Holistic strategizing for better Wordpress Sites, or, Design, UX, Content Strategy, SEO & WordPress sittin' in a tree

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


great big kettles of fish, in which there are very clever experts» Design

» User Experience (aka UX)

» Content Strategy

» Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO)


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


definitions


design (what is it?)

» you know it when you see it

» visual organization which aids comprehension

» aesthetic appeal (or lack thereof )


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


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


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


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


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


hierarchy


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


hierarchy » design

» proportion

» position

» proximity

» symmetry

» similarity

» alignment

» contrast

» color

» space (aka, pause)


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


http://wpcandy.com/made/the-sample-post-collection

http://wpcandy.com/made/the-sample-post-collection

when you’re writing in wordpress…

» use Wordpress styles consistently = automatic hierarchies!


hierarchy » ux

» What’s the question?

» How will you make the answer obvious?


hierarchy » ux

» Where am I? What’s this place like? What can I get? What should I do?


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…


hierarchy » seo

» Think about what’s at the top level of your site

» Use your H’s


clarity


clarity » design

» No clutter (white space is your friend).

» Keep design hierarchy principals handy.


clarity » ux

» Make it really obvious what users should do, and in what order (if that’s important).


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.


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.


wordpress plugins for code-free seo happiness» Google Analyticator

» WordPress SEO (by Joost de Valk/Yoast)


yoast wordpress seo plugin for per-page tweaks


changing permalink structure for better seo

/%postname%/


brand


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.


brand » ux

» Does the way the audience interacts with the site reflect the kind of company/organization/blog/whatever you are?


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.


audience


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.


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.


audience » content

» Like design and UX, keep it appropriate to the peeps.


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.


summarily


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.


find me & this presentation

Annie Smidt

email: [email protected]

web: www.durablecreative.com

twit: @anniesmidt

slides: http://www.slideshare.net/anniesmidt/


mailto:[email protected]




http://www.slideshare.net/anniesmidt/branding-its-more-than-your-logo

http://www.slideshare.net/anniesmidt/branding-its-more-than-your-logo

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Holistic strategizing for better Wordpress Sites, or, Design, UX, Content Strategy, SEO & WordPress sittin' in a tree