Before you start your website, check out these slides for best practices and tips on website strategies, and something to consider when using Word Press Themes, and a few plugins that we use and recommended.

1. Building your Website with Word Press
‹#›
Susu Wong, Tomo360
DonatoDandreo, Compete Now

2. Agenda
• Introductions
• What’s all the buzz about Word Press
– Why Word Press?
• Marketing plan & What to consider
• Best Practices
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• Nuts & Bolts of Word Press
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Themes
Usability
SEO
Plugins

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4. Why Word Press?
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Free blogging platform
No designing experience needed
Easy content management system
Simple e-Commerce integration
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Fast installation
Simple and elegant themes

5. Website Marketing Plan
Purpose
• What do you
want to get
out of your
website?
Discovery
• How do
users find
your
website?
Customers
Engagement
Referrals
• Who are
your
customers?
• How do you
Interact with
‹#› your
potential
leads
• Testimonial
or reviews
Metrics
• Measure
your website
traffic
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228324#ixzz2n7v40CY9

6. Before you start…
• Domain name registration
• Branded email address
• Branding
– Design your logo and tagline
• Hosting your website
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7. What to look for from a hosting provider
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Customer support 24x7
Guarantee uptime
How fast do they resolve customer’s tickets?
Backup
‹#›
Platform (blogging?)
Watch for add-ons
Scalability
Exit Strategy
http://www.inc.com/guides/201104/10-things-to-look-for-in-a-web-hosting-service.html
http://web-hosting-review.toptenreviews.com/

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9. Informational website
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10. Interactive website
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11. E-Commerce
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12. Best practices
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Value proposition and benefits
FAQs
Customers testimonials
Use videos
‹#›
Easy navigation
Logo
Privacy policy
Payment Processing Seal

13. Create great content
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Update with fresh content
Clear and concise titles
Create sharable content
Big and bold images go a long way
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Optimize images with keyword captions
https://creativemarket.com/blog/2013/07/03/10-tips-for-driving-traffic-to-your-website-part-1

14. Social Media Integration
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Blogging
Email marketing
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
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15. Call to Action (CTA)
• A call-to-action is an image, line of text or form that prompts
your visitors, leads, and customers to take action. It is, quite
literally, a "call" to take an "action."
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16. Call to Action
• Limited offers
• Act now
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17. Call to action example
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18. ‹#›

19. Responsive design
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20. Tracking
• Install Google Analytics
• Analyze traffic data
• Free online google analytics online course
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21. Themes
• Simply stated, a theme dictates the design and functionality
of your website without changing the basic WordPress
software.
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22. Choosing a Theme
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Consider your goals
Review Websites You Like
View demos for themes with your goals in mind
Click through the pages for the theme
Evaluate the features the theme offers
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Test the theme on your desktop and phone
View the ratings/comments
Where to go for a theme?
• Themeforest.net ($40 - $60 per theme)
• Themes Directory in WordPress (Free)

23. Usability
• Why it’s important:
– Users are impatient
• Common Issues
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Website Load Times
Browser Compatibility Issues
Poor Navigation
Busy Content

24. Speed Up Your Website
• If you don’t already have a website, pick a theme that loads
fast
• Contact your host about it
• Deactivate and Delete Unused Plugins
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• Install WP Super Cache
• When possible, upload photos to the site that are already
resized

25. Browser Compatibility Issues
• Check your website on
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IE
Firefox
Chrome
Safari
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• Enlist friends to review the website
• Check the website on your phone

26. Improve Navigation
• Choose the order of pages
– Home
– About
• Overview
• Testimonials
– Services
• Service 1
• Service 2
– Contact
• Questions
• Make an Order
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27. Improve Navigation Cont.
• Setup Sidebar Sub-Pages Widget (BE Subpages Widget)
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28. Make your Content Scanable
• Descriptive headings above key areas
• Bullet points
• Short and Sweet
• Use Images
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29. Example
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30. SEO
• Install SEO by Yoastplugin for WordPress
• The basics
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Optimized Pages
Sitemap Submitted to Google & Bing/Yahoo
Submit Your Website to Online‹#›
Directories
Alternate Text for all Images
Well Organized Page Structure
Clean URLS
No Broken Links

31. Sample SEO Optimized Page
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32. Further Analysis
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33. Recommended Plugins
• Events Management
– Event Espresso
– Events Manager
• E-Commerce
– Marketpress (WPMUDEV.ORG) ‹#›
• Content Management
– Visual Composer
• Contact Forms
– Jotform.com (Create and manage forms, use Embed Form to add to
website)

34. Questions?
Susu Wong
susu@tomo360.com
@tomo3603
Facebook/Tomo360
‹#›
www.tomo360.com
DonatoDandreo
ddandreo@competenow.biz
http://startcompeting.com/