Administration Of A Website Site Architecture October 20, 2010

This session covers What is site architecture Planning site architecture Components of site architecture Benefits of a site architecture Other considerations

What is Site Architecture? How your site is structured from the top down. Built while keeping growth, maintenance and content in mind The home, not the contents of the home What is it NOT - Information Architecture (IA) (content structure) One of the definitions I came across which is also a good definition of website architecture is: A representation of a system in which there is a mapping of website layout, a mapping of the website functionality, and human interaction with these components. Wikipedia defines Website architecture as an approach to the design and planning of websites which, like architecture itself, involves technical, aesthetic and functional criteria. As in traditional architecture, the focus is properly on the user and on user requirements. This requires particular attention to web content, a business plan, usability, interaction design, information architecture and web design. For effective SEO (search engine optimization) it is necessary to have an appreciation of how a single website relates to the World Wide Web. Think of the site architecture as a house. If you do not know what you have to go into the house, it may not work well with all the things that need to fit inside! (For example, if a contractor was asked to build a house for a family but knew nothing about the family, he could make the assumption that a 2 bedroom house with one bathroom would be a sufficient enough frame to construct. However, once the frame was complete and it was time to actually move in, he may find that this is a family of six with three girls and a boy, along with the parents and now there is no where for each of the family members to go!) You have to know what your needs are before constructing the house. Site architecture is the same concept. Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_architecture

Example of Site Architecture Using SharePoint technologies as the example, this is an example of county site who provides hosting and management to not only county departments but other entities/agencies. Depending on your needs your site architecture may look much different!

Example of Site Architecture When you expand a site, you see the organized subsites as they relate to that categorical structure. This example shows where a County Site (top level) had some of the following requirements. Security to be managed at top level by technical staff members. Look and feel to be managed at top level by technical staff members, with the option to allow autonomous operations at lower levels. Training site to be open to any member of their web community to use openly. County Departments to be separated according to the desired security structure (a group for every department not to cross function user rights.) Ability to host other entities/organization outside of the county (such as fire, police and municipalities) where autonomy could be offered (own security structure, design, etc.) However, the added ability to technically support them if needed by the entity. Ability to re-use content or link to other department information without repeating information in another library structure.

Planning Site Architecture Assuming it’s a redesign, first things first, what information do you have on your current site, such as: Stakeholders Analytics (commonly visited pages) Current topology or site map Technical information (integration to other systems) Website architecture, in contrast with web design, is the organization and structure of the entire website. This means is the stage before the planning of the website design and the development of the actual website. First in the process is you would ask: Who is the team I will be working with on this project? (Technical and business/office staff): Identifying stakeholders is key. There may be various levels of involvement from others depending on what areas you working with as you being to look at site architecture. For example, those who determine the design (look and feel) maybe quite different from those you need to talk to about features. In any case, your stakeholders will help in answer the following questions: What is the purpose/intent of the website? (Brand, Design, Navigation, Content, Features, Workflow) What information is related? (IA, content, navigation, reuse of information) Who is managing the information? (Security, IA) Are there multiple entities/offices/organizations/affiliates, etc. represented? (Ask them these same questions!) (governance, security, brand, design, IA, features, navigation, workflow) What features are required? (Usability, IA, security, workflow) Some questions to ask at a feature level include: Who administers that component? What is the purpose of that component? Who uses that component and how? What data is stored and where and for how long? What governance exists or should exist that wraps around the entire website environment? Some things you can begin to prepare: 1) Do you have analytics available on your website? (Google Analytics are fairly powerful and can be added as a feature to your site. For more information you can go look at the following sites: http://www.google.com/analytics/ http://www.2earn-online.com/How_to_add_Google_analytics_to_your_website http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_to_add_google_analytics_to_blog_web_site.html 2) Do you have a current site map or topology of your site?

Planning Methods Card sorting Content inventories Paper and sketch boards Site map diagrams Card Sorting A way to organize content based on hierarchy. To try it, simply put all of the pages for your website onto index cards. Ask stakeholders to sort those cards into logical stacks that represent the hierarchy of your website’s navigation. It’s a great exercise to make sure that the content on your website can be found in the most logical place and that like-minded content is grouped and named appropriately. What’s it for? To gather feedback on what pages should go where on your website. What’s good about it? It’s a great way to learn the assumptions of multiple users. What’s bad about it? The results should be taken with a grain of salt. Your participants will be making a lot of guesses and assumptions. In summary One major task in website development is making people feel included. Card sorting is an interactive process that helps people feel like they are contributing. A few resources to learn more about card sorting: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide http://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/cardsort.html http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/09/card-sorting-mistakes-made-and-lessons-learned.php http://www.useit.com/alertbox/word-matching.html Content Inventory These are a a great way to understand the breadth of your website and the purpose of each page. Simply create a spreadsheet of all your pages and their corresponding URLs. But a content inventory gets much more useful when you add things like page notes and single-sentence summaries of why a page exists. Use a content inventory to quickly understand topography and figure out what should fit where. It is a great way to think through a redesign but may not be the best way to plan new websites. What’s it for? To understand the context and purpose a website’s pages. What’s good about it? Once it’s complete, dragging things around and playing with alternate navigation schemes is easy. It also makes it easy to see the topography of your website. What’s bad about it? Laborious to create. It’s not of much use during the development phase, and it gets out of date pretty quickly. In summary A content inventory is a great way to find unnecessary pages on your website. Forcing yourself to look at each page in turn and summarizing its usefulness nearly outweigh the disadvantages of this method. A few resources to learn more about content inventories: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/content-analysis http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/FOIA/web_inventories.shtml http://www.fatpurple.com/2010/02/26/content-inventory/ Paper and Sketch boards Sometimes paper just feels good. The free form allows for incredible expressiveness, and nothing is faster for capturing ideas. Unfortunately, the drawbacks are tough to ignore. Paper is easy to lose, hard to share, wasteful and not very useful past the early stages of a project. Eventually, everything for a website becomes digital, and so going digital as soon as possible is best. Use paper to capture thoughts in a meeting to brainstorm and to explore. But do yourself a favor and transcribe or scan the information as early as possible. What’s it for? To quickly and collaboratively sketch out a website architecture. What’s good about it? You can move pieces of paper around. And drawing with markers is fun. It’s also great for energizing a group and quickly scanning a lot of ideas. What’s bad about it? Once your big sketchboard is complete, it has to be transcribed into another format to be useful. In summary Beware the feel-good meeting! Sketchboard meetings are fun and seemingly productive, but you’ll often wonder afterwards what you actually achieved. Ideas come quickly, but the real work comes in deciding whether any of them are appropriate for the project. A few resources to learn more about sketchboarding: http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000863.php http://www.brandonschauer.com/blog/?p=123 http://www.slideshare.net/ugleah/sketchboards-prototypes-presentation Site Map Diagrams A visual site map is quick to make, fairly expressive and easy to change. People have all sorts of methods for building site map diagrams. Whatever your tool, the diagram is a useful way to demonstrate hierarchy. It clearly shows the relationships between pages and tells you where your website is too shallow or deep. What’s it for? To visually explain the relationships between pages on your website. What’s good about it? Nothing better illustrates the hierarchy of a website than a diagram with lines and arrows indicating the relationships between pages. Clients naturally understand it. What’s bad about it? The actual relationships between pages can be hard to grasp. What looks good on a chart might not work well on a website. And a site map diagram is not really useful during the development phase, quickly becoming a dead documents. In summary A site map diagram is a quick way to sketch navigation and hierarchy. Don’t try to cram in other bits of information that just don’t fit. A few resources to learn more about site maps and diagrams: http://www.jjg.net/ia/visvocab/ http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_lazy_ia_s_guide_to_making_sitemaps Over All Resources: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/17/starting-out-organized-website-content-planning-the-right-way/

Which Planning Method to Choose? How big is the website? What type of website is it? Who is your stakeholders? Consider your workflow. Which to Choose? There is no one right way to plan the architecture for a website. Depending on the size of the website, you might use all of these techniques. They’re not opposed or mutually exclusive—just different means to similar ends. When picking your method of architecture planning, consider these things: How big is the website? The sheer size of some websites makes some of these methods cumbersome or impossible. What type of website is it? The card-sorting method, for example, is perfect for e-commerce websites but overkill for blogs. Who is your client? The less Web-savvy the client, the more elaborate your descriptions and plans will have to be. If your client understands websites, then you can be a bit more brief (but not too brief!). Consider your workflow. Try out all of the ideas, and then pick a lightweight, simple process that you and your clients can understand. If you find yourself filling in information that isn’t useful or illustrative, then you’ve gone off track. Adopting a process that allows you to do the bare minimum is good in this case.

Planning Tips Organize based on user needs Use clear naming conventions Think like a typical user of your site Plan architecture around the content Ensure all stakeholders agree on the goal of the website Think about the best way to display content. Organize content according to user needs, not an organizational chart or how the client structures their company. Give pages clear and succinct names (and create governance around maintaining the selected naming conventions!) Think of your typical users and imagine them navigating the website. What would they be looking for? Plan the architecture around the content. Don’t write content to fit the architecture. Include the stakeholders in the process, using caution to make it as ‘user friendly’ as possible. Not everything has to be a page. Use your hierarchy of content as a guide. Some items might work better as an FAQ entry or as sidebar content, or a list if you are using SharePoint, or maybe a pop-up window. Make sure your architecture-planning method does not blind you to this. The architecture of your website affects the behavior of your visitors and your rankings in the search engines. If your visitor can't find the content within 3 clicks of your home page they will leave and visit your competitors' sites. This means you'll lose visitors and traffic which may result in more phone calls or manual processes that inhibit the use of your site decreasing the leverage of its purpose. If the search engines can't find content buried deep in your website by following the links on the home page you'll miss out on attaining good search engine rankings. Other things to consider: Architectural hierarchy The further your content is from the root folder of your website the more difficult it is for search engines or visitors to find it. If it's an HTML website create a 3 tiered structure. The 1st tier is your homepage. The 2nd tier are the subcategories. The 3rd tier are the subcategories of your subcategories. If you have a very large website your content may be more than 3 clicks away from the home page. In that case create a site map containing all the links to your web pages. The site map should be linked from the homepage so when the search engines come to visit your site they will index the links within your site map page. Create subdirectories Instead of placing all your files within the root of your website create subdirectories to organize the different sections. For example if your site has a section for articles create a subdirectory named articles. Place all CSS files in the CSS subdirectory, JavaScript files in a JavaScript subdirectory and images in an image sub folder. If you need to update your website it will be easy to find, add, or edit the files. Use server side includes for easy website maintenance Your website will become hard to manage if it expands to hundreds of web pages. For example, if you wish to change the dates for each page you will have to edit each page separately then upload them all to the server. Server-side includes (SSI) makes this easy to achieve. Editing one file immediately updates all the pages simultaneously. For example, if you wish to change the footer on all 100 pages simply include the footer code in the SSI file then upload that file to the server. Content management system (CMS) You want to use a product that separates content from design. This enables you to easily add content from an administration panel without having to upload files to the server. It makes websites easy to maintain without having to learn HTML. Research the advantages and disadvantages of using a content management system before building a website. Define the purpose and structure of your website before you begin to build it. This will help determine the success of your online presence by improving visitor retention and search engine rankings. Resources: http://ezinearticles.com/?Website-Architecture---What-is-the-Best-Structure-For-Your-Website?&id=3570023

Components of Site Architecture Brand / Design Navigation Information Architecture (IA) Services / Features Workflow / Automation Search Engine Optimization Security Model Website Governance Brand (when visitors are on YOUR site they know it by the look/feel {aesthetics}.) Design (Logos, icons, other images, etc.) NOTE: Brand and Design may not be a direct outcome of your site architecture planning process, in fact another group may be working on this aspect of the website. However, site architecture needs to be able to support the brand/design vision. Navigation (how to get from one place to another on your site) Information Architecture (AI) (how is the information/content in the structure of your site stored/maintained?) Content/Information (all information you are providing to your visitors) Services/features (what do you allow your visitors to accomplish on-line, for example, processing payments) Workflow/Automation: Is there data you collect via a web interface that needs to be integrated into another application, do you provide the ability for users to fill out forms on-line that can then be routed to appropriate staff for action? Is there features you would like to implement that require a process for approving any content, such as a mediator for a wiki or discussion forum/board? Search Engine Optimization: How web crawlers find the information you put on your site, from pages to documents. Security Model: What of your site is public verses secured? Are there areas designated for employees, subscribers to your site, or other persons who should have an access to information that is not for public use? Overall Website Governance: What business policies exist for the website for posting information to the main site content (home page, site maps, navigation, etc.)? What format should the information on the site or subsites be posted in? Are there layout pages that you have available to end users for specific content (such as standard pages verses data pages, etc.) Who has the right to update content verses create new pages/content? Is there guidance or policies on types of content and how that is added to the site (such as data connections, lists, etc.) Among the other items mentioned in the previous slide, some other elements in a site architecture should include: Error Trapping: Did you ever get to a site and click a link where you received the 404 Page Not Found error? Well, that is an example of where you can have custom pages built to where errors do not generate pages where the end user will get lost in your site. Technical Requirements: What requirements do you have for your site? (For example: compatibility to browsers and their various versions in use. Do you have data on what your audience is using through any means like Google Analytics? What about operating systems? External Data Connections: What data do you display on your website? Does that data reside elsewhere that it should be delivered to the site verses maintained x’ two? What mechanisms are available to you for that type of site integration?

Component: Brand/Design A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. Branding takes your identity and makes it a memory for others to associate to you, to your services or business. A brand is bigger than the website and should flow from every aspect of the business or services you provide. Brand can be seen on items such as: Letterhead Business materials (handouts) / publications Websites Electronic information E-mails Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand http://www.startupnation.com/steps/55/3760/9/1/establish-brand.htm http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/223/How-To-Brand-Your-Business-Using-Ten-Action-Items.html http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmckerns3.htm http://www.dailyblogtips.com/10-ways-to-brand-your-blog-or-website-efficiently/ http://local.gov.uk/lgv2/core/page.do?pageId=430222 http://webapps.icma.org/pm/8805/public/cover.cfm?author=don%20mceachern&title=putting%20communities%20at%20the%20center%20of%20branding

Component: Navigation Navigation is one outcome of designing your site architecture AND information architecture. Good navigation will reflect the content (IA) and purpose of your site Good navigation will be relative to the structure of your website (site architecture.) We covered website navigation on September 16. The video is available for later reference at: http://pacounties.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=24

Component: Information Architecture The way you organize information on your site (within your site architecture) Relates to the content itself Decision to use or not to use metadata Who and how the information is accessed on your website Gets to the heart of the end-user experience More information will be detailed out on IA during the next webinar being held on November 17, 2010

Component: Services and Features Relational Databases Features, such as on-line forms or on-line payments Decision to use XML Service-oriented architecture (SOA) Features such as lists or targeted data options (SharePoint example) More information will be detailed out on IA during the next webinar being held on February 16, 2011 at 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.  These do tie back into the site architecture design. Some of the questions that would be asking where it may impact what you do when planning site architecture are listed below. Relational Databases: What are the technical requirements? How is the information updated to the website? How is the information displayed on the website? What information is displayed on the website? Is it interactive? Features, such as on-line forms or on-line payments Where are these forms housed? What happens if the information can be filled out on-line? Is there workflow attached to the form? If payments are made, how is this being conducted/managed? Using XML (Extensible Markup Language) Are you going to use XML and if so, does that need to be a consideration in the site architecture? Resources on XML http://www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/reports/xml http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920013457 http://www.cis4930.com/Documents/CIS4930_WAM_2010Su_Lezione2.pdf Services-oriented architecture (SOA) Definition on sybase.com is “A system for linking resources on demand. In an SOA, resources are made available to other participants in the network as independent services that are accessed in a standardized way. This provides for more flexible loose coupling of resources than in traditional systems architectures.” Wikipedia has the definition of: Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a flexible set of design principles used during the phases of systems development and integration in computing. A system based on a SOA architecture will provide a loosely-integrated suite of services that can be used within multiple separate systems from several business domains. As you can see with those two definitions, this decision should be reviewed, discussed as part of your website architecture planning. Resources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV860odGN5Y&mode=related&search= http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/52/04700543/0470054352.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture Features such as lists or targeted data options (SharePoint example) This is an example of features that can be built for specific purposes using SharePoint as an example. Lists: List: Open Records: www.montourco.org List: Jobs listings: www.pacounties.org   Targeted Options: Administrative: www.montourco.org Content: www.pacounties.org

Component: Workflow or Automation A workflow is a sequence of connected steps (think of this as a systematic / automated business process.) Workflows can be used for various pre-defined tasks to increase efficiencies. More information will be detailed out on Workflow and Automation during the webinar being held on March 16, 2011 at 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Component: Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ties into the site and information architecture through items such as: Home Page Site Map Navigation Error Trapping Layers of directories in the site Each of the items listed below have an impact on the site’s architecture and design, either directly or indirectly. No SEO checklist can be complete without addressing all the aspects of SEO compliant website architecture listed below. Each of these aspects has a different level of impact on search results, but collectively can significantly make a difference to your site’s SEO compliance. Understanding their importance will help you ensure that you have an SEO compliant website structure, design, navigation and architecture. Spam Database: Make sure your site is not part of a spam database. Domain Renewal and Age: If your site is new, book it for 5-10 years. Even if your site has been around for a while, show serious intent by renewing the domain for 5-10 years.  Redirects: Avoid using meta refreshes or 302 redirects as far as possible. If a page in your site has moved, use a 301 redirect. Custom 404 Error Page: Use a custom 404 error page that has your site’s look and feel with links to all the important sections in your site. Robots.txt: Use the robots.txt file to block sections that you want to prevent search engines from crawling. Use it also to point search engines to your sitemap. HTML & XML Sitemaps: Sitemaps help visitors navigate your site. They also provide a list of URLs in your site to search engines and help them crawl the site better. Navigation: Do not rely exclusively on image-based navigation, image maps, forms or site-search based navigation. Also, avoid using AJAX, Javascripts or Flash as your exclusive means of navigation on the site. Text links are important and should be an integral part of your site’s design and architecture. Provide text links within the page content or provide for alternative text based navigation. Search Friendly URL Construct: The way your URLs are constructed can play a role in how your site ranks. Not using dynamic parameters, using keywords in the URLs and making sure the keywords are as close to the start of the URL as possible can all impact your performance in search. Cookies: Most sites use them. But do not make the download of a cookie a pre-requisite for browsing your site. Search engines cannot download cookies so they will not be able to access your site. Multiple Domain and duplicate content Issues: If you own multiple domains, do not host the same content on all the sites. Do not use plagiarized content from the web, do not have multiple copies of the same content on your site. Duplicate content can adversely impact your site’s performance. Title and Description Tags: Title and description tags are meant to summarize a page’s content for the search engine. Not using keywords in the title and description, not having titles and descriptions and/or having duplicate titles and descriptions can confuse search engines and prevent your site from ranking well. Page Load Time Factors: The faster your site loads, the better. Visitors to your site will love that they get access to information quickly. Search engines will be able to crawl and index more pages every time they visit your site. In turn, this will improve your site’s performance in search results. Broken Links & Error URLs: Every broken link is a dead end…to the visitors to your site and to search engines. Broken links also slow down the rate at which search engines crawl your site content. An error free site would mean a site that’s crawled well and a site that performs well in search results. Frames: Frame is a dated technology that can potentially block search engines from crawling and indexing pages from your site. Flash, JavaScript and AJAX: By default, search engines cannot index the contents of Flash, JavaScripts or AJAX. Use SWFObject if you are using flash and use noscript content to make sure some alternate text is presented to search engines when you use scripts. Externalizing JavaScripts and Styles: Instead of embedding styles and Javascripts on the page, save them as external files and call them from the page. This will reduce page weight and help pages in your site load faster. No Follow, No Index Attributes: Nofollow prevents search engines from following links and noindex prevents search engines from indexing pages in your sites. Use these attributes judiciously. W3C Compliance: Getting your site W3C compliant ensures that it is compatible across browsers and also that your site code is search engine compliant. Good website architecture factors in all the above parameters and more. Make sure your site is SEO compliant in its design, structure and architecture. This will help the site rank much better in search results. Resource: http://blogs.position2.com/website-architecture-seo-the-dark-side-of-the-moon

Component: Security Model Security ties directly into all the planning of site architecture by: Determining who is accessing what information and to what level (administrator, editor, anonymous user, other group member, etc.) What information is being processed on-line and where does that information get stored? How do you keep the integrity of your information/content? When looking at site architecture you need to determine what informational needs exist. This includes the inside security for updating the sites, such as defining roles for staff (i.e. administrator, designers, editors). There may be a need for a feature to have it’s own security model, how is that incorporated into the site? The security model will be closely related to the site architecture. Resources: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=424

Component: Governance The purpose of Website Governance is to ensure appropriate policies are in place for managing a site in a controlled and orderly way. Governance can and should affect every aspect of your website. Sites that lack governance, show it. The definition from WebContent.gov is: Web governance is the structure of people, positions, authorities, roles, responsibilities, relationships, and rules involved in managing an agency's website(s). The governance structure defines who can make what decisions, who is accountable for which efforts, and how each of the players must work together to operate a website and web management process effectively. Website governance applies to Internet and Intranet/Extranet sites. Definition of Extranet: A public-private website or portal, secured or password-protected, specifically designed for selected workers in an organization and selected external partners to conduct internal business. The principal benefit of good Governance is that team members can remain focused on their goals instead of wasting time in political debates about what is or is not allowed. Governance impacts every component of your website, such as design consistency, content delivery, compliance with both web and your organization standards, usability, security, change management, application development, strategy, maintenance, and management. All of these components have a process that may or may not be able to be governed using existing policies and procedures and standards in your organization. Unfortunately, many websites (as well as many intranets and extranets) lack governance. The inevitable result is a significant degradation in overall performance. Sites like this can be recognized in a number of ways: They typically exhibit wide disparities in design They display a lack of focus in content They use ‘bleeding-edge' technologies Some examples of sites that may lack governance and why are: http://www.fultoncountyoh.com/about_fulton.htm (poor design/lacks consistency on sites (VA) and seems random) http://www.gallianet.net/ (appears unprofessional and lacks standards) http://www.co.northumberland.va.us/ (appears unprofessional and lacks standards) http://www.mtnlakes.org/ (amongst other issues – has outdated content on home page) http://www.co.cape-may.nj.us/ (seems random items are just put on the home page !) http://countyofbristol.net/ (where is the navigation and are there any standards implemented here?) Resources: http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/governance/definition.shtml (There is a governance checklist on this site that may be very helpful in assessing where your team may be on governance.) http://www.diffily.com/articles/governance.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_governance http://www.welchmanpierpoint.com/blog/web-governance-definition

More on Governance Establishing a authoritative team Set standards, priorities and goals Develop policies Management Maintenance Design Manage change Governance is about the coordination of website policies, people and processes. At a high level, it comprises four stages. Define and communicate: Establish the standards, policies, priorities, stakeholders (senior authors, site owners, and senior sponsors) and success criteria for the organization and communicate them. Educate: Articulate the business value of the standards to the people responsible for implementing them, and reinforce their business value. Execute: Apply the standards and polices on the website as part of the day-to-day content publication process. Measure and monitor: Continually measure and monitor the corporate web properties against the defined standards and policies. It is time consuming and organizationally cumbersome to re-invent governance processes every time a new business opportunity presents itself. Thus why the guiding principle for effective governance is agility. With an enterprise governance platform that is CMS-agnostic, companies are able to slow a new website, tool or business unit into the governance process and adapt quickly to changes in legal compliance and technical or business requirements. Resources: http://gilbane.com/blog/2010/09/new_paper_-_looking_at_website_governance.html http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/reqs_bestpractices/best_practices.shtml

Benefits of Site Architecture Agile, no need for redesign to add new features, sites or components. Consistent user experience Topic or Site Map Improved content searching Cohesive website supportive to both administrators and content managers Minimize duplication of efforts/information Reflects the business not the organizational chart The outcome of good site architecture planning would be website that will accommodate the current and future needs of an organization’s public facing informational site. As mentioned branding and design may not be a direct outcome of the site architecture planning process, however the site architecture needs to support whatever branding and design needs exist / are envisioned. Navigation is generally not a fluid-changing item, however, there does come time where there may be a need to add or remove or change navigation. For example, if you designed your navigation and design over 5 years ago and have not changed it in those five years, there is a good chance it is outdated. Thus why governance around navigation should also be in place. To accommodate growth, information architecture is in place that would enforce like information to be stored appropriately and for governance (like records retention) to be applied to that information. In taking the time to look at what business processes interact with the website you may be able to set up workflow/automation to alleviate the need for human interaction or streamline the process where the information gets to the person it needs to more quickly. If you have an interactive site where you are using various features (such as content intuitive searching or on-line forms, etc.), or are integrating data onto your website from various locations or data systems, it is a good idea to design the site for such occasions. Where is that information being displayed and managed? Where is the information stored or being directed to? This should all be hashed out during the site architecture process. Search Engine Optimization: is this something that is important to you? Do you want the search engines to find your information so that customers are directed to the right page when searching for information or trying to have a need met. There are various methods in obtaining optimal SEO which is not included in this session, however, tons of information exists when you Google it! Security is very important and you may have various levels identified for users or administrators of your site. An example of an outcome for security would be you have a group for Owners (Administrators), you have a group for designers (those that can manage the navigation and look and feel) you have a group that just manage the content (Editors), maybe you have a group that administrates any policies or workflow (Governance), and a group for use of on-line forms (autonomous or is this directed to a group of users such as staff members?). All of these decisions should be apparent as you work through the process of determining site architecture. You need to make sure that this makes sense and can grow. You do not want to get so hung up with groups that you begin to create groups for everything! (You could end up with a security management nightmare on your hands if this is not thought through!) Good governance is crucial in the maintenance of your site. Examples of questions that can be maintained by good governance include: What gets posted on the home page or a department home page? What qualifies for news, or how does news get published? What information is made public when, and how long does information stay on the site? How does branding get applied and stay applied to the site? What regulations do we have to follow and how do we ensure we are following them? Who has access to what information, when and how? And much more! Lastly, if you have all the above in place, scalability should be accomplished relatively easily. You want to plan for growth, such as new features or maybe new requirements and regulations. Good site architecture will support scalability.

Other considerations Network scalability Host your own or have another entity host? Host others? 24x7 up time? When you are looking at your site architecture, it is also time to look at what your network can support.

Reference Resources All sources used in this presentation are on the notes page of this slide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_architecture http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/technology/search/optimization/sitearchitecture.shtml http://www.promotionworld.com/prepare/articles/article/061011Formulatinga.html http://ezinearticles.com/?Website-Architecture---What-is-the-Best-Structure-For-Your-Website?&id=3570023 http://blogs.position2.com/website-architecture-seo-the-dark-side-of-the-moon http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=424 http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/governance/definition.shtml (There is a governance checklist on this site that may be very helpful in assessing where your team may be on governance.) http://www.diffily.com/articles/governance.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_governance http://www.welchmanpierpoint.com/blog/web-governance-definition http://gilbane.com/blog/2010/09/new_paper_-_looking_at_website_governance.html http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/reqs_bestpractices/best_practices.shtml A few resources to learn more about card sorting: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide http://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/cardsort.html http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/09/card-sorting-mistakes-made-and-lessons-learned.php http://www.useit.com/alertbox/word-matching.html A few resources to learn more about content inventories: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/content-analysis http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/FOIA/web_inventories.shtml http://www.fatpurple.com/2010/02/26/content-inventory/ A few resources to learn more about sketchboarding: http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000863.php http://www.brandonschauer.com/blog/?p=123 http://www.slideshare.net/ugleah/sketchboards-prototypes-presentation A few resources to learn more about site maps and diagrams: http://www.jjg.net/ia/visvocab/ http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_lazy_ia_s_guide_to_making_sitemaps Branding Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand http://www.startupnation.com/steps/55/3760/9/1/establish-brand.htm http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/223/How-To-Brand-Your-Business-Using-Ten-Action-Items.html http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmckerns3.htm http://www.dailyblogtips.com/10-ways-to-brand-your-blog-or-website-efficiently/ http://local.gov.uk/lgv2/core/page.do?pageId=430222 http://webapps.icma.org/pm/8805/public/cover.cfm?author=don%20mceachern&title=putting%20communities%20at%20the%20center%20of%20branding Over All Resources: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/17/starting-out-organized-website-content-planning-the-right-way/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV860odGN5Y&mode=related&search= http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/52/04700543/0470054352.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture

Questions and Answers

Thank You for Attending! If you have questions, please feel free to call or e-mail: Kathie Glassel Technology Programs Administrator 717-526-1010 X 3353 kglassel@pacounties.org Nic Poague Database / Web Specialist 717-526-1010 X 3354 npoague@pacounties.org