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Ryan Thompson and Jordan Wollman, the partners of agency Aria, present the best practices to produce results on digital platforms and websites for 2014
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2014 Best Practices on the Web
An Educational Presentation | Ryan Thompson (Founder & CEO) & Jordan Wollman (Partner & CCO)
A guide to designing websites that generate awareness, raise engagement and boost conversions
Welcome!Jordan Wollman Chief Creative Officer & Partner @ Aria
Ryan Thompson Chief Executive Officer & Founder @ Aria
We change how people experience destination brands
through strategy, branding, marketing and digital
experiences
What we’ll cover1) How to think about your website!2) Planning & strategy for modern websites!3) The role and importance of content!4) Information architecture!5) Design tips!6) A wee bit of technical stuff!7) Thinking like a salesperson!8) Shareability & social integration!9) Q&A
1. Don’t build a “website”
You need a digital marketing platform that is your first, most
integrated impression to the world
It sure as hell doesn’t belong to I.T.
Your website is the center of the hub of your digital ecosystem with many
spokes inbound and outbound
Source: Heather Timmerman on PreviewNetworks.com
Think about where the
majority of your marketing and
advertising lands people…
Leisure TravelLifecycle
The
BROADCAST
DIGITAL
CONTENT PR
WEBSITE
VISITORS GUIDE
CONTENT PR
BOOKING ENGINE
ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS
MOBILE OPTIMIZED"WEBSITE
OWNED MEDIA
SOCIAL REVIEW PLATFORMS
SOCIAL SHARING
2. Be strategic
Your Digital Marketing Platform must achieve specific goals
Define your objectives
We think they should be: 1) Increased awareness!
2) Engagement!3) Conversion
Objective:!Awareness{ ‣ Website traffic volume
‣ Website traffic referrals ‣ Inbound links from third-parties ‣ Inbound search volume ‣ Email subscriber database growth ‣ Social friends, followers, fan volume ‣ Social share of voice / Influence ‣ Earned media coverage
Objective:!Engagement{ ‣ Website time on site
‣ Website repeat visits ‣ Website bounce rate ‣ Social friends engagement ‣ Social sharing ‣ Recommendations ‣ Reviews ‣ Email opens / clicks
Objective:!Conversion { ‣ Onsite hotel booking
‣ Third-party hotel booking ‣ Visitor guide download ‣ Visitor guide request ‣ Website goal conversions ‣ Website inquiries ‣ Contest entries
Understand your!value proposition
Sound like branding? Well, it is.
Understand your value proposition
Your digital marketing platform is just another marketing channel to deliver your brand message
S.W.O.T
Aria uses S.W.O.T. exercises to define the value proposition
Offset weaknesses with strengths.!"
Offset threats with opportunities.
Strengths + Opportunities =!Value Proposition
Identify your audiences
With a good S.W.O.T. yielding a clear value proposition: match your audiences to it
The intersection of users with your value proposition informs all decisions
3. Content is [still] king
Without great content, every marketing function,
including a website, will fail
Invest in content
Content is the smallest budget item but is as important as
design and function
SEO is dead!Be a storyteller.!
!
Write good, interesting, sharable narratives. It’s what your audience wants, and what
Google will give credit for
How to emotionally approach content
1) K.I.S.S.!2) Chunk the content! (clear headlines and delineation of ideas) 3) Use images & video!4) Encourage engagement! (through conversation & sharing)
How to practically approach content
Every page needs the pyramid
AUDIENCE& PRIORITY
TITLEINTRODUCTION
CALLS TO ACTION
PROOFTHE
SHORT, SIMPLE, “ABOVE THE FOLD”
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'(7$,/('�5($6216�72�%(/,(9(�³<28·9(�*27�0(�7+,6�)$5��/(7·6�),1,6+�7+,6�
The!content!pyramid
4. Architecture
The integrity of the structure relies heavily on its architecture
Organic architecture
Make decisions early on how you will learn, and implement changes based
on user behavior
Track user behavior!!
Use tools to investigate and understand user behavior
Heatmap by CrazyEgg
Eye Tracking by Tobii
Horizontal navigation
Don’t force visitors down your navigational track: use cross-link
architecture. Think Wiki
5. Bring the sexy!(aka Design)“Simplicity isn't simple.”!
— Johnathan Ive !
“But it’s so worth the effort.”!— Jordan Wollman
Is good design subjective?
No.!!
Follow Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design
1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is aesthetic.
4. Good design makes a product understandable.
5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long-lasting.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible.
6. The technical stuff
Getting it right the first time means you don’t have to scrap it in 3 years
Evolve… olution
Don’t design pages. Think modular — from technology, to design, content and its
containers, to features and functionality
Open source!When possible, go open source (non-proprietary)
!
If not, it means you’re married: long-terms, hidden maintenance costs, and slow
adoption of new technology and industry standards
Open source!Technology libraries like JQuery, SASS, LESS, Foundation, etc., have massive communities of
innovative developers contributing hourly !
That’s a lot of power at your fingertips
Think!Mobile First!For many, it’s where the experience all begins
Almost 1 in 4 hotel queries come from a
mobile phoneVia
Google/OTX, The Traveler’s Road to Decision 2011
Mobile is!serving as a hub for all of these activities
Responsive design?
Responsive, yes, but mobile-first. Get that part right, the rest is cake.!
7. Remember the bottom line
Think like a sales person…
Call-to-actionEvery page should answer two questions:
!
So what?!Now what?!
Design with purpose
Every page needs a litmus test:does this serve a specific purpose? Is it necessary?
!
If not, scrap it.
Utilize landing pages
Landing pages are search magnets, focus on targeted content, and are
designed to convert
8. Sharing & Social
People share content that is interesting
Don’t fret: partner with 3rd partiesTri
pAdv
isor
Trave
l + Le
isure
Jet S
etter
Kaya
k
Urba
n Spo
onInn
Touc
hPin
teres
tIns
tagram
Face
book
Share contextuallyPhotos on Pinterest Snippets on Twitter Stories on Facebook Deals on Facebook and Twitter Etc.
One more thing… Launch Day isn’t the end
Activate a marketing plan to immediately drive traffic to your
new digital marketing hub
Q&Aariaagency.com @jordanwollman /jordanwollman
jordan@ !
ariaagency.com @ryanathompson /ryanathompson
ryan@ !