How to effectively manage your web operations

1. Mark Greenfield
Doug Kozar
The Web is Not a Project
How to Effectively Manage Your Web Operations

2. Mark Greenfield
Higher ed web professional, consultant,
keynote speaker, futurist, uwebd
overlord, lacrosse coach, tennis player,
music lover, dog rescuer, volleyball dad
markgr.com
twitter.com/markgr
www.linkedin.com/in/markgr
www.diigo.com/user/markgr

3. Doug Kozar
Higher ed web professional, technologist,
business process engineer, financial
analyst, hockey player, golfer, neoteric
empty nester
dougkozar.com
twitter.com/dougkozar
www.linkedin.com/in/dougkozar

4. The biggest mistake web teams make is
thinking about the web as a project

5. Agenda
• The web is not a project
• Developing a web operations plan
• Demonstration of an operations management system
• Concluding thoughts
• Questions and answers

6. Project Work Operational Work
Project Manager Line Manager
There is a beginning and an end Continuous, relatively predictable
Work performed by a temporary team Work performed within a stable organization
Work has not been done before Work is repeatable
Primary challenge is managing risk No risk involved
Time, cost and scope constraints Annual planning cycle
Success is measured on managing input Success is measured on managing output
Project Work vs. Operational Work

7. Risks of the Project Approach
• Spelling and grammar errors become common
• Broken links become a growing problem
• Branding is compromised
• SEO is compromised
• Increased exposure to risks
• Web credibility suffers

8. • 74% of consumers pay attention to the correctness of the
prose on company websites.
• 59% of respondents said they would avoid doing
business with a company that’s made obvious errors.
• Spelling and broken links impact SEO
http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/24623-poor-grammar-on-websites-scares-59-away
Spelling – More than Reputational Risk

11. Links Break!

12. 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to
a site after a bad experience
https://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/why-every-b2b-company-
needs-an-up-to-date-website-in-2015
The User Experience Matters

13. 91% of website visitors do not trust websites that
contain errors or mistakes
https://www.neustar.biz/resources/whitepapers/digital-brands-trust-report
Quality Matters

14. Web Operations Management
The processes and procedures that ensure the
ongoing operational integrity of the website
including both technology infrastructure and
content/coding standards.

15. 1. Quality Assurance
2. Compliance Monitoring
3. Content Lifecycle Management
4. Operations Management System
5. Documentation
6. Reporting
7. Ongoing Improvements Program
Web Operations Plan

16. 1. Quality Assurance
• Spelling and grammar
• Broken links
• SEO best practices
• Accessibility
• Technical infrastructure
– Hardware
– Software

18. • Editorial style guides and web standards have limited
value if there is no process to monitor compliance.
• Measure the percentage of pages that comply to your
style guides and web standards.
2. Compliance Monitoring

19. • Avoid ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial)
• Understand the content lifecycle
• Proactively plan for content updates
• Have a process to monitor when each page
was last updated
3. Content Lifecycle Management

20. It is okay to delete content
(but know the links you are breaking)
freetools.webmasterworld.com/tools/compare-indexed-pages/

21. All because you can add a web page
doesn’t mean you should
No content is better than outdated or inaccurate content

22. 4. Operations Management System
• Single point of contact for web-related activities
• Internal workflow to assign and track tasks
• Internal and external communications hub

23. • Both internal processes and external training
• Crisis management – be proactive rather than reactive
• Up-to-date contact information (internal and external)
• Passwords and server access
• Code libraries
• Policies
• Standards
5. Documentation

24. • Collect and report on quality assurance data and
operational efficiency data
• Create graphs to chart progress over time
• Create dashboards that aggregate data and share
with stakeholders in language they will understand
6. Reporting

25. DemonstrationDemonstration

26. • Project prioritization process
• Project prioritization rubric
• Balancing the support of existing sites vs. new projects
7. Ongoing Improvements Program

28. • How much does the project support organizational goals
• What is the Return on Investment (ROI)?
• Is there a specific time of the year that launching a new site
makes the most sense?
• Are there any issues with the availability of specific resources
(content, design, technical, etc.) ?
• Is this a mandate (something that HAS to be done)?
• Should the date requested be a factor (First In, First Out)?
• Is there a need to balance projects equally across departments?
Project Prioritization Rubric

29. • Support for existing site should take precedence over
new projects.
• When resources are fixed, every time a new project
launches, more resources will be needed for support and
less will be available to work on new projects.
• Ideally resources will be provided to accommodate all
reasonable requests in a reasonable amount of time.
Support of Existing Site vs. New Projects

30. Concluding Thoughts

31. Repeat After Me
The web is not a project

32. 1. Assign someone the role of Web Operations Manager
2. Think KISS
3. Plan for maintenance at the start of every project
4. Measure the efficiency of your web operations
5. Be proactive instead of reactive
5 Things to do Right Now

33. Resources
Open Source Software (LAMP Server Environment)
• http://osticket.com/ (osTicket Support Ticket System)
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/ (DokuWiki collaboration wiki)
Web Based Documentation Tools
• https://www.google.com/drive/ (Google Docs)

34. Thank You
Mark Greenfield
markgr.com
twitter.com/markgr
www.linkedin.com/in/markgr
Doug Kozar
dougkozar.com
twitter.com/dougkozar
www.linkedin.com/in/dougkoza
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