Overview
CLL Society (CLLS) has begun the process of designing a new website. After discussions and planning sessions that have taken place since 2019, many objectives and solutions have been discussed and documented. The intention of this document is to provide a scope that outlines project objectives and goals, recommended solutions, and define a preliminary top-line timeline for planning purposes.
Objectives & Goals
1. Improve access to appropriate level of support and/or education for visitors.
Situation: One of the primary improvements planned is to reconfigure/remap how and where content is accessed, while providing more and easier access points for a visitor. The current site is content-rich and can be difficult to find relevant information for a visitor. Because the site has grown organically over the years, and content structure has not been significantly changed over time to accommodate new content, as volume has grown it has become disorganized. The existing audience is comprised of many visitor types: new patients, long-term patients, physicians, caretakers, etc., and these audiences may all have different needs and priorities.
Solutions:
• Identify target user groups and define process for feedback
• Conduct visitor interviews (including different visitor types: new, established, professional, etc.) to determine what is most important to them when visiting our site
o This will be correlated with analytics to define most-visited pages
§ This may need to be evaluated on a quarterly/ongoing basis to keep the site fresh and relevant
o Interviews may be used to validate where visitors expect to find information o Ongoing audience “check-ins” may be deemed necessary
• Revise content architecture (sitemap) to organize relevant content on the site • Determine which resources/content should be featured on the home page
• Consider solutions for featuring important content (sliders, callouts, pop ups, etc.) • Install modern search bar
• Add “tag” functionality to our blog (currently utilizing categories, but content organization can be refined with tags)
• Consider utilizing tag cloud function as a visual “what’s popular” cue to visitors 2. Identify only the most relevant and popular content to be migrated to the new site.
Situation: The site currently archives all content dating back to launch in 2015. Over the years, content has both expanded and older items have become outdated. Some of our most popular pages are buried within the site and are not as easy to access.
• Ensure that all phases of the disease are represented by having Patty review all (approx. 1600) articles to determine what to keep, and categorize each article according to new categories and tags. Only the most relevant, most trafficked, most updated, or highly important or unique content that may be important to a small set of visitors will be migrated.
o Not all content will be migrated to the new site, we plan to launch with 1/2 - 1/3 of the original content volume
o A phased content migration may be implemented which could mean not all content is available at launch, but will be migrated on an agreed upon schedule. The final number will be determined during planning. o Dr. Koffman to review Patty’s content choices.
• Cross-reference top content that needs to be preserved using analytics and interviews
3. Increase donations and revenue.
Situation: As a non-profit, CLLS relies heavily on donations to continue providing relevant and timely information to CLL patients and their support networks.
Solutions:
• Integrate larger “Donate” button on home page and strategic high-traffic areas • Incorporate funnel donations at bottom of some articles
• Consider how to incorporate donation callouts within copy (subtle approach) • Edit “Donation Page” copy to request non-cash donations (stocks, items, cars,
boats, etc.)
• Include new testimonial section with Wikipedia-style donation call-to-action (CTA) • Add a donate in memory of or donate in honor of CTA on strategic pages
• Incorporate a corporate sponsorship area
• Utilize above-the-fold banner advertising standards to support increased paid advertising placement, especially on the home page
• Place banner advertising on most-trafficked pages (for example, lab values page) • Consider other page sponsorship opportunities
• Explore possibility of paid placement/advertising for select sponsors o Clinical trials
o Pharmaceutical partners o Others?
• Summarize all sponsorship opportunities with a formal media kit to be available on the site (possibly separate work scope)
4. Grow our audience.
Situation: Although we have a robust contact list (approx. 8,200) many of our contacts include only sparse detail. By filling in the gaps, and ensuring more complete information
for new contacts, we will be able to connect with relevant sub-audiences more effectively.
Solutions:
• Consider premium resources for those who sign up (Dr. Koffman’s 12 Commandments for Living Well with CLL primer for example)
o Should consider how this can entice existing users to update their
information. Events registration could help drive more user information. • Consider utilizing CRM and LMS as vehicles to update existing visitor information. • Consider using Weekly Update sign up as a vehicle to get more complete
information.
• Encourage social sharing of content via integrated sharing buttons to draw in new visitors that may register.
o Design needs (in a later objective) will support image inclusion to facilitate social-friendly sharing.
• Drive more visitors via organic search results by improving page speed to boost SEO rankings.
• Create specific landing pages for marketing activities outside of the website that will collect more and/or specific information.
• Establish mechanism to allow contacts to update their information. 5. Develop new technology architecture.
Situation: Launched in 2015, the current site is built on an outdated platform and theme that does not allow for some desired features and functionality, nor for the level of customization needed to achieve the objectives listed above. Too many plugins and other legacy items from the original development result in slow load speeds, and mobile
responsiveness needs to be improved to enhance visitor experience. As of 2019, 58% of users accessed the site via mobile or tablet devices. In addition, the current theme has hindered our ability to upgrade to latest version of WordPress to take advantage of current security updates.
Solutions:
• Maintain development framework with WordPress, deploying a modern theme that allows for modern tools, customization, and updates.
o WordPress has been chosen because it allows for added functionality via plugins and theme customization, and has a well-documented history of ongoing support.
o Mobile-first technology is an important feature we will take advantage of • Migrate website hosting from GoDaddy to WP Engine.
o WP Engine provides better security and support than our existing provider (GoDaddy).
6. Create a new, dynamic brand experience through updated aesthetics.
Situation: The current site is using a design based on an outdated template that doesn’t reflect the deep knowledge and expertise provided by CLLS. In addition, the site is often content-heavy which can be off-putting to new visitors who may be inclined to scan for relevant information.
Solutions:
• Review competitive set of websites to define our “white space” (where we can stand out from the crowd) to be visually distinctive and define best practices. • Present Mood Boards to determine colors, photography style, and copy tone that
will guide design through the site.
• Establish graphic design protocols and standards that best reflect the CLL Society brand essence
o Expand color palette to allow for more customization and variability depending on content and need
o Present copy/content/information in an infographic style to facilitate “scanability”
o Define “style” for new photography integration.
§ Incorporating photography and/or images is necessary for higher engagement with social sharing (especially Instagram & Pinterest). o Design to explore a “news style” execution to be content-first and
data-driven.
• Explore new home page design for large-scale buy-in of direction that will apply across the site
o This will likely lead to updates in eblast templates, advertising, etc. 7. Establish new copy tone and copy strategy to support visitors.
Situation: The current site has evolved from a medical-centric point-of-view and voice, but that may no longer support all of our audiences. A more friendly, compassionate, but still smart and educational voice will be considered to help welcome visitors to our site. While some large-scale copy changes will be made while updating the design, a brand voice needs to be established and implemented on every applicable page. Additionally, many pages do not include an introduction to help visitors know what to do on that page. Solutions:
• Present and establish a copywriting tone via copy samples for select pages. • Contribute copy to the Mood Board exercise (above) for
• Identify any content or copy deficits that need to be addressed throughout the site
o For example, all pages should have an introduction/explanation at the top. • Implement new copy voice across entire site during copywriting process.
• Ensure copy is brief and “snappy” where applicable and appropriate to engage visitors quickly.
8. Establish feedback and approval checkpoints for all stakeholders.
Situation: The proposed website project is a large undertaking with many layers and tactics associated with it.To ensure comfort and consensus with the direction and progress of the site, the following checkpoints are recommended for group review. Review/Approval Checkpoints:
*Items with an asterisk may be reviewed by our CLLS audience • Scope document
• Timeline/project plan • Mood boards
• Working prototype (link)* • Home page design (PDF)* • Copy
• Page template designs (PDF)
• ½ beta site (this is where 1 of each “template” is active on a test site before building every page.)
• Full beta site (approval of this will go live)* Update/Status Frequency
• Publish status reports every other week to full group of stakeholders TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS/TECHNOLOGY BRIEF
The following are technology-related items that are required to support the new website: Technology situation:
Cllsociety.org has outgrown its current hosting environment. Stability, speed, security, support, and expert knowledge on WordPress are all critical requirements needed that are lacking in varying degrees with our current hosting provider. In order to address these requirements fully, we must not only move to a new hosting environment but also take into consideration any new functionality we are adding and to match that functionality with modern development and design tools to be used in the production and maintenance of our website:
Hosting requirements
• A scalable high-performance managed WP environment to grow with our needs • 24/7 expert support with daily backups and automated updates
• Support for multi-lingual versions of the website
• Multisite support for the addition of an LMS / Community Forums sister site New functionality
• Image carousel/rotating banner • Advanced search tools
• Content organization tools such as the creation of “fast find” mega menus and searches • Robust interactive elements such as animated interactive call-to-action boxes
• News ticker for featuring most recent posts
• Tag-based presentation of content such as tag clouds Development tools – Elementor Pro
• Remove the need to purchase a theme. Instead, we will create our own custom theme built in Elementor Pro’s theme builder tools. Complete control over design and layout of all WP templates and pages such as archive, posts, and search.
• Replace the need for many of our current plugins with functionality built into Elementor Pro.
• Migration of content – once content is identified we will use the proper toolset for exporting content from the original site and import into new site
• Site development will take on a “mobile first” philosophy
• Page responsiveness for both desktop and mobile versions will be measured as site is developed to ensure maximum site speed – critical for SEO and good user-experience Critical plugins and addons
• Elementor Pro – theme and page builder • GDPR Consent – for GDPR compliance • MonsterInsights – Google Analytics tool
• Gravity Forms (with Constant Contact integration) • Redirection – mapping old page URLs to new
• The Events Calendar Pro – Support Group meeting scheduling
• Yoast SEO – essential tool for assigning SEO attributes for each post/page • Caching plugin for improving web page load speed
• LearnDash and BuddyBoss – for companion sister site featuring LMS / Community Forums
• Wordfence Security – Anti-virus and Malware Firewall PRELIMINARY HIGH-LEVEL TIMELINE
After scope approval a full timeline and project plan will be developed. This timeline is included for high-level planning and consideration for anticipated launch date but will likely change with development of the project plan.
• Scope approval
• Site map and prototype approval • Mood board approval
• Home page design approval • All template design approval
• Copy (this will be 5-10 pages for directional approval) • ½ Beta
• Full beta
• Launch date: September 15, 2021 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
1. A companion Learning Management System (LMS) / Group Forums website companion site may roll out in the same timeframe as our redesigned public-facing website. We will need to stay up to date with this project and align timelines accordingly.
2. Consider establishing an online community (separate work scope) AGREEMENTS AND SIGNOFF:
The intention of the above document is to ensure that the core group of stakeholders agrees to all objectives outlined and their recommended solutions. It confirms that all needs and
objectives are being considered before work begins on the new website. By signing this document, we acknowledge that we have reviewed the proposal and align on the direction of the website update.
_________________________________
Brian Koffman, MDCM, DCFP, FCFP, DABFP, MSEd _________________________________
