Jeff Evans

www.wallpaperpimper.com

The web started to become ubiquitous for

marketing since ~ 1996publishing since ~ 1997commerce since ~ 2001interacting since ~ 2003... and new uses are still being

developed

Since the late 1990s there has Since the late 1990s there has been been an explosion of websites, often an explosion of websites, often with little value to either the with little value to either the site owner or potential userssite owner or potential users

Number of websites (April 2011) 312,693,296 1

Number of web domains: 768,913,036

... an increase of 826% in 10 years 2

There are over 2 billion internet users

worldwide (nearly a third of humanity)

– this means

a website for every 6.4 internet users!

by 2007 estimate, there are over

85,365,269,800 pages on the web!

In 2007 the average number of pages on websites 3 was

273

The methodology for gathering this data is a bit suspect – especially given the modern web’s use of databases

Four years is a long time in ‘internet years’

‘Large’ means

number of pages, content items, or templates 

number of systems being integrated

how dynamic or automated the site is/will be

number of brands/subsites

complexity of relationships between content.

Probably the answer for many is

‘because it’s my job’

‘because we need to sell more widgets online

and that’s how punters get to our products &

services’

The answer should be

‘because we want to improve user experiences

and improve efficient access to our content

Preparing for migration will produce a better

result and a smoother migration process.

With appropriate preparation there will be  fewer surprises less bad content to migrate better automation of what can be automated managed stakeholder expectations

… leading to superior outcomes all around

OR…

1. Vision2. Prepare3. Pilot4. Implement5. Maintain

... or an iterative redesign process

Your vision statement could include the following:

Define the desired state

Provide a compelling vision

Scope an Information Architecture

Site design

Site functionality 

Tool(s) selection (possibly including CMS).

Remember to ‘be realistic about your planning, so that your reasonable estimates align with what you are attempting’.6

The most important tasks in preparation are

Specify what content currently exists

The best way to assess your current web is to

conduct a content audit (or ‘site inventory’)

Determine what will be done with it, and where it

will end up on the new site (Information

Architecture and Content Strategy)

“Do not - repeat, DO NOT - skip the content audit. This process is not just about listing URLs and page titles.

It can provide an extraordinary amount of useful, enlightening information that’s surprisingly valuable, especially when you’re fighting for project support

and funding.”8 Kristina Halvorson

Depending on the nature of your site(s) you could need a high level/aggregate or a complete audit

If your site has broad scope and/or a large number of pages/assets a complete audit might be beyond your time, budget or people resources.

Complete vs aggregate: A complete audit records details on every

page An aggregate audit summarises at a sub-

site/section level

Use a spreadsheet (and possibly also a database) to record common data about you current site(s) components

Both quantitative and qualitative information should be gathered

Detailed audit (each page)

Use outline numbering to show each page or asset in the site's structure

Quantitative data (edit/add fields as appropriate):

*Comments & Site priority fields record qualitative information

In 2005, Department of Education &

Training (DE&T) websites included

multiple entry points, domains and

owners. DE&T wanted to create a ‘single

entry point’

Audit and IA process were contracted out

Build was done in-house

> 10 sites that act as entry points147 sites in final audit, owned by 5

business areas within the Department and 7 statutory authorities

More than 30 domain names used by the 147 websites; majority of sites in www.sofweb.vic.gov.au or www.eduweb.vic.gov.au domains

Five sites alone accounted for over 36,000 web objects (pages, images, documents and PDFs

Audit report A Web Evaluation Tool (spreadsheet) was used to collect and report data on each of the 147 sites.

Sites were given a rating on a scale of 1, 2 or 3 (the higher the number the better) on the basis of meeting accepted benchmarks for a particular website measure

1=OK , 2=monitor, 3=investigate

Overall content quality indicators for all sites

Qualitative audits analyse quality and effectiveness of content

Basic - use page freshness, currency of

branding, last updated, dates on recent

publications/ newsletters, etc. Currency could

be critical to meeting site goals and the

decision to keep or kill.

Detailed - rating accuracy/usefulness with a

weighted scale (requires input from content

experts)

Readability – clarity and accuracyCompleteness and scopeVoice and writing style Usefulness and relevance Influence and engagementUsability and discoverability,

including the structure of content within a typical section or page.

While the quantitative data provides planning information, results should also be integrated with a content strategy that will provide value long after your rebuild is completed

A content audit informs a content strategy

Also consider Content gapsReviewing and sourcing new content

for your websiteProcess and timeline for web

template production

Measures to inform your audit

Web metrics –eg. Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics can be used to determine links to your pages, successful search keywords to retain, bottlenecks to goal pages or transactions and page loading speed

Incoming links – where do punters land? Internal links – remove bottlenecks Standards compliance - eg. W3C, CSS,

XHTML, government/industry standards, best practice

Quantitative &

qualitative rankings help

to decide which content

is ‘ROT’- Redundant,

Out dated,

or Trivial

The less ROT, the better

A huge topic in itself, might be best in large sites to employ experienced experts.

Use both "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches

“Top-down” - focuses on the big picture - your business goals and main tasks the site supports. It will include:

Category review Structural review Review of navigation labels

“Bottom-up" - focuses a more detailed view of your content. Could include a review of:

Page titles Page structures: content chunking and

labelling File and directory names

Develop templates for the

major types of pages you

will have on your new site Wireframe designs can assist

with user testing (and users can

inform your wireframe designs).

Draft page templates can be

used to begin the ‘technical

build’, ie. create working HTML

pages with placeholder content.

Stages in piloting your new site include

Systems configuration/development

Launch the pilot

Period for fixing issues discovered in the

pilot

Content migration

Period where actual users use the piloted

site (UAT)

Pilot to

representative

users

Consider multiple

iterations of user

testing – hire in

expertise or do it

yourself

The site build might be outsourced or done in-house if you have resources

The IA and user testing feedback should keep pathways trimmed (fewer entry points to sections of content)

Steps could include

Migrate in batches, with time in between to fix rules & processes

Automated migration (eg. document repository) Manual migration (replacing & testing new

templates)   Communications plan to flag pending launch Author training  Set up ongoing metrics / KPIs Test and tweak Launch the site!

Seek feedback regularly via user group meetings, internal & external social media

*Could be contractors #Must be in business units

Staffing issues and roles to consider:

Don’t forget SEARCH, both internal and external Over 52% of web users use search to find your site –

develop Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategiesand capability (especially on transaction sites)

Site search is less used, but still important to many users

Quantitative measures

Check for link rot

Check page load times

Use metrics to constantly review Navigation labels Keyword quality and related SEO

elements Paths to user goals

Qualitative measures

Ask your site users web2.0 tools feedback forms user testing

Review regularly

Have a content strategy

Thank you

Jeff Evans

Jeff.Evans@health.vic.gov.au