Ps: Proposition (what you offer to clients); Positioning (how you’re unique within the marketplace); and Personality (how you do what you do differently or better).

STEP 3:  LOOK AND FEEL (STYLE GUIDE)

For many companies, building a new website is also the time when they refresh the look and feel of their brand identity. Creating a style guide – a document which defines the logo, colour palette, fonts, imagery and other visual elements of the brand – will ensure that the website, and all the other marketing materials, are consistent.  Creating a style guide before you embark on the website design helps prevent ‘design drift’ based on personal opinion (“I don’t like that green colour – can we just add some purple dots in the corner?”), too.

STEP 4:  SITE ARCHITECTURE

‘Website architecture’ sounds complex, but really isn’t: It’s just the term we use to describe the map of what information the site will contain, and how it will be organized. Architecture can be complex, but for most companies it will be quite simple.  (I personally found this step to be the most difficult part of learning to put together websites, mostly because I like to think in sentences and paragraphs rather than boxes, but the best way to get started is simply to find a website you like and see how they’ve organized their information.)

STEP 4a:  SCOPING DOCUMENT

A scoping document is an outline of the parameters/elements of the site, which can be used to solicit estimates from website developers.  It includes things like the site architecture, functionality of the site (i.e. what you need the site to do), the number of design concepts and revisions you’d like, the timeline you want to work with, etc.  

If you don’t have an internal designer or marketing person, you may want to create a scoping document at the end of STEP 1 and include things like messaging and the style guide.  But it’s an important part of the process because it will allow you to compare apples to apples when you’re assessing the estimates you get from suppliers.

STEP 5:  PRIMARY CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

15 years ago, you needed to have all your content written before you started working on the site, because changing content later was often time-consuming and expensive.  These days, you really just need headlines and homepage copy to start with – body copy can be written and uploaded later. (And for many people, it’s easier to figure out copy once you’ve seen a basic idea of how the site will actually look.)

STEP 6:  WEBSITE DESIGN

This is where the website developer/company you’ve engaged will put everything together, typically as follows:

• Website development team uses the style guide + architecture + primary content to develop 2-3 draft design concepts
• You (the client) provide feedback
• Development team provides revisions which incorporate feedback
• You provide second-round feedback
• Development team provides close-to-final design in a functional environment
• Final revisions are made to design
• You approve it
• Remainder of site is developed

If you’ve tried to jump to this stage without getting agreement on messaging, architecture and style guide, this step will be painful. But if you’ve done all the preceding steps, this stage will go surprisingly smoothly.

STEP 7:  REMAINDER OF CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Now that the site framework is up and has some basic functionality, it’s easy to plug in the secondary and tertiary content – all those information pages explaining your services, your approach, etc.  You can either provide copy to your website developer to upload for you, or you can get them to teach you how to use the content management system (these days, uploading website content is as easy as using Word) and you can play around with it yourself.

STEP 8:  TESTING AND DOUBLE-CHECKING

At this stage, all links and social media feeds on the site are tested across a variety of browsers and operating systems, to ensure consistent, bug-free functionality.

STEP 9:  GO-LIVE

The site is transferred to the host server and goes live.  You can tell all your friends, colleagues and clients you have a new website!

STEP 10:  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND MANAGEMENT

It’s always a good idea to get your website development team to hand over all your files and passwords at this stage, and to take you on a tour of your back-end systems.  In an ideal world, you will continue a relationship with your website development partner for a long time to come, but on the off-chance that they suddenly move to another continent, it’s best to know how to access the site if you ever need to.

 

 

Saying “It’s for charity” doesn’t solve the problems in this ad.

As I said the other day in my post about breastfeeding, I’m all for advertising which normalizes bodily functions that we’ve historically seen as something ‘shameful’.  And the need for adult diapers fits nicely into that category.

But this ad is beyond me.

The expository dialogue (“I know you don’t need them” and “Come on, it’s for charity”) seems like it’s been awkwardly squished in there; we never get told what the ‘charity’ actually is; and the ‘celebrities’ they’ve chosen are so far out of the demographic that they seem unrelated to the product.  I’m left wondering whether they’re promoting figure skating, or charity, or Depends.  The tight camera shots make the whole thing seem like it’s been filmed with a $23 budget, too.

Upon reflection, I considered that my mother (who is, given her age, presumably in the target demographic) does love figure skating, so perhaps using Isabelle Brasseur and PJ Stock makes more sense than I think. And I get that maybe the point is to show that you can wear Depends and still lead an active lifestyle.  But why is the ‘charity’ never identified?  Why are they putting the product on people who, as they say, have no need for it?  

When I look at the comments on YouTube, and the other videos from this channel, I see that they’re trying to make the point that there’s no shame in trying on a pair of Depends – and, again, I think that’s a worthy goal.  I just think that there must be a less awkward way to do it.

Turns out, ‘special deals’ are more important than ‘relevant content’

I have borrowed this infographic from GetSatisfaction.com, which is a good source of interesting infographics.  

I tend to think that this particular infographic is more relevant to consumer packaged goods than to other products and services, but it’s signficant in that it refutes the premise that the best way to get people to follow your brand is ‘entertaining content’.

An intro for newbies. Or sceptics.

^{(I have borrowed this image from a blog called ‘Tony Hannan’s Compendium of Games‘.  I’m not entirely certain what it’s about, but that’s probably because it has a lot of sports references in it.)}

These days, I increasingly find myself being hired to manage other people’s Twitter accounts, or to advise them on how to get started on Twitter (and other social media channels) to help promote their personal brands or their companies.  You may find this odd, since at only 2300 Twitter followers I hardly qualify as a super-user, but I happen to be one of those people who think that it’s not really about quantity.  If I followed back every bot, hotsexyorgy.biz account, #teamfollowback person and people with bizarre profiles like “Yooo!! Follow Me && My Twin 100 Mfs Cant Tell Me NOTHING! S| KayMichelle.”, I’d definitely look a lot more popular – but I’m not sure I’d be doing anything for my brand or my business.

Twitter has become a lot more socially acceptable than it was when I set up my first account back in 2008. Sure, your friends’ statuses on Facebook could be amusing, but a whole site – a whole app! – based on 140-character status updates? Admitting you were on Twitter almost always got you a comment about how stupid it was to be telling everyone what you had for lunch or that you’d just cleaned your garage. 

Today, with 140 million active users, a track record of breaking news, and credited with furthering the cause of democracy by providing a voice for the previously voiceless, most people (grudgingly) admit that maybe Twitter has a legitimate role to play.

However, I’m still often asked about the ‘point’ of Twitter for the average person.  This is what I say.

What Twitter can do for you

There’s a lot that Twitter can do for larger organizations – customer service, crisis communications, customer engagement – but this particular list is focused on what Twitter can do for individuals, whether they’re working independently or within a large organization.

1.  Teach you stuff about what you do for a living

By following the right people, you’ll get fed a steady stream of links to articles about trends, opinion, research and insight in your industry. This is especially helpful for people who are in business for themselves, or are part of a small department or a small company, where there aren’t a whole lot of other people ‘in the office’ to learn from.

2.  Virtually real-time news updates

In the past 2 years, I’ve learned about almost all the big news stories – from the death of Michael Jackson to the Japan tsunami to the death of Osama Bin Laden – via Twitter, because it lights up with relevant tweets almost as soon as something big happens.  This is easier, and more immediate, than watching tv news or keeping the radio on 24 hours a day.

3.  Connect you with thought leaders in your field

One of my clients had been trying to get on the radar of a ‘famous’ person in their industry for a couple of years, without success. But a well-timed interaction on Twitter, with a clever response, finally got them the recognition they’d been looking for.  Now my client is being included in high-level industry events, invited to participate in committees – and they’re well on their way to becoming ‘famous’ in their field as well.

4.  PR/media opportunities

Media types are all over Twitter – that’s often where they’re getting their hottest news tips. When they’re looking for sources for a story, they turn to high-profile tweeters.  And I’ve participated in quite a few online radio shows because of a connection made via Twitter. Online radio and podcasts aren’t going to make you famous overnight, but they add up and you never know where they might lead. Tweeting smart commentary can also lead to invitations to write articles or posts for other publications.

5.  Improve your Google ranking

Whether they admit it or not, potential clients almost always Google you before you walk into their boardroom to make a pitch. If you haven’t got a lot of web-based content out there, an active Twitter account can help.

6.  Build an audience for your blog/website

You want to increase traffic to your blog or website, but with only 150 Facebook friends and 250 LinkedIn connections, how do you spread the word? Twitter gives you access to a much larger potential audience, for much less money, than any other channel.

7.  Build your brand

Much of what I’ve already said, above, are components in building a personal brand. Twitter is especially helpful in brand-building because it allows you to infuse your professional commentary with personality – which is crucial in creating a differentiated brand.

8.  Promote your events

Many of my clients host networking events or webinars as part of their client relationship management programs. Twitter is an excellent way to get beyond your existing database of ‘prospects’ and reach a larger audience. You never know when a retweet by someone with 75k followers will suddenly make your online event the hot topic of the week.

9. Competitive intelligence

Twitter is an excellent way to find out what your competitors are up to – but of course they may be keeping an eye on what you’re up to, as well!

10.  Building credibility

Ultimately, credibility is really a function of multiple touchpoints + relevant content + time. Tweeting consistently relevant content (i.e. getting a reputation for tweeting about industry-related news and insight) will, over time, get you a reputation as someone who knows their business and can be counted upon for up-to-date information – especially when it’s done in conjunction with a blog and other channels.

11.  Advice and input

Looking for a new employee or supplier? Asking for recommendations on Twitter can get you good information. Looking for a case study or resources or participants in an opinion poll? Twitter can be a great way to get input. 

12.  Random, interesting stuff

Most of the time, I follow people who are in my field: Branding and marketing types, designers, writers, etc. But it’s amazing what you can learn and discover when you follow people who are just plain interesting. Sometimes I get directed to a new invention, a new scientific study, or a hilariously written blog. Twitter is a great way to discover new things that you’d never otherwise know about.

Proof that the most creative advertising happens when committees aren’t involved.

It may have taken 10 writers and 3 producers to come up with Jennifer Lopez’s hit, “Jenny from the Block”, but I’ve long been convinced that when you look under the hood of really fantastic, creative advertising – the kind that can’t help but go viral – you’ll find that it was the brainchild of one, or maybe two, people who didn’t have to cater to a whole boardroom full of ‘stakeholders’.

Behold:

This ad originally appeared on Craigslist (where it is, inexplicably, currently flagged for removal), but has gone viral simply because of its unadulterated creativity.

Turns out the ad is the brainchild of a couple of 23-year-old friends, Joe (the owner of the car, and an aerospace engineer) and Kyle (a designer who works in marketing).  Actually, according to the interview with Jalopnik, I’m pretty sure the ad is almost entirely Kyle’s brainchild.

I don’t know where Kyle works, but I sure hope he just got a big raise and a promotion. I myself would be happy if I’d just written the copy for this piece, let alone been able to do the copy and the design. But the word ‘Jesus’ alone would have had this piece kicked out of contention in an ‘agency’ setting.

 

BONUS OPINION: While my kneejerk response is to wonder why ‘big brands’ can’t do this kind of creativity, I do wonder whether one of the reasons this ad works is precisely because it’s not for a big brand, and you know it was done by ‘some guy’ on his home computer, just for fun.  I suspect that if a mainstream brand tried to do this, and tried to push it through broadcast media channels, it might come off as trying too hard – even if the copy and graphics were exactly the same.  Hhmmm.