A web presence for the non technical

A Web Presence For The Non-TechnicalDAN LEWIS

ENFOCUS

BackgroundDan LewisEducation• BS Mathematics from Saint Michael’s College• Spring 2010• MS Technology Entrepreneurship from ND• August 2012

Background• Attention USA: Data Analytics• enFocus• NOT A WEB DEVELOPER

Why Are We Here?

???

Why Are We Here?

We are here to talk WEBSITES for your businesses!

Why Do You Need A WebsiteDan is hungry and wants a View Burger because he has heard that they are the best in town…..

He opens his computer to Google the establishment…..

Why Do You Need A Website

Yelp and Google Plus results….

Why Do You Need A Website

THERE IS NO WEBSITE!!

Why Do You Need A Website

TheCultureIst.com

• Over 2 Billion internet users.

• 70% use every day

Why Do You Need A Website

TheCultureIst.com

• Our country has the greatest usage of the internet.

Why Do You Need A Website

TheCultureIst.com

• Nearly 60% use for shopping.

• Over 60% use for (cheese-burger) research

Why Do You Need A Website

TheCultureIst.com

• Basically everyone uses the internet for searching (cheese-burgers) on Google.

Why Do You Need A WebsiteBrand• Your website is your primary digital identity and online presence• Allows you to stand out from the crowd• Allows you to express your brand• Products, Events, Announcements, Culture

• Allows for online discoveryCommunication• Keeps your customers informed• Customer feedback mechanism

How are we going to make a website?

First, I reiterate – I am not a developer• I want you to know that you can do this• Having a website does not need to be expensive or difficult to create/maintain

We are going to dive in to 1 way that you can have a slick, effective and inexpensive website for your company.• We will be using Wordpress• This requires:• Creating a free Wordpress site - > Offers free hosting for our purposes• Purchasing and mapping a domain

What is a Domain Name?Google says: A series of alphanumeric strings separated by periods, such as www.oup-usa.org, serving as an address for a computer network…

Simply put, a domain name is like your address on the internet.

You can purchase one through a domain registrar.• An organization or commercial entity that manages the reservation of internet

domain names. –Wikipedia• GoDaddy, NameCheap, Name.com, Worpress offers a Domain Registrar

service

Hosting and MappingOverly simplified….

Domain Name: Address

Other Website Location

Hosted in a location a server: At Wordpress

Other Website Location

Your Website Location

Other Website Location

Mapping Your External Domain to Wordpress

If you use an external Domain Registrar such as GoDaddy there are simple steps to mapping that domain name to your Wordpress site here….

http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/map-existing-domain/

Wordpress has great tutorials.

Okay – Now the Good Stuff!

Where to Begin…What to we need for a website?• A Home page• Contact Information• An About Us page• Other general information• For a store it could be products, links to ecommerce markets, hours of

operation.

Benchmarking: Look at other websites for companies like yours for inspiration

For The View TavernThe Home page• Design Items: Company Logo and Slogan• This will be the Wordpress content feed• A few posts worth of content (copy and images and/or videos)

About Us• Company History, Hours of Operation,

Contact US• Address and phone number

Specials: List of SpecialsMenu: Digital files

Ready to Go?Go to Wordpress.comCreate an account for you business.

Ready to Go?Enter your information

Then verify your account through theemail they send you.

The Dashboard

Your control panel• Access at the top right corner• Home to:• Store• Posting• Pages• Appearance• And More…

Appearance: ThemesYour Look and Feel

Tons of themes for free

Choose one that is:• Good with logo• Reflects company style• Looks good

https://theviewtavern.wordpress.com/wp-admin/themes.php

Appearance: HeaderDepending on the theme you chose you may insert a header image at the top of the website.

A banner photo of your business or a logo will do just fine.

Go to Header in your dashboard and upload your file.

Play with image sizes to find one that works best with your theme• Paint works fine to change image

size.

Appearance: Widgets

Widgets are additional features available on your website.• Calendars• Blog Statistics• Calendar• Archives• Etc• Each widget gives a

brief description of the feature.

Appearance: Widgets

Drag the widgets you want included and add information required for the widget

In this example we are adding a Facebook Like Box

Pages: What Pages Do I Need? The Home page

About Us

Contact US

Specials: List of Specials

Menu: Digital files

Pages: HomePage: Your First Post

Posting allows you to share the most up-to-date information about your company.

Feature: Products, Sales, Events, Company Updates, etc

We are posting about The View Tavern’s Becky Burger

http://theviewtavern.com/

Pages: Contact Us Most businesses need a ‘Contact Us’ page.

Add a page

Add name, address, and phone number as text

Then, Add Contact Form

Pages: Contact Us Customize your fields

Adjust where email notifications are sent

Allows people to send you feedback to a desired email

Pages: Contact Us

Click ‘Publish’http://theviewtavern.com/contact-us/

Pages: Menu PageRequirements:

Menu in digital file format

You may want to add a note before your menu

Pages: Menu PageClick ‘Select Files’

Select File in Dialogue box

Click Open

Pages: Menu PageSelect the file

Adjust file information:• Title• Size• Description• Etc

Select ‘insert into page’

On the next page you can add text, customize, or just select ‘Publish’ to activate the page.

http://theviewtavern.com/menu/

Pages: Specials or DealsA bar or restaurant may have specials so I made a Specials page for The View Tavern.

Map out your specials or sales and enter as text

Include media (photos or videos) if you have them to support the specials!

http://theviewtavern.com/specials/

The Store

There are many features you can purchase:• Hosting Space• Custom Designs• Removing

Advertisements• Business

Packages

Purchasing and Mapping a Domain

We only need to add a domain and map it…

Purchasing and Mapping a Domain

Choose the Domain name you want• Make it simple• Make it something

people will remember

• Avoid hyphens

Purchasing and Mapping a Domain

Entering Registrant information• Contact info for domain name• Private registration is available at

a cost

Purchasing and Mapping a Domain

• Cheap and easy

• Purchasing domain and mapping all at once

Purchasing and Mapping a Domain

Choose your new domain as the primary address for your site

Congratulations: You Did It!!!

http://theviewtavern.com/

Updating

It's actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/65204#ixzz2cKZIhD51

Keeping your website up-to-date is crucial

This serves as a means to keep your customers up on what’s happening with your business

There are Android and IOS apps for Wordpress

Share updates on:◦ Events◦ Sales◦ Business Changes◦ Culture Updates

Future Considerations

Now that you are a ROCKSTAR with your new website what can you do next?

Search Engine Optimization

Social Media Integration

Analytics

Wordpress Development: for a more complex website

Branding: Logos, Slogans and Color Schemes

E-Commerce

Thanks and Questions

Dan Lewis, enFocus Senior Fellow, d.lewis@sbenfocus.org