How Do You Do Web Strategy?

By Kem Meyer (KemMeyer.com) I regularly hear from church leaders who are responsible for leading the "web site project", but have no training in how to plan their strategy, let alone where to go to make it happen. I've easily gotten a couple of dozen emails alone over several months and I've been slow in my response. [That's not counting real f2f conversations.] It's a loaded question with no easy answer. How would you answer these questions: how do you build a house? how do you raise a kid? how do you plant a church? how do you train a killer whale? how do you speak Chinese? how can the networks cancel Arrested Development? It's not easy, my friends. Not easy at all. But, I just hate seeing ministry impact suffer because of one-size fits all solutions, empty "consultant-speak" and technology buzz-babble. And, it breaks my heart to see leaders work so hard to end up with a feeling of defeat and frustration. SO. I've been spending time recently outlining a simple and practical framework to help "accidental web strategists." This week, at Innovate, Daryl and I are going to lead a breakout session about Web Strategy. I'm going to start digging into three phases of leading the web strategy process.

1: DISCOVER: to see, get knowledge of or find something previously unseen or unknown

2: DEFINE: to form or consider a purpose or design 3: DELIVER: git-r-done

Believe it or not, 2/3 of your time will be spent on the discover and propose phases. Only 1/3 of the process is the actual implementation. True story. I was hired to build a new GCC web site in 2002. I spent two years in the discover and propose phase and one year actually implementing the new web site. The new site went live in 2005.

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No, it doesn't always take that long. But, it could. Depending on what you find in the Discover and Propose phases. You may need to take some time behind the scenes repairing your infrastructure before starting implementation.

Three Phases of Web Strategy

1) DISCOVER: Part of your Web Strategy

In the DISCOVER phase of Web Strategy, here are some of the questions you should be asking; and none of them have to do with your web site. Your web site doesn't stand alone. It's an extension of your church. So start by answering questions about your church, not your web site.

What does your church do well? What is the mission, vision and values you adhere to? What can you offer that can't be found anywhere else?

What is your church brand? A brand is not what you think you are. It's what others think of the experience you offer; not your logo or tag lines. Good brands are built through an authentic and consistent experience... it doesn't contradict itself. Is everything linked to your brand a good, consistent experience?

Who is your church audience? Do you know what do they like, love, hate, do, wear and think?

What is the information flow for your church? How do events get promoted? Is it a centralized process? Do you have a centralized calendar? Database?

It boils down to this...Fragmented identity equates to lost identity. Where's the purpose in that? Ask yourself, is there one common message and feeling that is present and consistent across everything that touches your audience? Truth is, everything that touches your audience contributes something; the key is to make sure it positively reinforces the message you want to send.

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So... back to your web site. Don't get sloppy just because you're overwhelmed. If you cant do it right, don't do it. Finish & straighten out all the information from the DISCOVER phase before you move to DEFINE.

2) DEFINE: Next in Your Web Strategy After you've made it through the DISCOVER phase and you've made some progress closing gaps, clearing up conflicting messages and streamlining your church systems...you can move into the DEFINE phase. This is where you start to ask questions and make decisions about your Web site. 1. Start by answering these questions about your current site.

What's working with your current site? The pros & likes. What's not working? The cons & dislikes. Where do you want to be 5 years from now? Need to know this now to build the framework for today. Dream big. Include the leadership stakeholders when answering this question.

2. Next, answer these questions about your new site:

Who is in charge of the leading the new site project? This person will process priorities and make decisions through a strategic all church filter. Since they won't be able to satisfy the wish list of each individual ministry, they'll need support and accountability from the Senior Leadership. And here's another biggie: don't put your "skilled technical professional" in charge. It's almost impossible to develop and project manage at the same time. You're not setting anybody up for a win if you expect one person to do both. Which leads to the next question...

Who is going to develop the new site? Who is going to maintain the new site?

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Note: I recommend having a "project manager" type lead the new site project, a "skilled technical" type maintain any existing site and "outsource" any development for the new site. (Just like you do with your building construction.)

Who are the web stakeholders for the new site? Think about content, technical stuff, membership data, etc.

What problem is your new site going to solve? What question(s) is it going to answer? Is it a brand new site or an enhancement to the existing one?

What audience is your new site going to serve first? Who is the secondary audience? What audience is it not going to serve?

What processes will change as a result of the new site? Get these in place before the site launches.

How will people find your site? Will you use an enewsletter to drive traffic to the site? Other promotions? Will you eliminate other methods to heighten awareness of web?

What do you need to measure? What traffic will reveal what's working/what's not? What measurements will you ignore?

3. Use the documented answers the questions about your church and web site to draft a project proposal that includes these sections:

Overview (Summary of your church discovery answers) Current reality (Summarize your existing landscape. Include urls, technology platforms, summary of your current web discovery answers, etc.)

Needs assessment (Administrative, technical, vendor relationship, functional, visual, etc. Where you want to be 5 years from now.)

Budget (if known if not, ask for cafeteria plan so you can prioritize later) Timeline Addendum likes/dislikes, best of class links, political landmines, etc.

4. Let leadership stakeholders review the proposal & make necessary edits.

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5. Submit to prospective web development partners. If you're not outsourcing, change the document title from project proposal to project scope. You're now ready to move to the DELIVER phase of your web strategy.

3)

DELIVER: The Final Phase of Your Web Strategy

How do you "do" web strategy? After completing the DISCOVER and DEFINE phases of your web strategy, you're ready to DELIVER. Your completed proposal serves as the foundation for your working project scope. Draft your project scope to include these sections.

Project objective Assumptions/strategy/guiding principles (the rules of engagement) Branding (personality) & audience priorities Traffic & Flow (site map) Success measurement considerations/requirements IT considerations/requirements Challenges [change management] Stakeholder roles Deliverables Budget Timeline (phase out by priorities)
o o o

Concept & reviews Testing & content population Implementation

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