2014 Best Practices on the Web

An Educational Presentation | Ryan Thompson (Founder & CEO) & Jordan Wollman (Partner & CCO)

A guide to designing websites that generate awareness, raise engagement and boost conversions

Welcome!Jordan Wollman Chief Creative Officer & Partner @ Aria

Ryan Thompson Chief Executive Officer & Founder @ Aria

We change how people experience destination brands

through strategy, branding, marketing and digital

experiences

What we’ll cover1) How to think about your website!2) Planning & strategy for modern websites!3) The role and importance of content!4) Information architecture!5) Design tips!6) A wee bit of technical stuff!7) Thinking like a salesperson!8) Shareability & social integration!9) Q&A

1. Don’t build a “website”

You need a digital marketing platform that is your first, most

integrated impression to the world

It sure as hell doesn’t belong to I.T.

Your website is the center of the hub of your digital ecosystem with many

spokes inbound and outbound

Source: Heather Timmerman on PreviewNetworks.com

Think about where the

majority of your marketing and

advertising lands people…

Leisure TravelLifecycle

The

BROADCAST

PRINT

DIGITAL

CONTENT PR

WEBSITE

VISITORS GUIDE

CONTENT PR

BOOKING ENGINE

ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS

MOBILE OPTIMIZED"WEBSITE

OWNED MEDIA

SOCIAL REVIEW PLATFORMS

SOCIAL SHARING

2. Be strategic

Your Digital Marketing Platform must achieve specific goals

Define your objectives

We think they should be: 1) Increased awareness!

2) Engagement!3) Conversion

Objective:!Awareness{ ‣ Website traffic volume

‣ Website traffic referrals ‣ Inbound links from third-parties ‣ Inbound search volume ‣ Email subscriber database growth ‣ Social friends, followers, fan volume ‣ Social share of voice / Influence ‣ Earned media coverage

Objective:!Engagement{ ‣ Website time on site

‣ Website repeat visits ‣ Website bounce rate ‣ Social friends engagement ‣ Social sharing ‣ Recommendations ‣ Reviews ‣ Email opens / clicks

Objective:!Conversion { ‣ Onsite hotel booking

‣ Third-party hotel booking ‣ Visitor guide download ‣ Visitor guide request ‣ Website goal conversions ‣ Website inquiries ‣ Contest entries

Understand your!value proposition

Sound like branding? Well, it is.

Understand your value proposition

Your digital marketing platform is just another marketing channel to deliver your brand message

S.W.O.T

Aria uses S.W.O.T. exercises to define the value proposition

Offset weaknesses with strengths.!"

Offset threats with opportunities.

Strengths + Opportunities =!Value Proposition

Identify your audiences

With a good S.W.O.T. yielding a clear value proposition: match your audiences to it

The intersection of users with your value proposition informs all decisions

3. Content is [still] king

Without great content, every marketing function,

including a website, will fail

Invest in content

Content is the smallest budget item but is as important as

design and function

SEO is dead!Be a storyteller.!

!

Write good, interesting, sharable narratives. It’s what your audience wants, and what

Google will give credit for

How to emotionally approach content

1) K.I.S.S.!2) Chunk the content! (clear headlines and delineation of ideas) 3) Use images & video!4) Encourage engagement! (through conversation & sharing)

How to practically approach content

Every page needs the pyramid

AUDIENCE& PRIORITY

TITLEINTRODUCTION

CALLS TO ACTION

PROOFTHE

SHORT, SIMPLE, “ABOVE THE FOLD”

:+$7·6�1(;7�³�+2:�&$1�,�$&7�21�7+(�,1)2�$%29("

'(7$,/('�5($6216�72�%(/,(9(�³<28·9(�*27�0(�7+,6�)$5��/(7·6�),1,6+�7+,6�

The!content!pyramid

4. Architecture

The integrity of the structure relies heavily on its architecture

Organic architecture

Make decisions early on how you will learn, and implement changes based

on user behavior

Track user behavior!!

Use tools to investigate and understand user behavior

Heatmap by CrazyEgg

Eye Tracking by Tobii

Horizontal navigation

Don’t force visitors down your navigational track: use cross-link

architecture. Think Wiki

5. Bring the sexy!(aka Design)“Simplicity isn't simple.”!

— Johnathan Ive !

“But it’s so worth the effort.”!— Jordan Wollman

Is good design subjective?

No.!!

Follow Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design

1. Good design is innovative.

2. Good design makes a product useful.

3. Good design is aesthetic.

4. Good design makes a product understandable.

5. Good design is unobtrusive.

6. Good design is honest.

7. Good design is long-lasting.

8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.

9. Good design is environmentally friendly.

10. Good design is as little design as possible.

6. The technical stuff

Getting it right the first time means you don’t have to scrap it in 3 years

Evolve… olution

Don’t design pages. Think modular — from technology, to design, content and its

containers, to features and functionality

Open source!When possible, go open source (non-proprietary)

!

If not, it means you’re married: long-terms, hidden maintenance costs, and slow

adoption of new technology and industry standards

Open source!Technology libraries like JQuery, SASS, LESS, Foundation, etc., have massive communities of

innovative developers contributing hourly !

That’s a lot of power at your fingertips

Think!Mobile First!For many, it’s where the experience all begins

Almost 1 in 4 hotel queries come from a

mobile phoneVia

Google/OTX, The Traveler’s Road to Decision 2011

Mobile is!serving as a hub for all of these activities

Responsive design?

Responsive, yes, but mobile-first. Get that part right, the rest is cake.!

7. Remember the bottom line

Think like a sales person…

Call-to-actionEvery page should answer two questions:

!

So what?!Now what?!

Design with purpose

Every page needs a litmus test:does this serve a specific purpose? Is it necessary?

!

If not, scrap it.

Utilize landing pages

Landing pages are search magnets, focus on targeted content, and are

designed to convert

8. Sharing & Social

People share content that is interesting

Don’t fret: partner with 3rd partiesTri

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Face

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Share contextuallyPhotos on Pinterest Snippets on Twitter Stories on Facebook Deals on Facebook and Twitter Etc.

One more thing… Launch Day isn’t the end

Activate a marketing plan to immediately drive traffic to your

new digital marketing hub

Q&Aariaagency.com @jordanwollman /jordanwollman

jordan@ !

ariaagency.com @ryanathompson /ryanathompson

ryan@ !