Introduction to eManagementMGMT 230

WEEK 2: JANUARY 17Planning, designing, and launching a website

Today’s Class● Planning, designing, and launching a website

●● Develop a website plan●● Assignment Overview

Planning a Website

Web Planning Broken Down: Five Step Process

● Analyze○ Audience, demographics, consumer profile○ Key goals and desired outcomes of the website

● Organize○ Navigation○ Content○ Layout○ Design

● Develop○ Design implementation/ coding

● Implement○ Beta testing and launch

● Maintain○ Optimization○ Analytics and fine tuning

Getting Started: Process

Analyze … From Monday...• Technology is no substitute for a good understanding of the basic principles of

marketing.

• Basic marketing questions:– Who is the customer?– What does the customer need?– What does the customer want?– What message do you want the customer to remember?– How can information be presented to the customer effectively?

Analyze … From Monday...• Consider 2 bookstores: one that emphasizes on large selection, and one that

emphasizes personal service.– A focus on large selection should require a comprehensive database, and tools for searching for books in different

ways, and to do so with ease and efficiency

– A focus on personalized service may result in forums for discussions among customers, interaction between customers and employees, etc., emphasizing personalized engagement as a value add

• Always remember… who is going to use the site?– What is there skill level with the Internet?– Are they predominantly using desktops or mobile?– How can I communicate effectively? What type of content are they looking for and how I can tailor my message to

them?– What is the optimal way I want them to use the website in order to convert website traffic to customers?

Analyze… Research● Spend time looking at other websites to assess what is working well and inspire

creative opportunities that may exist.●● Don't be mislead by flashy looking websites, always maintain awareness of your

goals and who your target market is…. Think about Craigslist. ●● Are there impending technological advances that you may want to consider

now, or be well prepared to incorporate into your eCommerce strategy moving forward?

●

Organize: Architecture

● What kind of things are important here?

● Recall the Nixon video from Monday

Organize: Wireframes

Organize: Content Considering Search Engine Optimization

● What are users searching for?○ Search Engine

Optimization● Long tail

○ Key phrases your audience are likely to search for

● Short tail○ Keywords your

audience are likely to search for

Organize: Content Mapping

● What are users searching for?○ Search Engine

Optimization

● How do I predict a user to engage with my website?

○ How will they travel through the site itself?

○ What do they want to know and when?

○ How will you measure success?

Organize: Content Mapping… Not simply text

● Images;

● Documents (usually PDFs);

● Audio;

● Video (i.e., embedded from YouTube or Vimeo, or self-hosted);

● Photos;

● Social media links;

● RSS feeds.

Organize: Why is this critical for managers?

● To ensure the goals you set out for have the best probability of success within the context of your goals, timelines, and expectations

●● As emerging managers, you will be engaged in managing these projects. Ensuring the project

is organized at the beginning is crucial

○ Interdisciplinary teams - not everyone speaks the same language! (sometimes literally..)○ Vendors need to be managed, planning ahead creates clarity○ There are always things you don’t consider ○ Mitigate scope creep - there are always cool things to add

■ …. But do they matter?

Organize: Failing to plan...

● The designer or developer is forced to make assumptions, which may or may not be

correct, about how certain content will appear on the website.

●● The amount of back-and-forth communication about trivial matters can be multiplied

many times over.

●● Backtracking causes delays and missed deadlines.

●● Work that falls outside the original scope of the project creates cost overruns.

●● Confusion and client dissatisfaction are byproducts of an unorganized process

Next Week● DETAILS POSTED ONLINE: http://carsonmcpherson.ca/mgmt-230/

●● LECTURE: MONDAY

○ Assessing the value of eCommerce

○ Internet marketing basics for emerging managers

■ Organic, SEO, Social media, PPC, etc.

●● LAB: WEDNESDAY

○ Website project

■ ASSIGN PART 1

■ In class time to begin project - I will work with you individually to provide clarity on project

■ Time for team project discussion should your teams be ready

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