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 benefit organizations build ongoing, permanent relationships for the purpose of applying a collective vision for the benefit of a community.

- Wikipedia

“

Engagement tactics

Community Engagement

Offline

…

…

Online

Social Networks

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 experience 5 rules to create an engaging web experience…

1. Map the visitor journey

2. Evoke emotion

3. Provide great tools

4. Pick the right partner

5. Crawl-walk-run

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

A visitor’s journey

Discovery First Visit Take

Action

Stages Actions

Motivations Barriers

Use a journey map A 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

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

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 words and actions.”

– Richard C. Harwood

The 3 A’s of Public Life

Emotional connection is only sustained through authenticity.

“

Authenticity Visitors 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 you it’s polluting. So can I please send some of your markers back? I love your product, but hate 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

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

campus photo slideshow

press releases

letter from the president

statement of school’s

philosophy

full name of school

Things on the Front Page of a University Website

Things Visitors Go To Site Looking For

campus address

academic calendar

usable campus map

course lists

application forms

Outside-in thinking Do you know what your visitors want?

Not just reports, organization info, and press releases!

Journey mapping allows solutions to be identified

What 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

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

Web experiences are complex Creating a great web experience requires an understanding 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 options 1. Build from scratch

2. Online CMS

3. CMS Platform + customize

4. Agency or consultant

Build from scratch Create 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 CMS Online low-cost, self-service, subscription CMS that requires no coding. Hosting, maintenance, analytics, support included.

Pros Cons

Cheap, simple, quick Self-service

Pay as you go One size fits all

CMS Platform + Customize Open source or commercial CMS. Extensible and well architected. Requires hosting, upgrades, expertise.

Pros Cons

Sophisticated and feature-rich Complex, big, technical

Ecosystem of developers, consultants, and tools

You have to manage it! (upgrades, hosting)

Full control High internal costs

Agency or consultant Technology is outsourced. Don’t worry about design, customizations, or maintenance.

Pros Cons

Benefit from expertise and experience

High external costs

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 your second 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 shootout Option Best fit when… Quality Web

Experience TCO

Build from scratch

No other option works ? $$$$

Online CMS Small budget and small requirements

Low $

CMS Platform Have in-house expertise, want full technical control

Med $$$

Agency partner Focus on visitor’s experience not technology

High $$$

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

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run

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” website

Therefore…

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 complex enterprise, involving strategy, integration of technology, orchestrating business models, brand management and CEO commitment.”

- Jeananne Rae, Motiv Strategies

“

Learn to crawl, then walk, then run Start small and simple

Don't be afraid of making (small) mistakes

Experiment, test, refine & repeat

This encourages:

More frequent feedback with your visitors

A "fresher" website

Significantly reduced risk of failure

Five things you can do next week 1. 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 emotional

3. Develop a unique web tool to address a common action performed by visitors

4. Create a program to periodically interview visitors to get feedback on their web experience

5. Have a conversation with your technology partner about your visitors web experience

Rule #1 – Map the visitor journey

Rule #2 – Evoke emotion

Rule #3 – Provide great tools

Rule #4 – Pick the right partner

Rule #5 – Crawl-walk-run