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Creation and Execution of a Successful Web Strategy

July 1st, 2008

Insight Article

Web strategy is the determination of how a business or organization’s web presence will manifest its overall business strategy. Whereas a Web site can accommodate the needs of its users and contribute to a company or organization’s bottom line without a pre-defined strategy to follow, informed pre-planning and thoughtful execution of that plan can only increase your odds of success.

Many of our projects at NavigationArts involve helping clients understand the need for a solid web strategy and working with them to formulate one that provides both immediate and long term direction. Comparing the creation and execution of a web strategy to a well played game of chess generally gets the ball rolling.

What’s at Stake

For many companies, organizations, and government entities, a Web site is not only a method of communicating information, it is central to the business. For example, a retailer that sees 30% of its sales happen online would be seriously impacted by the failure of its online storefront, perhaps to the point of bankruptcy.

Preparation

Because chess involves complex thought and forward thinking, a player preparing for an important match is well served by studying the opponent, in the hope of understanding his or her reasoning.

In business, the opponent is the competition. To succeed against competitors, an organization must set aggressive goals and drive toward better bottom line results. Companies are constantly evaluated by their ability to meet business goals, and to achieve progressively higher goals as the business grows. Like the chess player preparing for an important match, setting realistic goals for a corporate or organizational Web site involves knowing the industry and its key players through first-hand engagement. We commonly gain this insight through interviews with internal stakeholders, external experts/industry watchers, and a representative sampling of the audiences to be served by the Web site.

Planning

After learning as much as possible about the opponent, the chess player formulates an informed plan of engagement. Of course, there is an implicit understanding that the game may warrant quick thinking and a change in strategy.

In determining a web strategy all inputs are considered. Feedback from stakeholders, external research, end-user input, and existing site analytics (if applicable) are evaluated together with business goals and performance targets, yielding an initial plan. At the very least the plan indicates how to take the first step, but with the understanding that ever changing industry and technology trends, as well as the evolution of user expectations and behavior, may result in tactical adjustments to the strategy (and ultimately to the Web site). A web strategy must be tailored to the organization and industry/sector, but some common attributes are:

• Consistent extension of the brand across the site or across multiple web properties
• Awareness of your site’s distinct audiences, how they will be engaged, and prioritization of content/functionality for their needs
• Identification of conversion paths for each audience type, and how they lend to greater business goals (e.g. increased sales, lead generation)
• Financial sustainability plans for the site (addressing the need for advertising, sponsors, etc.)

Execution of a Web Strategy

The big day has arrived! The chess player begins the game by progressively engaging the opponent as the two sides meet in the center of the board. Pieces are carefully moved so that they have one or more pieces protecting them.

On the web side the “big day” is not only the day the site launches, but every day there after. Progressively engaging users means bringing them further into the experience and getting them involved. For example, initially a user may start as a casual visitor to a site…soon after that user may find something they value, and return to the site often for that information…and eventually the user may register with the site and, if the Web site provides the capability, purchase an item from it. Users may merely be interested in your site’s content (e.g. newspaper sites), the products offered (e.g. an online retainer or travel consolidator), or might be interested in engaging by providing their own insight and perspective on an issue. Providing multiple types of content and functionality enables contextual crosslinking, where one topic leads to related information of a different type elsewhere in the site, increasing the user’s efficiency.

Adaptability

The skilled chess player is able to adapt to the changing conditions of the game and the opponent’s moves. If conditions change significantly the initial plan created beforehand may be referenced only for the longer term goal of winning the game.

Despite the amount of time and effort that went into creating the Web site’s initial representation, the team managing the site must be diligent in collecting and reviewing site analytics and, where appropriate, tactically react to that information. Adaptability can also mean the ability for the Web site to automatically react to the user’s recurring usage patterns and provide an altered experience for that user. For example, the BBC Web site asks users to establish simple preferences and identify their location so that appropriate content can be served. Though web team-initiated changes or automatic adaptability may involve only small changes to the Web site, the more fine-tuned the experience, the more likely that users will be satisfied.

Gaining an Edge

Inevitably, as moves are made, pieces go unprotected or sacrificed and attrition begins. One player gains an edge over the other, “check” is called once and then multiple times and one side begins to fall.

Gaining an edge in the online world means innovating beyond the competition or otherwise attracting site visitors and “conversions” (when online activity contributes to the business’ bottom line, such as through online purchases). One or a handful of sites may begin to excel while others falter. The travel industry is an excellent example of how multiple, competing sites constantly strive for the upper hand through online innovation. Eventually one may win out the way Google did over its search competitors. Remember HotBot, Altavista and the like? There names aren’t synonymous with “search” today the way Google’s is.

Checkmate and Beyond

In chess the ultimate goal is checkmate — when one player locks the opponent’s King into a position from which it cannot escape or be protected. Checkmate spells victory for one player, but only in that game. The victor’s title must be successfully defended in future matches.

Checkmate online is the conclusive victory of one site over all others in its space (whether by the lack of competitors or the identification of a clear leader having the vast majority of market share). eBay won the battle over online auctions, but is challenged regularly for the title by newcomers with variations on the auction model.

Conclusion

The time-honored game of chess holds many lessons for online enterprises and how they address their constituents and overcome the competition. Winning at chess and establishing a successful web strategy demand forethought and familiarity with the rules of the game. Trends on the Web fluctuate as new technologies become available – but some best practices are here to stay. An organization should invest time in carefully planning a web strategy before rushing to implementation. In our experience, taking a user-centered approach –balancing user needs with business objectives—is the best way to ensure that the web strategy is effective, and the player will be around to compete another day.