10 Steps to Build a Business Website for Under $100
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The document outlines a 10-step process for building a business website for under $100, focusing on client profiling, audience understanding, and actionable planning. Each step emphasizes gathering information, determining objectives, creating sitemaps, and successfully launching and maintaining the site. The session concludes with key takeaways, emphasizing planning, expertise, and the importance of professional guidance in web development.
10 Steps to Build a Business Website for Under $100
- 1. 10 Steps to Build a Business Website for Under $100 Andy McIlwain @WordCamp Hamilton 2015 Saturday June 6, 2015
- 2. Hello! I’m Andy. Andy McIlwain Front-End Developer, Brainrider Co-Organizer, Toronto WordCamps & Meetups Instructor, Camp Tech twitter.com/andymci linkedin.com/in/andymci slideshare.net/andymci
- 3. What We’re Covering 1. ProfileYour Client 2. Identify Challenges & Objectives 3. Profile the Audience 4. Create a Sitemap 5. Determine Calls toAction 6. Gather Information 7. Layout & Design 8. The Build 9. Launch & Post-Mortem 10. Maintenance & Support You’ll walk away with an actionable list of to-do items to build a business site inWordPress! Not teaching you how to code a WordPress site, use specific plugins, or customize themes!
- 4. Step 1: Profile Your Client “Who is your client, and what do they do?”
- 5. Step 1: Profile Your Client Sum this up in a paragraph or two to describe your client: • Who are they? • What do they sell? • What problems do they solve? For Example: “MiskTechnology Services (MTS) provides on-site and remote tech support to small businesses.They help their customers manage IT issues without needing an IT department.”
- 6. Step 2: Identify Challenges & Objectives (Note: Probably not nihilists.)
- 7. Step 2: Identify Challenges & Objectives • What problems are your client facing? • What’re the goals for the site? Primary, Secondary,Tertiary • How will we determine success? What are the metrics? Create an itemized list. Keep it simple. simple. Example: “MTS wants to reduce low- value support calls by 20% (tracked via helpdesk) by directing customers to a self- service knowledge base for common issues.”
- 8. Step 3: Profile the Audience
- 9. Step 3: Profile the Audience Describe three segments in detail: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary • Who are they? • What problems do they have? • How can your client solve those • Why is your client a good fit for that segment? Remember: Always, always, always have client’s audiences in mind. Example: “Small businesses in the GTHA with 10 or more employees struggling with day-to-day IT issues. We have a local helpdesk and on-site personnel to dispatch for them.”
- 10. Step 3 Cont’d: Understand the Journey Symptoms • What pain is the audience feeling? Condition • What is the source of the pain? Remedy • What do they need to do to stop the pain? Implementation • Why should they choose your client? Early-stage prospects (leads). Late-stage (hot!) prospects (leads).They’re learning! Tip: “Prospects” and “leads” are terms for potential customers.
- 11. Example: Tech Support Symptoms • “We keep wasting time troubleshooting our technology.” Condition • “We don’t have the in-house expertise to manage IT.” Remedy • “We need on- call IT support that can come to our office.” Implementation • “Which IT support should we choose, and why?”
- 12. Example: Web Agency Symptoms • “Potential customers can’t find us on Google.” Condition • “There’s nothing about us on the web.” Remedy • “We need to build a website for our business.” Implementation • “Who should we get to build our website, and why?”
- 13. Example: Financial Planning Symptoms • “We’re having a hard time paying our bills.” Condition • “We’re wasting money on things we don’t need.” Remedy • “We need a financial plan to guide our spending habits.” Implementation • “Who should we go to for financial advice, and why?”
- 14. Example: Home Contractor Symptoms • “Water is leaking through our ceiling.” Condition • “Our roof is old and decaying.” Remedy • “We need to replace the roof and repair damage.” Implement • “Which contractor should we go with, and why?”
- 15. Step 4: Map It Out
- 16. Step 4: Create a Sitemap Map everything out. What pages are going to be created? A simple spreadsheet is good to use for this. Consider: • What content exists already? • What segment does it speak to? • What else do you need?
- 17. Example Sitemap Page Audience Purpose CTA Home General Introduce business, showcase promotions Navigation Products Office Managers Lists all products we sell. Purchase/Order Services Office Managers, CIO Services offered, rates, pricing, availability. Request a Quote Blog Public, Employees, Partners Recent company news, events, alerts, updates. Subscribe for Updates About Us Public, Employees Corporate information, careers, press releases. Contact Us Resources DIY Troubleshooters Guides, FAQs, templates, tools, calculators Download Customer Support Existing Customers View support terms, request support Contact Support
- 18. Step 5: Determine CTAs CTA = CallTo Action =Asking the site visitor to do something.
- 19. Step 5: Determine Calls to Action (CTA) • What CTAs are appropriate to each page? • What’s the most important CTA across everything? • Don’t overdo it with the calls to action.
- 20. Step 5 Aside: Climbing CTA Mountain • Book an Appointment • Request a Quote • Buy Now Sell • View Demo • Download Information Sheet • See Pricing Evaluate • Download Guide • Read Tutorial • Subscribe for Updates/Discounts Educate • “How do I…?” (SEO) • Share on Social Media • Link To Us Attract
- 21. Step 6: Gathering Intel (Forms!)
- 22. Step 6: Gathering Intel (Forms!) Many of your CTAs will require prospects to fill out a form. In a spreadsheet, list out the forms you need to build, the fields, and the information that you need to gather. • What information does the client need? • What information does the client want? Rule of thumb:The more you ask for, the less you’ll receive.
- 23. Step 7: Layout & Design
- 24. Step 7: Layout & Design • Gather & incorporate assets. (Client logos, colours, fonts, brand guidelines, etc.) • User expectations have been set. (You aren’t building an art installation.) • Using a theme or building from scratch? Doesn’t matter. Keep your pages fast and focused.
- 25. Step 7 Aside: What layouts do you need? Home Page Archive (Index) Post Gateway to all the things. One focus per page. Posts, search results. Engaging & shareable.
- 27. Step 8: The Build (“The Shopping List”)Item What? Cost Hosting, Domain A Small Orange (plans start at $35/year) $35 Theme Refer to layouts, I like Genesis as a foundation to build on. $60 Pages Refer to sitemap, use CMS Tree View to map out $0 CTAs Refer to CTA plan, use plugins for controlling visibility $0 Forms Formidable (Plugin) $0 Lead Tracking LeadIn (Plugin) $0 Email Service Provider MailChimp (Service) $0 SEO Optimization WordPress SEO by Yoast (Plugin) $0 Backups BackWPUp or Updraft Plus (Plugins) $0 Security Wordfence (Plugin), Members (Plugin) $0 Analytics Yoast Google Analytics (Plugin) $0 Grand Total $95
- 28. Step 9: Launch & Post-Mortem
- 29. Step 9: Launch & Post-Mortem Launch • Go live when people are there to fix • Go live when there’ll be minimal (Check Analytics for traffic trends.) Post Mortem • Internal huddle! What went well? could be improved?
- 30. Step 10: Maintenance & Support
- 31. Things to keep in mind… • Monthly Retainers = Recurring Revenue • Tie into reporting; show clients their money is being spent on something real. • Set limits on what you cover in maintenance (new projects have a way of sneaking in…) • Have clear expectations.
- 32. Recap!
- 33. What We Covered 1. ProfileYour Client 2. Identify Challenges & Objectives 3. Profile the Audience 4. Create a Sitemap 5. Determine Calls toAction 6. Gather Information 7. Layout & Design 8. The Build 9. Launch & Post-Mortem 10. Maintenance & Support
- 34. The Takeaways • Building a business site involves more than just building the site. • Planning, expertise, guidance, execution, support – this is what you’re paying for when you hire a professional. • Each step of this session is actionable. Download the worksheet @ www.andymci.com/website100/
- 35. Thank You! Questions? Some calls to action for ya: • Each step of this session is actionable! Download the plan template @ www.andymci.com/website100/ • Are you a WP developer who loves this approach to sites? www.brainrider.com/about-us/become-a-rider/ Find Me Online! • twitter.com/andymci • linkedin.com/in/andymci • slideshare.net/andymci
Editor's Notes
- #4: Question: How many of you are building business websites, or plan on building a business website?
- #6: Purpose of the profile is to make you think about your client. Get the gears turning. Ensure you have a proper understanding of the
- #10: Your audience profiles will be a go-to reference throughout the build project.
- #17: Go through existing website, sales literature, assets, etc. Figure out who the target audience is for each piece of content. Identify gaps. What’s missing? You’ll need to do some research here. Look at competitors, talk to customers, front-line staff. What questions do people have? What are they asking for?
- #18: Map things out before you start building! This example is of an IT services company. Purpose of mapping out content isn’t to nail down everything 100%. Purpose is to get a better understanding of what content is on the site and who it is written for. “Plan of attack”. What’s going on this site?
- #20: - Information you capture is relative to what you’re asking for. Don’t have too many CTAs. “Banner blindness” is a real thing. What’s the site-wide CTA? This should be something you’re always trying to drive people towards. (e.g. Contact Sales or Book an Appointment. It’s like the “Big Red Button”)
- #21: Attract: Bring people in from referrals (direct links), social (shared content), or search (published content). Educate: AKA nurturing. Prompt to engage in exchange for something (i.e. email address). Evaluate: Help prospect qualify themselves, learn more about product/service/solution you’re offering. Sell: Connect the prospect with your sales funnel.
- #25: Website should support/fit with existing marketing material (if it exists). Users have a general idea of how sites work. They’re on your site to get help/complete a task, not “explore”. Users aren’t patient. Everything should load quickly and get to the point.
- #34: Note: I am