Maintaining and Evolving Successful Commercial Web Sites

Preface Part I Change Management

1 Reviewing and Reporting Progress

1.1 Management Summary

1.2 Progress Report

1.3 Risks and Issues

2 Procedures for Managing Site Updates

2.1 Documentation

2.1.1 Definition of Terms/Glossary

2.1.2 Site Map

2.1.3 Content and Functional Specifications

2.1.4 Technical Specification

2.1.5 Design and Brand Guidelines

2.1.6 Policies

2.1.7 Publishing Procedures

2.1.8 Service-Level Agreements (SLAs)

2.1.9 Other Contracts and Agreements

2.2 Contact Information

2.3 Categorizing Types of Change

2.3.1 Naming

2.3.2 Grading

2.4 Change Processes

2.4.1 Single Points of Contact

2.4.2 Evolving Stages of Web Site Maintenance

2.4.3 Process Mapping

2.5 Change and Update Requests

2.6 Scheduling Changes

Summary

Part II Content Management

3 Introducing Content Management

3.1 What Is Content Management?

3.2 Why Is Content Management Needed?

3.3 What Web Content Management Cannot Achieve

4 Content Management in Action: A Practical Example

4.1 The Home Page

4.2 Content Collection, Management, and Publishing

4.3 Workflow

5 Key Concepts and Building Blocks

5.1 Structuring Content

5.2 The Content Model

5.3 Content Objects and Classes

5.4 Content versus Functionality

5.5 Separation of Content and Presentation

5.6 Metadata

5.7 Templates

5.8 Personalization

5.9 XML

5.10 Content Life Cycle

5.11 Workflow

6 Content Management Systems (CMS)

6.1 What Is a Content Management System (CMS)?

6.1.1 Collect

6.1.2 Manage

6.1.3 Publish

6.1.4 Related Systems

6.2 Selecting a CMS

6.2.1 Build versus Buy

6.2.2 Selection Process

6.2.3 Selection Criteria

6.3 Evolving toward a CMS

6.3.1 The Early Webmaster Phase

6.3.2 The Mature Webmaster Phase

6.3.3 The Early Database Phase

6.3.4 The Mature Database Phase

6.3.5 Full CMS

7 Tackling a Content Management Project

7.1 Project Clarification

7.1.1 Project Sponsors

7.1.2 Project Team

7.1.3 Project Mission

7.1.4 Organization Interaction Plan

7.1.5 Audits

7.1.6 Requirements Gathering

7.1.7 Change Management

7.1.8 Risks and Issues

7.1.9 Initial Project Plan and Budget

7.1.10 Deliverables

7.2 Solution Definition

7.2.1 Content Model

7.2.2 User Segments and Personalization Rules

7.2.3 Templates and Page Designs

7.2.4 Content Creation, Migration, and Collection

7.2.5 Workflows

7.2.6 Localization Plan

7.2.7 Reporting and Analysis

7.2.8 Technology

7.2.9 Testing

7.2.10 Deployment and Rollout Plan

7.2.11 Maintenance and Staffing Plan

7.2.12 Project Documentation

7.2.13 Deliverables

7.3 Project Specification

7.3.1 CMS Selection Process

7.3.2 Create the Project Specification

7.3.3 Final Project Plan and Budget

7.3.4 Risks and Issues

7.3.5 Sign-Off and Change Control

7.3.6 Deliverables

7.4 Content

7.4.1 Content Authoring and Capture

7.4.2 Content Conversion and Processing

7.4.3 Content Acquisition and Syndication

7.4.4 Testing and Quality Control

7.4.5 Training

7.4.6 Update Project Documentation

7.4.7 Deliverables

7.5 Design and Construction

7.5.1 Project Management

7.5.2 CMS Installation and Configuration

7.5.3 Content Collection and Migration

7.5.4 Training and Consulting Services

7.5.5 Change Control and Risk Management

7.5.6 Deliverables

7.6 Testing, Launch, and Handover

7.6.1 Testing

7.6.2 Deployment and Rollout

7.6.3 Localization

7.6.4 Documentation

7.6.5 Training

7.6.6 Handover

7.6.7 Internal Communications

7.6.8 Deliverables

7.7 Maintenance

7.7.1 Managing Changes and Updates

7.7.2 Service-Level Agreements

7.7.3 Phase 2 Project Planning

7.7.4 Deliverables

7.8 Review and Evaluation

7.8.1 Project Review

7.8.2 Content Return on Investment

7.8.3 Recommendations

7.8.4 Deliverables

Summary

Part III Customer Relationship Management

8 A CRM Primer

8.1 What Is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

8.2 eCRM: The Digital Opportunity

8.2.1 Build Closer Relationships with Customers

8.2.2 Understand Your Customers Better

8.2.3 Increase Competitive Differentiation

8.2.4 Higher Levels of Accountability

8.2.5 Tactical Strengths

8.2.6 Cost Efficiencies

8.2.7 Improved Testing and Proposition Development

8.3 The Business Case

8.4 Customer Value

8.5 The Single Customer View

9 Understanding Your Users

9.1 Segmentation

9.2 Customer Data

9.2.1 Capturing Customer Data

9.2.2 Permission and Privacy

9.2.3 Managing Customer Data

10 Personalization

10.1 What Personalization Is and What It Promises

10.2 What We've Learned So Far

10.3 How to Personalize

11 Community

11.1 What Community Is and What It Promises

11.2 What We've Learned So Far

12 Customer Service

12.1 What Online Customer Service Is and What It Promises

12.2 What We've Learned So Far

Summary

Part IV Site Measurement

13 The Promises and Challenges of Web Site Measurement

13.1 Promises

13.1.1 More Effective Marketing

13.1.2 Improved Customer Retention

13.1.3 Increased Sales

13.1.4 Automated Site Performance Management

13.2 Challenges

13.2.1 Information Overload

13.2.2 Data Quality

13.2.3 Few Common Standards or Metrics

13.2.4 Privacy and Security

13.2.5 No Single Customer View

13.2.6 Slow, Error-Prone, or Unavailable Sites

14 The Evolution of E-intelligence

14.1 The Arrival and Development of E-metrics

14.2 Increasing Sophistication and Customer-Centricity

15 Measurement Approaches and Techniques

15.1 Site-Centric Measurement

15.1.1 Metrics

15.1.2 Measurement Techniques

15.2 User-Centric Measurement

15.2.1 Metrics

15.2.2 Measurement Techniques

16 Reporting and Analysis

16.1 Defining a Measurement Framework

16.2 The Importance of Analysis

16.3 Design for Analysis

16.3.1 Information Architecture

16.3.2 Templating

16.3.3 Design Guidelines

16.3.4 Navigation Guidelines

16.3.5 Technology Infrastructure

16.3.6 Metadata and Tagging

16.3.7 URL Policy

16.3.8 Naming Conventions

16.3.9 Logging

16.4 Choosing a Measurement Tool

16.5 Report Scheduling and Distribution

16.6 Example Reports

16.6.1 Traffic

16.6.2 Customer Loyalty

16.6.3 E-commerce

16.6.4 Campaigns

17 How to Improve a Web Site

17.1 Get the Basics Really Right

17.2 A Combined Hard and Soft Approach

17.3 Content Management

17.4 Improving the Moments of Truth

17.4.1 Home Page

17.4.2 Site Entry Page

17.4.3 Registration

17.4.4 Checkout

17.4.5 Search

17.4.6 Contact

17.5 Usability

17.5.1 Usability Techniques and Practices

17.5.2 Navigation

17.6 Viral Marketing Tools

17.6.1 Send to a Friend

17.6.2 Email Forwarding

17.6.3 Print This Page

17.6.4 Save to Disk

17.6.5 Privacy

17.7 E-commerce

17.7.1 Improving Customer Acquisition

17.7.2 Increasing Basket Size and Share of Wallet

18 Tackling a Web Site Measurement Project

18.1 Tactical Initiatives

18.1.1 Planning and Education

18.1.2 Implementation

18.2 Process for Medium to Large Projects

18.3 Project Clarification

18.3.1 Project Sponsors

18.3.2 Project Team

18.3.3 Project Mission

18.3.4 Organization Interaction Plan

18.3.5 Audits

18.3.6 Customer Insight

18.3.7 Requirements Gathering

18.3.8 Education

18.3.9 Risks and Issues

18.3.10 Initial Project Plan and Budget

18.3.11 Deliverables

18.4 Solution Definition

18.4.1 Measurement Framework

18.4.2 Metrics

18.4.3 Data

18.4.4 Reporting

18.4.5 Analysis

18.4.6 Technology

18.4.7 Testing

18.4.8 Deployment and Rollout

18.4.9 Maintenance

18.4.10 Project Documentation

18.4.11 Deliverables

18.5 Project Specification

18.5.1 Create the Project Specification

18.5.2 Buy versus Build

18.5.3 Vendor Selection

18.5.4 Final Project Plan and Budget

18.5.5 Training

18.5.6 Sign-Off and Change Control

18.5.7 Deliverables

18.6 Content

18.6.1 Assemble Test Data

18.6.2 Test Data Processes

18.6.3 Deliverables

18.7 Design and Construction

18.7.1 Project Management

18.7.2 Change Control and Risk Management

18.7.3 Training and Consulting Services

18.7.4 Deliverables

18.8 Testing, Launch, and Handover

18.8.1 Testing

18.8.2 Deployment and Rollout

18.8.3 Internal Marketing

18.8.4 Training

18.8.5 Documentation

18.8.6 Handover

18.8.7 Deliverables

18.9 Maintenance

18.9.1 Maintenance Plan

18.9.2 Prepare for the Next Phase

18.9.3 Change Management

18.9.4 Deliverables

18.10 Review and Evaluation

18.10.1 Project Review

18.10.2 Evaluate Results

18.10.3 Recommendations

18.10.4 Deliverables

Summary

Resources Companion Site Recommended Reading Recommended Sites Product Vendors Index

Ashley Friedlein's first book, Web Project Management: Delivering Successful Commercial Web Sites, became a bestseller and an essential reference for Web professionals developing new sites. Maintaining and Evolving Successful Commercial Web Sites addresses the realities of successful sites today, namely the notion that maintaining and evolving a site is actually a bigger commitment than launching it. Management wants to maximize returns and obtain reliable performance data, customers demand better service and insist on sites that are more advanced yet easier to use, and the Web site must increasingly be integrated with the entire business even as the amount of information it handles continues to grow.

Maintaining and Evolving Successful Commercial Web Sites focuses more on process, reality, and pragmatism and less on strategic theory. It provides the reader with the knowledge, tools, approaches, and processes to manage key site maintenance and evolution projects, providing answers to the following questions:

How can I better manage changes and updates to the Web site? How can I scale up to allow more contributions to the site and more content and still maintain quality and control? What is content management and how do I go about it? How do I go about personalization or community building? What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and how do I actually do it online? How do I measure and report on how well the site is doing? How do I avoid information overload? How do I maximize the value the site creates?

The book includes case studies to demonstrate candidly how the issues discussed in the book translate into reality.

Case studies show candidly how the issues discussed translate into reality. Describes content management & Customer Relationship Management (CRM) how to go about implementing them. *Teaches how to measure & report on how well the site is doing, how to avoid information overload, & how to maximize the value the site creates.

People involved with all aspects of managing projects to do with Web site maintenance and evolution.