Speaker Spotlight – Amanda Blum: Why Site Mapping is the Ugly Redheaded StepChild of Website Development

….. and everyone hates doing it but you should revel in it because doing it right will make your website like a zillion times more effective and unicorns will love you

In my basement somewhere is an ironically framed-in-beige certificate assuring people I graduated from a criminally expensive design school somewhere on the east coast.  But I like living on the edge, so I’m about to make a bold statement:

Jellies. Footwear made of awesome. cc morganmalicious

Design is the least important aspect of your website.

Let’s all take a breath for a moment while I see if these circa 1986 jellies I’m wearing will absorb the lightning strikes. Wow… you know they say silicone deteriorates, but these puppies still have some magic left in ’em.

Sitemapping is the most important aspect of your website

Whether you’re a developer or a user, figuring out the “what goes where” and “what should my website say” bit does seem to spin people into knots.  For a long time, we’ve been thinking completely logically about it, creating wholly reasonable menus that put items into truly common sensible categories. The whole thing makes complete sense…… to us.  Therein lies the problem: we’ve been putting out the information in the way we, as the site owners want to give it.  We have often ignored how people – our users – might want to receive the information.

Lightning. Less awesome but impervious to rubber soles. cc deansouglass & G-d

How does this happen?

1. When you start a website by saying, “here’s how I want my site to look….”

2. Developers and their logical left brains.

3. Frontpage. (there is no basis for this accusation. I just like to blame whatever I can on the use of frontpage. also: my mother.)

Why is logical sitemapping a bad thing?

Logical sitemapping is better than no sitemapping at all and completely sufficient.  However- yuckles aside, its my assertion that all sites are selling something. Even a blog is selling an opinion, a position, a thought process or lifestyle. More sites are actually selling a service or a product or a cause.  Once you figure out what you’re selling, you have a clear goal for users on your site.  The more people you move to that end goal (or “turnkey” if you want to throw a buzzword around. Try it, its more fun than throwing say, horseshoes. or kittens.) the more successful your site.

So if we’re not going to sitemap logically, WTF is the plan?

We’ll walk through a very easy exercise that I pull my clients through by the hair each time I start a new project. Aside from the excellent body their hair has afterwards, they all say something like “holy #$%sW*! that makes complete sense, i’m so excited. allow me to sign over my new BMW to you as a small token of my gratitude”.  Essentially, lets just try thinking like a customer, a reader, a user- your website visitors.

WTF does this have to do with WordPress?

WordPress core has inherent functionality to help you sitemap effectively. In combination with some plugins, it has like, Superman strength to ensure that what you’re doing is working (ensure usability), to continue trying to make it better (analyze metrics) and you know…. to sell more stuff (actualize  revenue streams by leveraging low hanging fruit to facilitate ROI).

Who should attend this session?

No one. Infact if you all attend that front loading effectiveness sesh or just chill outside with a pre lunch beer I won’t have to make powerpoint slides for this preso.  But if you insist- the following people will get the most out of it in descending order of their ability to pay my consulting fees in the future: Whoever writes the help section for Microsoft, whoever sitemaps for Facebook,   large organizations, small organizations, consumer related products & bloggers.

Tell the truth, do you really do this for a living and are qualified to speak on such a topic or are you just a fast food worker with an oddball sense of humor and footwear?

Are they mutually exclusive?