Begin by asking these crucial questions about website development:
Who is Global Social Media Marketing? Global Social Media Marketing is a brand and freelance firm. Why does anyone need to know who we are? People need to know that we are a technology and social media marketing service for them. What’s in it for people who use us? Social media marketing solutions for their brand and social media goal needs.
1. Initiate Plan
Set Goals: What is a realistic timeline to develop a website and target date? What is our budget for the website? Create a fully functional website that allows potential clients and current clients to see an interactive marketing portfolio of work. The website should generate inbound leads from forms that lead to sales and new business development. The website will also serve as a thought leader in the social media marketing world and have technology industry knowledge and expertise. Gather data about the audience, Consider content sources: What projects in the portfolio, Explore technological issues, evaluate existing site: no existing site; have a static landing page currently with contact information, establish project team, and revisit goals and set strategies.
Goal: We would like to have a rebranded SEO and structured website up and running in by the end of 2017 and finish the project in 3 months with a $3,000 budget.
Establish a Website Development Project team:
- Designer: Design and layout of the website
- Marketing Coordinator: Plan and execute the entire website development process as a project manager: ($3,650)
- Content Development: Integration with the WordPress publishing platform for content management. Provide a hosting account, dynamic navigation, integration of Google Analytics and Google Adwords, and links to social media profiles. ($1,500)
- Dynamic Photo Gallery Integration: Allow visitors to see thumbnails and then larger detail images. Installation and configuration. ($300)
- Home Page Content Rotator: Series of photos/text/links with fading or scrolling transition on the home page ($450)
- Landing page Template: Design and implementation of an additional page with WordPress to be used as a landing page. ($350)
- Blog: Develop blog pieces and allow for content guest blogging
- Functionality: Perform HTM validation request, test the ability of pages to load quickly
- Basic Html Email Form: For contact/support/email subscription/lead generation with results to be emailed to the client and stored in a database for easy access. ($150)
- Automation: Automation tools that include email marketing modules, email drip modules for lead nurturing, lead tracking and alerts and other tools.
- Offer Suite of Digital Marketing Services ($900)
- Benchmark metrics and analyze:
- Number of visits/visitors/unique visitors (monthly average)
- Bounce rate (monthly average)
- Time on site (monthly average)
- Top performing keywords (in terms of rank, traffic and lead generation).
- Number of inbound linking domains
- Total number of new leads/form submissions (per month)
- Total number of total pages indexed
- Total number of pages that receive traffic
- What are most shared or viewed content, what are most trafficked pages, what are your most ranked pages
- Site Speed: Does the platform have good deliverability site speed and uptime
- Are URL’s structured and search engine friendly?
- The track in a spreadsheet using tools screamingfrog.co.uk or xenus-link-sleuth.en.softonic.com to crawl all the pages, review all website pages and current site architecture. Note, which is your most viewed and shared content. Evaluate which content is worth keeping. Did you find duplicate content, and check pages for 404’s and list the most important pages as fixes.
- Review current website architecture.
- Develop a URL mapping document/301 redirect plan: Tracking Status, Due Date, Date completed, Owner
- Define a content plan and identify what call to actions need to be added.
- Track progress in Hubspot Website Redesign Process
- Social media: Implement program and develop content. Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter
- Develop a Newsletter service
- Web Programmer, Web Consultant: Consult on abilities to build a website and advanced coding and functionality. Needs to tell us what WordPress theme can meet our current design, which has vertical and horizontal navigation in responsive design.
- Identify Audiences: What’s the first impression we want to give our target audience? Target Audience: Define key messages
- Define key messages: Revisit positioning
- Revisit positioning:
Set priorities and rough out project plan
- Landing page
- Competitive Audit
- Organize Structure
- Finish Company Logo
- Draft Expertise Copy
- Send Initial Project Requirements to Bill
- Choose a WordPress theme for template
- Add widgets and write customized HTML coding
- Implement design
- Test functionality
- Integrate Google Analytics
- Check all images
- Set Editorial Calendar
- Develop Blog and set a publishing schedule
- Implement a Social Media program
- Create YouTube Video of Customer Testimonials
2. Build groundwork
Conduct competitive audit: Take notes and expand upon via http://bit.ly/Vw3V8w.
Prepare content: Simple is better. Map content, Define logical relationship create user scenarios, Build wire-frame prototypes, Test prototypes, Set editorial calendar: We want x amount of blog pieces a month. Describe how often content changes: Content should change constantly until finished project goal, Identify existing content. Rewrite text for the web: Need help with this with coding. Commission new content, visual or media assets. You should approve content including legal signoff, Review content in screen context, Edit and proofread text with Grammarly.
Create visual design: Many lack immediate impact of who and what, confusing navigation at times. The color palette, tone, metaphor, and finalize color scheme to match branding: What are our color scheme and logo?, Grid and element placement, Graphic elements + text styles, Navigational cues, Layouts of key screens, Interface for functions, Integration of media, and prototype and test with users. Some cluttered, some very sterile (how to be clean and warm, inviting?). Most motion and movement was annoying, slows down the search for information. Liked sites, where work was the “Hero” and Light, is in, dark out. The best are simple clean and well designed. Too much information was as much a turnoff as too little. Sites that went overboard with movement and motion were annoying. From a design perspective, I am more impressed by simple intuitive navigation and emphasis put on good work. The most successful sites had something small that made it feel personal and gave a quick connection. Almost all of the websites had little or no social media presence. This is a huge opportunity for LIFT Creative to capture and be a leader in the industry with the strongest social media presence. Also, many did not blog regularly and lacked that they’re off.
3. Define structure and Outline Content
I. TAB 1 – HOME: General info about who we are; YouTube Video
II. TAB 2 – BLOG
Advertising, Trade Marketing Communications, Printed Marketing Collateral & Publications, Company Literature, Branding, Social Media, Brand storytelling, Brand Naming, Sell Sheets, Brochures, Direct Mail, Point of Purchase materials, White Papers, and Advertising, and Marketing Support. Creative copywriting and editing, Concept development, Brandscape videos (with moving images and sound), Brand books and guidelines, BRAND IDENTITY: Revitalization, New brand creation, Brand architecture, Visual Brand essence, and Brand Storytelling (Also in marketing communications).Brand Naming, Brand Management, Company Branding, Brand Strategy, Launch and New Brand Creation, Revitalization, Positioning, and Repositioning, Extension, Implementation, Execution and Program Management, Brand Audit, Consumer Insights, Research Management, Trend Research, Creative Copywriting and Editing (Also in Marketing Communications), Brand Development, Brand Guidelines (Also in Marketing Communications), Customer Segmentation
III. TAB 3
IV. TAB 4 – MARKETING PROCESS; Design thinking model
VI. TAB 5 – About PROGRESSION Historical Perspective/Timeline
III. CLIENT LIST
Includes client list, client testimonials, and case studies.
Our goal is to help our clients be successful in their marketing and design. These are a few of the fine companies that we have had the privilege to work with. If you need to improve your marketing, or take your brand to the next level, contact us. (YouTube Video and written quotes),
V. MEET TEAM – Fun photo included/ 2 sentence bio
5. CONTACT – Phone, Address, Social Media Networks, Email, Photo of location, Logo, Map
Is your brand Benjamin Kepner or Global Social Media Marketing? In 2011, I launched the original blog under the name bkstrategic.com as a way to expand my personal brand after attending an IABC event my last semester at UGA (Advanced Chinese 2, Advanced Business Spanish 2, International Finance, Marketing Capstone). I started attending Terry Talks and got published in the school newspaper to begin my digital footprint in storytelling. It was at that point I ran with the idea of experiential marketing and social media. There weren’t classes to learn how to do social media so I attended events instead to connect with the thought leaders in the space. I only worked on the website part-time and used it more as a marketing portfolio to employers starting out. After suffering at 5 independent contractor roles, I realized my dreams of living abroad and moved to Spain to get fluent in Spanish. I remember vividly talking to my dad when I first moved to Spain about the future of my website after 3 years when my blog was receiving 303 visits/day; almost 10,0000 website visits/month. He thought I had to learn to monetize and create an advertising revenue stream. At that point, I changed the domain name which lost a lot of my subscribers and original traffic. He said why don’t you incorporate your expertise in social media marketing and love of international business into the name? I chose Global Social Media Marketing because no one is really doing it and Hubspot, my favorite marketing company, wrote an ebook on it in 2014. It also has the keyword social media marketing in it. Because less than 1% of the U.S. can fluently speak Mandarin Chinese there is also a huge potential to carve out that niche as one of the only social media marketing agencies in the U.S. to develop content in Mandarin on Chinese social networks for U.S. brands looking to expand globally. In 2014, I reached a peak of traffic after getting my first online certifications and job at Tourico. In 2015, I was sued by a copyright infringement case for a globe I used on my website for $1,500. At that point, my mom made me delete all my images on my website and I stopped working on my website for about a year while I traveled the world for Tourico and created my first social media department for a billion dollar company. I was also super poor and couldn’t afford to pay for hosting and any other foreseeable problems. When I got fired from Tourico in July 2016, I relaunched my website. That website would include a 30,000 word PS training manual from Tourico Holidays I wrote about the travel industry and a 130 Marketing Plan during my time at the design agency Lift Creative. Since then, I’ve acquired 16 digital marketing online certifications that I repurposed my notes into blog articles. Recently, I started inserting original images from my social media networks over the last 6 years of travel and experiences (Twitter Media, Facebook Posts, Google+ Albums, and Instagram photos) to make my website visual again and improve SEO. Long story short, the brand was Benjamin Kepner and has always been. However, the vision is to become Global Social Media Marketing as a company where I can lead the vision for a team one day. If there was a team in place, I could potentially make more money than I ever could in my day job.
2. Is your revenue generator going to be consulting services? Also what is more important to the site, you, and your network…blogs or the revenue generator? If growth gets huge, I hear webinars are great. To date, I’ve leveraged the website primarily to showcase my portfolio of freelance marketing work and thought the leadership of my event marketing and certification experiences. The primary revenue generator should be the services offered on the services page. Over the years, I’ve done too much and not focus enough on being an expert at a few services. I got to charge up to $40/hr this year, but was recently told by a person in Technology I should be charging closer to $8-$100/hr. Thing is you can hire a freelance social media on a third-party freelance marketplace for about $22/hr. I started doing website development, video production and editing, and photography. This year, I now have social media marketing plans developed, experience creating e-commerce sites, and running Google Adwords Campaigns. However, I think affiliate marketing (where I get a commission of selling other people’s product on my website; aka speedy bees to start) and advertising could generate just as much revenue if I focus on the SEO. Finally, creating a training or certification program or book product that I can sell.
3. Have you been done blogging outreach and do you have an up to date “Hit List”? Funny thing is I have done blogger outreach/link building for other companies, but have never done it for my website. If I was to even get just 100 inbound links from other social media marketer bloggers, my website could break top 150,000 websites in the U.S. out of the current 400,000,000 websites. Worldwide, I’m currently ranked 1,270,0000 out of 1,300,000,000. See 2017 Internet Statistics to see the potential I have: https://hostingfacts.com/
Current Suggestions:
Homepage:
1. Make a brand logo and place it in the top left where the wave. Do you think you could hook me up with the freelance graphic designer you mentioned for a cheap rate? How much? I could feature her as an article on the website and link to her website so she gets more traffic and leads as well. I’d like to incorporate a globe, space feel of starts or a satellite (STS9 :)), and nerdy social media marketing feel to the brand.
2. Write the brand name after out next to your logo. Your home page does not have Global Social Media Marketing Written anywhere. My Home page does now have the words Global Social Media Marketing at the top of every page and in the text on the home page for SEO.
4. Join the page navigation tabs. The Home, International Business, Marketing Strategy, etc. is on the left side but the contact, blog, and resources are almost hidden in the top right. It’d be easier if it was all in one place. I readjusted the taps and put all navigation in one place.
5. Add more juice to the tabs’ animation (color, hover color, drop down feel; optional borders). I created a hover color. I can research the psychology of colors and fonts and put that into a blog post for next year
6. Put some of the most recent blog posts/articles and maybe the 5 or 10 most recent posts on the front page. Done at the bottom of the front page.
7. Change the “About Us” to “About [Brand Name/Brand Abbreviation]” and make separate it as its own navigation tab. Done
8. The Bold International Business, Marketing Strategy, etc. categories need to also be clickable links to the pages. They are, but not all 300 articles are categorized.
9. I think the Kepner Lost in Wanderlust video should be in your About section or lower on the homepage so it’s not the centerpiece of your homepage as it is more of personal experience. It does add a lot to your credibility with international markets and I think it is important to your brand. I may be biased because when I see you a Hanner with Bash Bros next to it I think of near blackout glass smashing experiences. The Home Page now has a thought leadership video of me this year in Kansas City. I moved the #Kepnerlostinwanderlust to its own blog post.
Blogs
1. Somewhere in the blogs section have a tab labeled archive which all your posts are ordered by time. As things progress you and your users will want a way to go back in time. I think I have this?
2. All of your posts have art under the title before your article when you go to the page. As you know from Linked In or any article, the artwork adds personality and makes it more appealing. Add artwork to the left side of your article titles on the blog home page. I think you mean featured image here?
3. A. Categorize the blogs or B. have tabs under them that include what topics the article hits on. (SEE EXAMPLE 4 of an ultimate blog I follow. the orange under each are the clickable topics which will take you to all of the articles with that topic included. Both A. and B. work so it’s purely how you want to segment them. I’ll categorize all blog post before Thanksgiving.
Analytics:
I think the following would help with measurement. There are a ton more that should be used but these are the first I was thinking of: Visitors PER new post, Visitors to that post PER Hours spent researching and writing the post, and Visitors PER topic. Obviously all of the geographic, behavior, bounce rates, session duration, new/returning users, peak hours, medium (mobile v PC), etc. standard analytics need to be synced up. This is where you could help me, Analyst 🙂 I do have a website development plan for this here.
Advertising:
Selling ads is passive income but the more advertising, the more spammy the site looks so you have to be careful. It would probably be a case by case if you are open to allowing advertising. I have read that selling your own products/services or commission from sales funnels has a much higher return but it obviously takes more work. I plan on doing both, but less advertising, and more selling other products.
Content Organization:
You said you had no business model or organization strategy implemented yet. Creating a framework would be really beneficial. This industry is so fast paced it will have to also be adaptive. This is the beginning of my business plan for next year to take this to the next level. I want to present the business plan to my mom before December and I am also trying to hire my UGA mentee as an intern this Wednesday for 10 hours of Sales/link building help. Just curious because you mentioned this, what areas do you need help with (research, writing, etc.)? Sales, Editing, Analytics, Link Building
Just reply with anything you got. I am still jotting down grammatical errors while I go through all the writing. Grammarly now exists to help with my grammatical errors. Have been working on that, SEO, and certifications this year to hit the ground running for next year.
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