SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL SITE BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

Gordon Plant

Do you remember your first date?

Do you remember the excitement? The Anticipation?

Maybe it turned out well, maybe

not so well but either way you can

probably remember it.

Mature hosting company seeks young

SMB for long term relationship. Must

have computer and enjoy reading help

docs. Sense of humour essential.

No mobiles.

DESPERATLY SEEKING SMB

What would happen if you were dating a

hosting company?

What would a dating advert for hosting

company look like? Actually most

hosting companies

really are trying to find customers for

a first date.

And that takes us to secret #1…

Secret #1 Onboarding is like a first date

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First dates have many uncertainties

Will this be the start of something beautiful? Or will you need to keep looking?

Do you have what each other are seeking?

Or is it going to get complicated?

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First date tips

•  Keep it simple

•  Get the site builder

Talk site builder early – show that site building is an integral part of buying a domain

No jargon and no questions that can’t be answered from memory

right up front

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Avoid tears

Not every first date ends well…

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Avoid tears

Don’t let your first date

end with an unloved

and unresolved

domain

Unresolved, unloved and unlikely to be renewed – a

terrible fate for any domain

A domain attached to site is

better renewals with more

chances to upsell

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Improve your chances:

Swing both ways

People often assume a free trial is the only way to go, but we think there are more possibilities

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Domain-Led Free Trial Buy Now

Free-for-life 1 page site attached to every domain

Time or feature limited trial with every domain

Purchase sitebuilder direct from website

Onboarding flows

Many of our partners use all three of these flows so that different customer entry points are well covered.

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Happy Ending

The happiest ending is a domain attached to

published website close

to the point of

purchase.

Choose Domain

Get Content

Site Design

Publish Site

Purchasing a domain and attaching a site to it can all be done on the first date if you keep things simple.

I’ve shown it a phone because I can’t think of any reason why you’d turn someone away just because they aren’t using a computer

Secret #2

It’s Not Just For Kittens

Many businesses use social media long before they get their first domain name, so that’s where SMB content goes first.

Content, like water, always follows the path of least resistance

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SMBs start talking business from their social apps

Why do we care where the content goes?

Where content flows most easily, that’s where your customers are

Getting content to flow in the direction of a recently purchased

domain is part of a good onboarding flow

Facebook is the biggest pool of content

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Content and search are in different universes

So all the content ends up on Facebook… …but search happens on Google

…and increasingly on mobile

A domain attached to a site that offers social import is the best solution

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ONBOARDING needs SOCIAL

and

SOCIAL is mostly MOBILE

so

ONBOARDING needs SOCIAL & MOBILE Onboarding = social that’s where the content is

And Social = mobile – people update from their on phones

So a great onboarding flow should bring all these together

Secret #3 Keep Young & Beautiful

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Old Stuff Has More Buttons Than New Stuff

This is true of almost every new product More buttons = more learning

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Old Stuff Has More Buttons Than New Stuff

Newer = simpler

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Old Stuff Has More Buttons Than New Stuff

So we can pretty tell much tell the age of something …

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Old Stuff Has More Buttons Than New Stuff

…from the button count

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Q What’s the easiest way to tell the age of a site builder? Count The Buttons

When you’re looking at sitebuilders, here’s a simple test for telling their underlying age: count the buttons Young and beautiful software appeals to a far wider audience than old and complex software.

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You can’t be too simple You can’t be too mobile

All SMBs are busy, and many are busy away from computers. They won’t touch a PC and this means they will never touch a website either unless the entire stack is mobile

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End To End Mobile is Inevitable

Responsive websites were just the start All Small business software needs to work everywhere Onboarding needs to work on all devices, no install required. It’s the simplest way to do it

summary

Onboarding is like a first

date

Facebook isn’t just for

kittens

Keep young and

beautiful

1: Keep things simple and get the sitebuilder up front. Most importantly, don’t let it end with an unloved domain

2: Social integration is important. Make it easy for your customers to bring their social content to your site.

3: Your software and your onboarding flow need to be young and beautiful and work everywhere.

Simple. Social. Mobile.Onboarding, site creation and site editing on

phone, tablet and PC