Prepared by:
Doyle Buehler
The Online Empire Project. Frame 5 -‐ Website Alignment Website Specification Questionnaire
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Prepared by:
Doyle Buehler
Building Online Influence For Business Growth
The Online Empire Project Website Specification Questionnaire
Prepared by: Doyle Buehler 2014 1 300 681 911 doyle@TheDigitalDelusion.com www.TheDigitalDelusion.com
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Table of Contents INTRODUCTION
4
DAY BY DAY - BUILDING AN ONLINE BREAKTHROUGH FOR YOUR BUSINESS
4
AN INTRODUCTION
7
REVIEW OF SITE REQUIREMENTS
10
OVERALL STRATEGY
11
CONTENT STRATEGY
11
BRAND DEVELOPMENT/REQUIREMENTS
11
CURRENT SITE (SUMMARY)
11
SITE OUTLINE
12
MAIN WEBSITE CRITERIA
12
AUDIENCE & OVERVIEW TEXT MENUS/PAGES/KEY BUTTONS & ACTIVITIES KEY SERVICES COMPETITORS INSIGHTS OF SITES THAT INSPIRE YOU BRANDING
12 13 14 16 16 16 17
KEY BUSINESS COMPONENTS
17
SITE CAPABILITIES
18
SALES FUNNEL ACTIVITIES
20
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION (FROM EXISTING CLIENTS/COMMENTS)
20
REFERENCES:
21
HTTP://WEMAKEWEBSITES.COM /BLOG/WEBSITE-SPECIFICATION-TEMPLATE 21 MAXIMISE ONLINE – NEXT STEPS ACTION PLAN
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
22
Introduction Your website is a complete reflection of you and your entire online digital ecosystem. It is however, only one part of the complete picture. In order to build and grow your business online, you need to have a strong website, but you also need all of the supporting elements to help it work well, and work together with everything else that you create online. Ideally, your entire digital ecosystem encompasses 7 key elements or “frames” that help you build your online platform for your business. The website is one element of the 7 that enable you to effectively grow your business.
Day By Day - Building an Online Breakthrough For Your Business The Online Empire Project Methodology is a step-by step process that helps simplify some of the complexities of business online. It is not magic, just a process or framework that helps align and integrate all of the key elements of your online ecosystem. It requires a new look at how you accomplish things online, and how you integrate these activities into your current business. Our methodology is not about starting from scratch, but rather putting the pieces that you already have, into a manageable and executable program that works for your business. The answers and details come from how your current business operates and implements. We simply provide the structure and framework to make your business function online, better. Frame
Focal Point
Theme
Core Criteria and General Activities To Complete
1
Discovery
Online Empire Building “Disco” Discovery and Strategic Alignment
2
Content Strategy
Content Planning, Creation and Development. Words still “Rock”
• • • • • • • • • •
Audit and Understanding of Current Capabilities Establishing a strategic architecture Social media strategy review and questionnaire Social Media workshop review Customer identification and discovery Building Your Story online Designing your content Scheduling, Timing & Delivery Concurrent Needs of SEO Press Releases and Media development
3
Social & Sharing
Social Networking and Sharing. There’s more
• •
Channel Prioritization and Selection Channel set-up and establishing your foundation
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
than just ‘The’ Facebook.
• • •
Channel strategies to get maximum value for your business Cross channel propagation Coordinating and scheduling your content.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The importance and ease of video How to create video content Creation & Production Key Performance factors Webinars to successful businesses Placement of video channels and cross promotion Setting up your SEO Requirements Usage and placement of images Technical requirements of images Importance of image types Creation and sizes Management of images and sharing Understand and implement website goals Restructure site as needed for “gifts” and “product for prospects” Create congruency Embodiment of proper sales funnel Back-end SEO Content Development Lead Development – Ascending Transaction Model Webinars as lead generators Product development in the online environment Social Networking advanced lead generating strategies EDM activities and list building Content distribution in your lead generation Effective Online Sales funnels Affiliate Marketing Online media buying and advertising on Google adwords, Linkedin & Facebook Content channels to expand your reach and your control Online Response strategies Analytics & Measurement Measurement, Tools & Dashboards to use to control your online influence and response
4
Video & Visual Content
Video & Visuals. Hollywood & the Paparazzi goes online
5
Website Alignment
Website Alignment & Congruency. Create and evolve your web presence
6
Online Lead & Traffic Strategies
Online Lead Strategies. How to create the sales funnel that works.
7
Advanced Online Strategies
Advanced Online Empire business building strategies and tactics. Advertising, Analytics and Dashboards
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
This underlying process allows businesses to leverage what they have online, while future-proofing their business, through a solid platform and framework. It allows businesses to focus on the important parts of online, and cut through the clutter and confusion of what you need to do, and when you need to do it.
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Name Website Business Style/About Your Business Key Product/Service
An Introduction Here are some initial guidelines to look at in developing a website specification Every website project should start with a specification. This should outline the objectives for your website along with any deadline or budget constraints. Here is a basic understanding of some of the things that you need to consider: 1. Introduce yourself. Briefly explain what your organisation does; this provides the background to the project. 2. Start with the objectives. Why do you need a website? What outcomes do you want to achieve? Are they measurable? Are there problems with the existing site? What are the business drivers for the change? Define at least one goal that the website should help you achieve. Some examples are: Increase number of enquiries via website, Increase online sales, Increase number of phone enquiries. When trying to quantify these, instead of looking at industry benchmarks, look at what you are achieving currently and come up with the improvements you'd like to see. You may also have secondary objectives, for example to gain press attention, promote your thought leadership or to reduce the admin associated with new enquiries. Make a note of these too. 3. Key Audiences. You now need to identity the key audiences that you need to appeal to in order to reach your objectives. These are your “personas”. These might be: Prospective customers or clients Existing clients / returning customers Members of the press Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Prospective employees The above is a very generalised list so you might find there are more specific ways to define your audiences. Once you have your audiences listed, the key thing you need to consider for each is what they want to be able to do on your site and what you want them to do on your site (these might be the same things, but they could well be different -‐ e.g. they're objective might be to read a blog post, but as well as this you might want them to steer them to sign-‐up for your newsletter). In other words, what are you trying to persuade them to do? Buy something? Sign up for something? Enquire about something? This will be the method with which you achieve your objectives in section 1 above. Another useful thing to consider is the priority of these audiences. This will help when it comes to designing the layout and navigation of the website. 4. Provisional site structure. It is likely that this structure will change during the design stage, but it's useful to have a starting point that clearly conveys the 'information architecture' of the site. The main purpose is to try and ensure nothing is forgotten about that needs to be on the site. Don't necessarily copy your old website structure -‐ a change could yield benefits. Don't carry old assumptions in to a new project, you risk missing out on a beneficial change. 5. Technical specifications. In other words, what should the website do? If it's a brochure site, most pages will be 'static' in the sense that they don't react to user actions. The exception here is usually contact pages that have interactive forms. If it's an e-‐commerce site, list out any requirements for your home, product listing, search and product detail pages. If your checkout will be non-‐standard, for example it allows customers to customise their orders, information on this should be included. If it's anything more advanced or unusual than this, write a detailed list of what every user should be able to do. User stories are a way of describing the actions a visitor should be able to perform on the site. They look like this: As a customer I want to add items to my cart So I can buy them later As a member of staff I want to change the status of orders So I can mark items as dispatched Create user stories for each type of audience on your site, especially if you have unusual functionality. At this stage you should also mention any technical preferences (if you have any), for example, the CMS or web framework that
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
should be used, what payment gateways do you want to use, whether the website should integrate with any other systems. 6. Non-‐functional requirements. These are requirements related to: Usability -‐ do you have accessibility requirements, perhaps your website will be used mainly on tablets, or by the elderly. Security -‐ do you need to be PCI compliant? Loading times -‐ how important are loading speeds to you? If you're in e-‐ commerce, the answer is very. Legal -‐ Are there any compliance requirements that the website must adhere to? Will your customers need to accept terms & conditions? 7. Websites you like and don't like. For the design process, it's handy to have a list of websites you like and don't like to help guide the process. This will give us a starting point from which to work towards your ideal design. 8. Who are you competitors? Listing your competitors serves three functions: • We can see what other people are doing and perhaps borrow from their most appealing website features • We can find opportunities to improve on what the market already offers • We can ensure your website design is distinct from the competition Competitor analysis is something you are probably doing anyway, even if it's not formal, so this should be easy. 9. Budget. Many people don't want to disclose their budget when they start. This is counterproductive. If you know your objectives and your budget, you can come up with the best solution. If your budget is low, think about what can be done with it. Either you can select a specific technology that is cheaper to set up or you can suggest a phased approach where more functionality can be added later. Be realistic and keep in mind that if you don't have much budget you'll need to compromise on the site specification. 10. Timescales. Now is the time to mention any deadlines you might have. It goes without saying, make them reasonable! Web projects can take anywhere from six weeks to six months depending on the size of the project. Usually a short-‐ term solution can be made available if you have nothing online currently. A sign up page is a good way of gathering email addresses before you launch your new site.
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
11. What is your procurement process? Do you have a response deadline? Who will be the point of contact for the project? When will a decision be made and when will the project start?
Review of Site Requirements The following table highlights the key components required. This gives the overall project direction. What type of messaging are you looking for? What brand colours are important to you? What types of sites do you like? What do your customers say about you? What “look & feel” are you thinking about for the new site? What do you dislike about the existing site? Describe your new site. In your mind, what is the purpose of your website? What Feelings and emotions do you want your site visitors
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
to have or take away with them?
Overall Strategy
Content Strategy
Brand Development/Requirements
Current Site (Summary) Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Site Outline Website Purpose Project Objectives Site Type Site Themes
Main Website Criteria
Audience & Overview Target Audience Location Ethnicity General Characteristics
Personas
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Issues/Objections
Needs Benefits
Ideal Contact
Text Tone Key Messages/Phrases
Content Overview
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Menus/Pages/Key Buttons & Activities About
Key Element
Connect
Blog
Inspiration
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Key Services What is your primary business goal
Competitors
Insights of Sites that Inspire You Site
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Branding Colour
Images
Layout
Video & Audio
Social Media
Key Business Components Component Gifts & Free Downloads
Product For Prospects
Description Downloadable content that is easy, accessible, and free. Added into knowledge base as required. Monthly webinars Bi-‐monthly
Implementation Key download buttons, integrate content across all activities.
Notes
Promotions and events based.
coming up.
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Promotions of actual events.
Other
workshops This is a one-‐on-‐ one conversation. The core business is not publically available on the site. The site is intended to create the sales funnel.
Other
Core Business
One-‐on-‐one conversations at workshops and discovery sessions.
Site Capabilities Blog Content
Social Media
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Video & Visuals Downloads
Key Events
Sales funnel coordination
Additional elements Support (books, additional products, services, etc.)
Other CRM CMS Other
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Sales Funnel Activities Task
Detail
Additional Background Information (From Existing Clients/Comments)
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
References: http://wemakewebsites.com /blog/website-‐specification-‐template
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal
Maximise Online – Next Steps ACTION Plan
It is here that you will be able to better leverage your full business capabilities online. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Build and create a digital online strategy and ensure that it “fits” Conduct a content development workshop Develop and implement the various social channels Develop additional content through videos and visuals Align the website with any incremental changes for sales funnel Enhance your sales funnel activities Complement your full digital platform with selective advertising, a sound analytics, and a proper dashboard to monitor and manage all of your online activities
There has never been a better time to build and grow your business online. Now is the time to put a full plan and infrastructure in place to better be able to manage the online process, to allow you to manage your time, money and resources more effectively.
Prepared by: Doyle Buehler 2015 1 300 681 911 +61 (0) 413 106 880 doyle@TheDigitalDelusion.com www.TheDigitalDelusion.com
Doyle Buehler Strategic Consulting Proposal