Adding Curb Appeal: Website Redesign

Adding Curb Appeal

Your Mission is Our Passion.

www.event360.com

Presented By:

Christy Van HeugtenIT Project Manager, Event 360

Adding Curb Appeal

Who is the Builder?Who will be involved in the process? How will you setup communications to ensure

everyone is on the same page?

Who is the Builder?Because you can? Or because you should?

Analyzing Web Traffic

Brenda Miele

Here's some notes on this one: I would talk about if Google is showing them that people get to their donation page and are leaving, then there is something on that page that is "tempting" someone to leave and not finish the donation process. Could it be that the page is too long or complicated? Maybe. Could it be that the wrapper needs to be stripped so that the only option is to click "submit" on the donation form. Think of Amazon - once you are in the shopping cart, there is no going back!

Brenda Miele

Google makes it really simple to be able to track these. Even if Google Analytics is not built into their system, they can use a snippet of code on the simplest HTML pages to start tracking their site.

Analyzing Web Traffic – Google Analytics

• How are people getting to the register and/or donate page?

– Is it easily accessible from the Home page– Number of clicks to register/donate – try

to keep minimal. It is okay to bulk up certain pages if it shortens the overall process.

• Keep aware of the trends and what pages are being visited and not visited.

• Make sure there are correct “exit” pages instead of losing people. Is there an external site link on a donate page?

Find out where your visitors are going and where they aren’t going.

Analyzing Web Traffic – Google Analytics

• # of Visits• First-time visits

• # of page views • Average bounce rate

• Average time on site• Daily visits

Common measurements used:

Analyzing – User Tests• Feedback from someone who is new to the organization,

event, etc. – Likes and Dislikes of current site, if applicable– Likes and Dislikes of similar organizations’ sites– Interview for the top 3 -5 pieces of information they

would most likely look for on the site or action they would perform

• Monitor site gravitation without giving them guidance.

• Give them a few tasks to complete without any instruction; see how easily they can complete them.

• Survey actual site users; post-event, super volunteers, donors, etc.

Analyzing – Eye Movement

1. Headlines draw eyes before pictures. 2. People scan the first couple words of a headline. 3. People scan the left side of a list of headlines. 4. Your headline must grab attention in less than 1

second. 5. Smaller type promotes closer reading. 6. Navigation at the top of the page works best. 7. Short paragraphs encourage reading. 8. Introductory paragraphs enjoy high readership. 9. People read text ads more than graphic ads. 10. Multimedia works better than text for unfamiliar or

conceptual information.

-released by The Poynter Institute, the Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media, and Eyetoolshttp://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm

Analyzing Web Traffic

THEN…

NOW…

Building & Remodeling

Who?• Will be responsible for

setup/managing site• Is target audience?

What?• Overall emotion do I want to evoke?

(excitement, drama, hope)• CMS limitations

Before you jump in…

Why?• How do I want to present my 30 second

pitch to a reader?• What is the 1 or 2 actions you want the

average visitor to do? Call to action…clear and concise.

When?• Event Date/Time

Where?• Organization Location or Location of

Impact• Event Location

Before you jump in…

New Website– Site Architecture– The Importance of Colors– Logo of organization– Valuable Real Estate– Check for an organization style guide

for colors, font and reference• If one does not exist, this is a great time to

create one to ensure your website style translates to all other organization presence.

Planning

Site Architecture– Plan out your navigation before building

content pages.– Make a navigation visual “map” to be able

to move it around. Simplify.• Post-It notes on a wall• MS Visio map• Excel

– “Is it in the right place?” “Is it on the right page?”

Planning

Colors are important!• Not everyone sees things the same way. • Some color combinations are much harder than others to view. • Consider age of audience and gender

– Higher rates of color blindness in males– Loss of blue color receptors with age

Planning

Can you read this? Can you read this?

Planning







• Ask why are you redesigning? • Add value and try to simplify• Don’t fix what’s NOT broken• If you reorganize the site, be

prepared to address those that are familiar with the old site

Redesigning

Highlighting key messages / actions

• Keep it minimal on Home Page. Main ones: Register & Donate. Too much direction will lose their focus. What is your main goal? If you could only get them to do one thing, what would it be?

– Incorporate the mission in a snapshot– Thirty-second pitch / Elevator pitch

• Multiple instances of main action. Put Register as a bold graphic in the header as well as within the navigation and content.

National Series

Keep the event/mission message and general layout the same, but allow for personalization for each community.

The more you can centralize content and make updates in one place instead of multiple. (i.e. Convio’s Reusable content pages, Blueprinting function for TeamRaisers)

Make search function easy to get to Clearly identify the National or Headquarters

organization and if the work done there is any different.

Single look for multiple events/chapters/affiliates

Signature Series – focus on the mission

• Internal Navigations with one general main navigation

• Keeps the brand of the organization prominent when faced with many unique events.

• Cost - efficient

Single look for multiple events/chapters/affiliates

The 10 Commandments

I. Thou shalt clearly state who you are and what do you.

II. Thou shalt be able to point to where your top 3-5 online goals are represented on the homepage.

III. Thou shalt offer clear, concise navigation.

IV. Thou shalt provide scannable, up-to-date content that entices visitors to click for more.

V. Thou shalt dedicate space to each of your audience groups.

-Lacey Kruger, Senior Interactive Architect at Convio

VI. Thou shalt convey a visual hierarchy so visitors know where to look and what to do first.

VII. Thou shalt include 3-4 ways for visitors to engage.

VIII. Thou shalt avoid the Flash intro or any other gratuitous animation.

IX. Thou shalt make sure most relevant content is above the fold.

X. Thou shalt balance meaningful content with relevant supporting graphics.

-Lacey Kruger, Senior Interactive Architect at Convio

Apply to Communications

Applying it to Communications

Same• Keep it simple• Streamlined with bullets and short paragraphs• Always make it clear how to take action/engage• Clear, concise calls to action. Don’t be afraid to ask

them to do something!• Stick to web-friendly fonts and colors• Attention span is limited. Make good use of headlines,

bullets, etc• Use content space wisely. Try to lure to website

Opposite• Do not add fancy background images• No wrappers or navigation

What is done well and what can be improved?

National Kidney Foundation

http://walk.kidney.org

Wavetec Vision

http://www.wavetecvision.com

Census Website

http://www.census.gov

Conservation Fund

http://www.conservationfund.org

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Adding Curb Appeal: Website Redesign