holistic strategizing for better wordpress sites, or, design, ux, content strategy, seo &...
DESCRIPTION
An overview of the principles of web design, user experience, content strategy and search engine optimization, with a focus on how a beginner or non-coding WordPress user can employ them to make better websites.TRANSCRIPT
Holistic strategizing for better
Wordpress sitesor,
Sunday, March 25, 12
wordpress
sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
seo
content strategy
uxdesign
Sunday, March 25, 12
great big kettles of fish, in which there are very clever experts» Design
» User Experience (aka UX)
» Content Strategy
» Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO)
Sunday, March 25, 12
my favorite ideas which are important to all these disciplines» Hierarchy
» Clarity
» Brand (or, on-brand-ness)
» Your audiences (aka “users”)
Hierarchy Clarity Brand Audience
Design
UX
Content
SEO
Sunday, March 25, 12
definitions
Sunday, March 25, 12
design (what is it?)
» you know it when you see it
» visual organization which aids comprehension
» aesthetic appeal (or lack thereof )
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loosely…
good
bigger and brighter =
more important
prominent but not overpowering branding / “you are here”
follows web paradigm for logo in top left corner, horizontal navigation below it
orientation
lots of white spaceso things that ARE there stand out
mid-size, type = medium
importance,small, grey, italic
type = small details pops of color
enliven otherwise brand-colored page
Sunday, March 25, 12
loosely…
bad
all text same font and of similar size and weight regardless of meaning or importance
breaks expected
page design
paradigms without a
reason
relatively unimportant items
with prominent placement
colors used
arbitrarily
menus and content hard to tell apart
important items repeated rather than made to stand out
Sunday, March 25, 12
ux (what is it?)
» how audiences interact with your site (human-computer interaction)
» how they move through the site (information architecture, page structures)
» the feeling that these interactions evoke
Sunday, March 25, 12
content strategy (what is it?)
» what content you need (to accomplish the site goals)
» wordsmithing the macrocopy and the microcopy (optimizing to accomplish the site goals)
» who’s in charge of the content now and later
Want to know more?Read this, or search for “content strategy” on A List Apart
Sunday, March 25, 12
seo (what is it?)
» showing up higher on the page in search engine results (“We gotta be top of Google!”)
» having how you show up in search engines be compelling enough for searchers to click and go to your site
» organic, unpaid rankings
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » design
» Probably the most important thing to take away from this whole talk
» What’s most important = most prominent stuff in the design hierarchy
» Like things = equivalent in the design hierarchy
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » design
» proportion
» position
» proximity
» symmetry
» similarity
» alignment
» contrast
» color
» space (aka, pause)
Sunday, March 25, 12
evaluating wordpress themes for good design hierarchy» Preview themes with your real content and/or
sample content which contains all content types
» wpcandy.com/made/the-sample-post-collection
1 2
Sunday, March 25, 12
when you’re writing in wordpress…
» use Wordpress styles consistently = automatic hierarchies!
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » ux
» What’s the question?
» How will you make the answer obvious?
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » ux
» Where am I? What’s this place like? What can I get? What should I do?
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » content
» {It’s not about you.}
» What’s in it for me?
» Am I interested in this?
» What is it?
» When’s it from OR How much does it cost OR How do I get it OR who wrote it OR…
Sunday, March 25, 12
hierarchy » seo
» Think about what’s at the top level of your site
» Use your H’s
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clarity
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clarity » design
» No clutter (white space is your friend).
» Keep design hierarchy principals handy.
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clarity » ux
» Make it really obvious what users should do, and in what order (if that’s important).
Sunday, March 25, 12
clarity » content
» Use language at the simplest appropriate level.
» Chunk it for scanners.
» Call it what it is.
» Test different wording or read existing studies about microcopy when in doubt.
Sunday, March 25, 12
clarity » seo
» Choose the keywords to focus on and focus on them.
» Deep and consistent is better than broad.
» Keep the metaphors in check.
» Change your permalink structure.
Sunday, March 25, 12
wordpress plugins for code-free seo happiness» Google Analyticator
» WordPress SEO (by Joost de Valk/Yoast)
Sunday, March 25, 12
yoast wordpress seo plugin for per-page tweaks
Sunday, March 25, 12
changing permalink structure for better seo
/%postname%/
Sunday, March 25, 12
brand
Sunday, March 25, 12
brand » design
» Colors
» Typefaces
» How are photos treated? What kind of other graphic elements do you use?
» What emotion do the aesthetics evoke?
Your brand is NOT your logo, or even your product. It’s how your organization is perceived by its audiences. It’s the feeling people have about you. You can influence this but not control it. Presenting yourself consistently, how you’d like to be perceived, is a crucial practice, if you care about your brand.
Sunday, March 25, 12
brand » ux
» Does the way the audience interacts with the site reflect the kind of company/organization/blog/whatever you are?
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brand » seo
» Don’t try to game the system — authentic keywords will find you appropriate users who care.
» And you don’t want to look like a jerk.
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audience
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audience » design
» Think about who the audiences are and what kind of design would be compelling for them.
» Make the visuals appropriate to the demographics.
» Design for special circumstances and regulations like ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) or COPA (Child Online Protection Act)
» Test your design with members of your target audiences and tweak based on their reactions.
Sunday, March 25, 12
audience » ux
» Make the experience compelling and appropriate to the demographics.
» Test usability with representative audience members. Even informal testing works wonders to point out problem areas.
Want to know more about informal usability testing? Read this.
Sunday, March 25, 12
audience » content
» Like design and UX, keep it appropriate to the peeps.
Sunday, March 25, 12
audience » seo
» Use your Google Analytics to find out what people are searching on to find you (and what they’re not searching on that you might have thought was important).
» Use Google’s keyword research tool at www.adwords.google.com
» Put yourself in your audiences’ shoes when you’re tweaking your SEO settings. Think about your personas.
Sunday, March 25, 12
summarily
Sunday, March 25, 12
when shopping for wordpress themes (and plugins), remember:» Simple and appropriate is way better than complex
and whiz-bang.
» Both up-front planning and consistency over time will make your sites look more professional and sophisticated.
» Design, user experience, content strategy and SEO all benefit from keeping things hierarchical, clear, on brand and user focused.
Sunday, March 25, 12
find me & this presentation
Annie Smidt
email: [email protected]
web: www.durablecreative.com
twit: @anniesmidt
slides: http://www.slideshare.net/anniesmidt/
Sunday, March 25, 12