Website Redesign - Setting Goals

The first thing I need to do is clearly identify what I want to accomplish with my website. What are my goals? What do I want my website to accomplish for me? A website built without an objective will deliver exactly one thing: a website.

Put another way - if you don't pick a direction, you're not going to go anywhere, and you simply can't go left and right at the same time.

So I need to pick an objective for my site to achieve and then build to that objective.

For my site, the objective is both to attract new clients and to establish myself as a credible and reliable source of information in my fields.

The secondary goal is to generate revenue through advertising or the sale of my works.

So from this point forth - for every page on my site, for every word writ and image displayed - the question must be asked: does this attract new clients? Does this help to establish myself as an expert in my fields?

A Redesign of the Elusive Fish

A web site is never finished. There's just pauses between redesigns.

When I first made an entry as a publisher on the internet, it was as a hobbiest. The focus was on sharing my stories and illustrations with my close circle of friends and the site really wasn't much to look at. Just a few graphic files plopped onto a server and held together with hyperlinks.

After recieving a notice that my free host would be closing down, I decided to slam some bucks on the table for an actual host and build myself a real site from which I could showcase my works. This new site was divided between my blog and my personal artistic endeavours.

After six months, came the first redesign, with a focus on improving visitor usability and streamlining things from my end.

During this time, I - with the assistance of my technically minded friend David - had been working on a number of other websites of growing complexity.

The next redesign was a major overhaul of the entire structure and workings of the site and a chance to flex some of my new programming and database skills. Updates were now done through a content management system with all the content being indexed or stored in a database, greatly reducing the amount of time required to update the site. And though the entire guts were yanked out and put back together again, the big change to the site would end up being the focus on my entrepeneurial offerings.

Turning the focus on my professional skills helped provide a greater focus and reason for posting to the blog, but also gave the incentive to put an extra effort into the design and presentation of the site.

That was more than a year ago, and probably the longest I've gone without tinkering with the site. Really a testament to how well it's served me. But as the year has past by I've begun to note areas where I need to make a change and areas where I can improve. I've a number of improvements to make and it's definitely become time to seperate the hobby from the business.

And so another redesign is in the works. I've decided to blog openly about the process from beginning to end to help give others an idea of what's involved in rebuilding and redesigning a site and to solicit opinions and critiques along the way. You'll get to see everything from my rough notes and random jottings, the buggy half-attempts and the not so ready for primetime guts of the site. My hope is this will be a useful guide for those who are considering a rejigging of their own site, and give some insight as to how I proceed.

KONG!

If you haven't heard it already, you heard it here first: Best film of the year.
Do yourself a huge favour and see it on the big screen as it is meant to be seen.

Squidoo - the quiet launch makes the most noise

Seth Godin's web 2.0 venture has quietly gone into public beta. Well... considering that squidoo is number two with a bullet on the technorati top searches list, quiet isn't necessarily the word. Ever wonder how to encourage your customers to evangelize? Here's a snippet from the email I recieved this morning from Heath Row, Sr. Director at Squidoo

That means that anyone can visit Squidoo, find lenses, claim lenses, and build their own. We're thrilled to open our doors to the public, and to let everyone use the platform that you've been helping us test and improve these last few weeks.

But we're not going to tell anyone yet.

Except you.

So, now's the time for you to share what you've been working on during the secret beta test. Email your lenses to friends. Post a lens to your blog. Tell your mom. And, for a limited time, your friends will be the only people to know that Squidoo is finally live.

For two months the beta testers have been asked to build, test and play with squidoo with the one requirement - keep it secret. Now suddenly the lid is off. "Yes, it's OK to blog about this. Heath writes at the end of his email.

Now THAT is what marketing is. Build a dedicated group of users, give them a vested interest and desire to talk about it. Don't let them talk - don't let them talk - keep it quiet - keep it shushed - BAM - give them free reign to talk and make them feel special about it. Only you get to talk about it. This is for you to share.

Now from this point forward, squidoo's going to rise or fall on its own merits, but imagine how much cash a traditional interrupt marketer would have to spend to get the same discussion sparked as squidoo's quiet approach.

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Oh - and for those wondering just what the heck squidoo's all about, Seth answers on his blog. Or you can jump right in and view the lens I created based on my recent series of posts on home page design.

Corporate Blogging and the Freelance Communicator

At a dinner party I was attending, the question arose, what place does the freelance communicator have in the world of blogging? Should a company hire a freelancer to blog for them? Does it make sense to put an outside PR firm in charge of your blogging efforts?

Now, as a freelance communicator, it would certainly be in my best interest to say 'yes' to all of those. Given the number of companies who should be blogging and aren't, there is certainly opportunity out there. It could be very lucrative to hang a shingle as a blogger for hire.

But is this what's best for the client?

On the one hand, not everyone is a good communicator. There are those who are brilliant at their roles within a company, but who would stammer and stumble their way through any discussion. There are those who have a penchant to say the wrong things at the wrong time and those who are just downright ornery and shouldn't be put within a hundred feet of any communication device unless the message you want your company to deliver is 'up yours!'. This is where the freelance communicator excels. The freelance communicator is the Cyrano in the bushes, whispering the words that will win the fair maiden's heart.

However on the other hand is authenticity. Hearing the words directly from the source. Being able to directly comment to and question the person responsible. It's about credibility, and you just can't substitute that. I'm willing to forgive an unpolished presentation or a little stammering and stuttering if I can get the info direct from the source.

The Cyrano in the bushes may be able to move my emotions over the impending release of a product - but can he answer my detailed technical question? Does he have the overall knowledge of the industry to address my concerns over the larger socio-economic issues? Has this person even stepped foot in the offices of the company he's blogging for?

In the marketplace of ideas and words, authenticity and credibility will lead people's choice. When you want advice on a drug, do you want to talk a spokesperson for the pharmaceutical company or a practicing physician? When you're judging the value of a used car, whose word do you value more - a salesman from the dealership or an experienced auto mechanic whose worked on that make and model?

As nice as it would be for me to blog for a pharmaceutical firm, a retail chain or a real estate firm; my advice to one and all would be to look within for someone who is passionate about the work and willing to discuss their passion.