Author: Martin Aranovitch

Breadcrumbs are now baked into SmartCrawl, along with another hotly requested feature… setting primary categories for posts and products!

SmartCrawl 3.5 gives you the ability to improve your WordPress site navigation for users and search engines with two new powerful features: breadcrumbs, and the ability to specify primary categories when assigning multiple categories to your posts or product pages.

In this article, we explain the benefits of using SmartCrawl’s latest new features and how to get the most out of them. We’ll cover:

• What’s a Breadcrumb?
• Why Use Breadcrumbs?
• Where Can You Use Breadcrumbs?
• Breadcrumbs and Multiple WordPress Post Categories
• How to Add Breadcrumbs to WordPress Using SmartCrawl
  • Configuring Breadcrumb Settings

Let’s get cooking…

What’s a Breadcrumb?

In the classic fairytale, siblings Hansel and Gretel left a trail of breadcrumbs when they went deep into the forest so they would not get lost and have a path to navigate on their return.

Aptly named, breadcrumbs are an essential navigation aid that can help visitors and search engines better understand your website’s structure.

Why Use Breadcrumbs?

According to research, 38% of first-time website visitors look at navigational links on a page. So, the easier you make it for users to navigate your site, the better their experience. Especially if your website has a hierarchical structure with lots of nested pages.

And it goes without saying that improving your site’s navigation is also good for SEO, as it helps search engine bots crawl your pages and index your content more efficiently.

Here are some other reasons why you should use breadcrumbs on your WordPress site:

• Breadcrumbs help users figure out where they are on your site. Visitors usually land on your site through an article link or search result and need a way to orient themselves quickly. A breadcrumb path can provide this orientation, making it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for. It can also help to reduce bounce rates (i.e. the percentage of visitors who navigate away from your site after viewing only one page).
• Breadcrumbs improve user experience. By providing a clear and concise path, users can understand not only where they are on your website, but also how to get back to previous pages or go up a level or two in your site’s hierarchical structure.
• Breadcrumbs can improve your search engine visibility and potentially increase traffic to your site. Google uses breadcrumbs to categorize information on your site, helping it to index and organize your content and present it correctly to users. In fact, search engines like Google display breadcrumbs in search results pages, making them a valuable tool for improving your click-through rates.

Where Can You Use Breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumbs are a type of secondary navigation scheme that show users the path they have taken to reach a particular page on a website.

They don’t replace your site navigation menu, they support and complement it. So, a good place to put them is at the top of a page, just below your site’s primary navigation menu or the main header section.

However, you can also use them at the bottom of your page or even on your sidebar.

As you will see later in this post, you can pretty much add a breadcrumb anywhere on your site using a shortcode.

The best way to find what works best for your site is to test different locations and use tools like heatmaps or analytics to measure your results.

Breadcrumbs and Multiple WordPress Post Categories

What happens if you assign multiple categories to a post? How do breadcrumbs choose which path to display?

The answer is… breadcrumbs will choose whichever category you have specified as the primary category for the post.

Primary categories are the main classification of your business, product, or service and can help search engines understand the primary focus of your website, so the ability to select primary categories in SEO is important.

If you assign a primary category to your posts, breadcrumbs don’t have to guess. It’s as simple as that!

How to Add Breadcrumbs to WordPress with SmartCrawl SEO Plugin

SmartCrawl not only makes it easy to add breadcrumb navigation to your website and assign primary categories to your posts and product pages, but it automatically adds structured data to your breadcrumbs. This helps search engines to understand and categorize your content and present it correctly to users.

Plus, SmartCrawl gives you complete control over how your breadcrumbs appear, making it easy to provide visitors with the information they need to navigate your site.

To activate SmartCrawl’s breadcrumb feature, go to SmartCrawl > Advanced Tools > Breadcrumb and click on activate.

Activating the feature gives you access to a range of settings and options for configuring your breadcrumbs.

Configuring Breadcrumb Settings

Let’s go briefly over SmartCrawl’s breadcrumb settings:

• Add Breadcrumbs to your Webpage – Add breadcrumbs to any page and anywhere on your website using a shortcode or adding PHP code to the template page.
• Preview – This section lets you preview how breadcrumbs will display on your pages.
• Breadcrumb Separator – Choose a breadcrumb separator from the list of presets or add your own custom separator using HTML characters.
• Configurations – This section lets you enable additional breadcrumbs settings for your site, such as adding a prefix at the beginning of the breadcrumbs, adding home breadcrumbs to the trail, hiding the post title from the breadcrumb trail, or hiding the default WooCommerce product breadcrumb from your site if you use WooCommerce.
• Breadcrumb Label Format – Here you can customize various breadcrumb label formats across your site, such as Post, Page, Archive, Search Results, and 404 Error Page label formats.
• Deactivate – Deactivate the feature if you no longer want to display breadcrumbs on your site.

Let’s look at a few ways to customize breadcrumbs by tweaking SmartCrawl’s settings.

Choose a Breadcrumb Separator

The Breadcrumb Separator section lets you specify a separator symbol from a list of presets, but you can also add your own by entering HTML characters.

So, for this example, let’s add an emoji into the custom separator field…

Here’s the result…

Add a Prefix

You can also add a prefix to your breadcrumbs in the Configurations section…

And here’s the result…

Hide Title in Breadcrumb

Let’s do one more tweak and hide the post title from our breadcrumb trails…

And here’s our customized breadcrumb sans title…

Breadcrumb Label Formats

SmartCrawl gives you additional options to customize breadcrumb label formats across your site.

Customize breadcrumb label formats with a wide range of options.

This allows you to add additional information to your breadcrumbs such as post authors, dates and time, your site title, etc.

SmartCrawl… the Crumb de la Crumb of Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs improve your website’s SEO and search engine visibility, provide visitors with an easy way to navigate your site, reduce bounce rates, and increase click-through rates.

Smartcrawl’s breadcrumb feature is customizable, flexible, user-friendly, SEO-friendly, and compatible with all WordPress themes and plugins.

Additionally, SmartCrawl automatically ads breadcrumb schema markup and the ability to specify a primary category for posts and product pages with multiple categories assigned.

SmartCrawl is the free SEO plugin that lets you have your cake and eat it too… right down to the tastiest breadcrumbs!

See our documentation section for more information on using this feature and, if you have any questions, ask our 24/7 support team or check out our new AI Assistant by clicking the Support tab inside The Hub.

Mind maps can help you visually organize your ideas and information, streamline your development process, and facilitate collaboration. Here are six ways to speed up your WordPress web development process with mind mapping…

Professional web developers need to work smarter and faster to get things done and delivered on time and on budget. There are plenty of tools to help speed up your WordPress web development when building a website.

But what about tools to help you get your thinking organized before you actually start working on a project? How do you sort, filter and organize everything when there are so many different ideas and paths you can take in the initial stages of a project?

This is where mind mapping can help.

In this post, we look at different ways to use mind maps to get your web development projects done faster and with less costly distractions.

We’ll cover:

• What is Mind Mapping?
• Benefits of Using Mind Maps in Website Development
• 6 Ways To Use A Mind Map To Speed Up Your Website Development
  • 1. Organize Website Structure
  • 2. Brainstorm Content Ideas
  • 3. Collaborate with Clients and Team Members
  • 4. Manage Project Tasks
  • 5. Save Time and Increase Efficiency
  • 6. Improve an Existing Website’s UX
• Practical Applications for Mind Mapping in Web Development
  • A) Using Mind Mapping to Improve User Experience
  • B) Using Mind Mapping for Website Development
• Mind Mapping Tools
  • Mind Map Pro
  • MindMup
  • MindMeister
  • MindNode
  • Xmind
  • Miro
  • Coggle

What Is Mind Mapping?

Mind mapping is a cognitive tool that helps you visually organize your thoughts and ideas, as well as make connections between them.

It is a graphical representation of information, typically starting with a central idea or concept and branching out into related topics or sub-topics.

The structure of a mind map is hierarchical, with the central idea serving as the main node from which other ideas radiate. These nodes are connected by lines, which represent relationships or associations between the ideas.

Mind maps can be used to brainstorm ideas, plan projects, outline information, or solve problems.

In addition, mind maps can include images, symbols, or colors to help emphasize or illustrate certain concepts.

All of these makes mind mapping a valuable tool to help organize your thinking during the initial stages of the web development process.

Benefits of Using Mind Maps in Website Development

The benefits of using mind maps in your web development approach include:

1. Enhanced creativity: Mind maps encourage the generation of new ideas, making it easier to develop creative solutions.
2. Improved organization: Mind maps help organize information in a visual and easy-to-understand format, making it simpler to see the big picture and identify potential issues.
3. Improved efficiency: By outlining your website’s structure and content in a mind map, you can streamline your web development process and save time.
4. Efficient problem-solving: Mind maps can help developers break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts, leading to quicker and more effective solutions.
5. Enhanced collaboration: Mind maps can be shared and updated in real-time, facilitating collaboration between developers, team members, clients, and stakeholders.
6. Improved project management: Mind maps can serve as a roadmap for the entire web development project, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page and that deadlines are met.
7. Enhanced communication: Mind maps can be used to explain complex concepts and processes to clients, stakeholders, and team members in a way that is easy to understand.
8. Increased productivity: Mind maps can help developers stay focused and organized, reducing distractions and increasing productivity.

Now that we understand some of the benefits, lets look at the practical application of using mind maps in your web development business.

6 Ways To Use A Mind Map To Speed Up Your Website Development

Here are several ways to incorporate mind mapping into your website development approach:

1. Organize Website Structure

Mind mapping can help you create a clear and organized structure for a website. By mapping out the website’s content and information architecture, you can easily see the relationships between pages and make sure the user flow is logical and intuitive.

For example, you can use mind maps to visualize the hierarchy of pages on your website, such as the homepage, service pages, blog page, etc.

In the above example, the central topic would be the website name, with each of the major sections (e.g. company, products and services, blog, FAQs, etc) branching out to subsections and individual pages of the website.

By mapping out the relationships between these pages, you can ensure that the user flow is easy to follow and that the website is organized in a way that makes sense to users.

2. Brainstorm Content Ideas

Mind mapping can be a great tool for generating content ideas to match user intent. By brainstorming and organizing content ideas in a mind map, you can ensure that your website content is useful, accessible, and easy to interpret.

For example, you can use mind maps to generate content ideas for your website’s blog. By brainstorming topics that are relevant to your target audience and organizing them in a mind map, you can ensure that your content is aligned with user intent and will be useful to your website visitors.

3. Collaborate with Clients and Team Members

Mind mapping can be a great tool for collaborating with clients and team members. By sharing a mind map, you can get feedback and input from others to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the website development process is moving in the right direction.

For example, you can use mind maps to collaborate with clients and team members on website design and development. By sharing a mind map of the website’s content and information architecture, you can get valuable feedback on the user flow, content organization, and other aspects of the website development process.

4. Manage Project Tasks

You can use mind mapping to manage project tasks during the web development process. Creating a mind map of project tasks lets you quickly identify the key tasks that need to be completed and assign them to team members.

For example, you can use a mind map to assign tasks to team members, such as “Develop Home Page,” “Create About Us Page,” and “Design Contact Us Form.”

5. Save Time and Increase Efficiency

Mind mapping can help you save time and increase efficiency in the website development process. By visualizing the website structure and user flow in a mind map, you can identify areas for improvement and make changes before the website goes live, saving time and reducing the need for post-launch revisions.

For example, you can use mind maps to identify areas of the website that may be causing user frustration or confusion. By making changes to the website structure and user flow in the mind map, you can save time and ensure that the website is optimized for user experience before it goes live.

6. Improve an Existing Website’s UX

Using mind mapping is a versatile and effective technique to improve user experience on a website redesign, map out the ideal user flow for your website visitors, and make the website more user-friendly.

The mind map would include the key pages on the website, the various links and CTAs on each page, and the relationships between different pages. This helps your team understand how data is structured on the website.

By identifying the paths users typically take when navigating through a website and potential issues and areas where they may get stuck, you can make UX decisions to remove roadblocks and improve the user experience, and create a mind map of the target version of the website that is more user-friendly than the existing site. It also ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page throughout the project.

Practical Applications for Mind Mapping in Web Development

Let’s explore now some of the practical ways mind mapping can improve your web development processes.

As mentioned earlier, mind mapping can be used when creating new projects or improving existing websites.

Let’s start with improving an existing website.

A) Using Mind Mapping to Improve User Experience

To use mind mapping to improve user experience, follow these five simple steps:

First, create a mind-map template to understand the current information architecture on the website. List out how data is currently being structured and how you plan to structure it for the future user-friendly version.

Second, map out the ideal user flow by thinking about how you would like your website visitors to engage with your content and what actions you would like them to perform.

Third, compare the ideal user flow to the current behavior flow available on your Google Analytics. This will show you how users are currently engaging with the website’s content and what paths they usually take when navigating through the current information architecture.

Fourth, identify the roadblocks to providing the best user experience, such as poorly structured content, irrelevant features, or too many tools that don’t respond to users’ needs.

Finally, make the appropriate UX decisions to influence user behavior by turning chaos into a logical content hierarchy, trimming irrelevant page elements, and adapting web pages’ content structure to the needs of specific audience segments.

Creating a mind map is just the first step, but turning it into powerful UX decisions should be your main objective. You can turn your mind map into an effective sitemap or customer journey map.

To illustrate this, imagine you’re targeting three different customer personas on your website. You would need to plan three different user flows, grouping web pages into categories corresponding to each audience segment.

Then, do some user behavior mapping to determine how each customer persona should navigate to the corresponding web page and click the CTA placed there.

Make critical UX decisions, such as setting up relations between various pages on your website, designing the best CTA for each type of page, and including key information on a page, depending on the customer persona accessing it.

Now that we have looked at how to improve an existing website using mind mapping, let’s turn to using mind maps when creating new web development projects.

B) Using Mind Mapping for Website Development

WPMU DEV member Lucas from Ondata Marketing shared with us how he uses mind mapping in his web development business to summarize the most important information gleaned from his client briefings.

Here’s what Lucas does, in his own words…

“First, the way to use the mind map is to insert a text or image in the middle, which can be the customer’s name, logo, niche or any other image that makes sense for use at that time.

After this first insertion, you start to draw lines from this highlighted center to another part of the sheet, then inserting another word or summary information, which can also have derivations (and maybe in this part you realize that you should have made the first derivative word less near the end of the sheet).

And after entering all the information, you would have leads, thought paths or subject groupings divided by the sheet, but all visible on the same page. And if all goes well, you will have a sheet where you can more clearly see the subject that the mind map was made and all your information and ideas derived from it.”

Lucas uses mindmaps to create websites in two ways:

Method #1 – Use A Mind Map For Web Development Research

The first way Lucas uses mind maps is for research:

“I put the topic in the middle, I go searching on the internet about the client’s company, about the niche it operates, about competitors or even listening to videos while I do other work tasks that are more automatic.

This is a mind map with less discretion, where I’m actually inserting anything and then, usually after a day or two, I’ll go over it and evaluate what still seems to make sense. And what happens is that generally about half of these things don’t make sense anymore to continue in the project as useful information.”

Method #2 – Use A Mind Map To Organize Website Elements

The other way Lucas uses mind maps is to summarize and organize the information gathered throughout the client briefing.

In his own words…

“After the client brief is done, I organize the information on paper and in my head. For that, I use a method that is to group some specific subjects in imaginary squares.

To explain it better: I imaginatively divide the mind map sheet into 9 squares, where the middle one is the text or image highlighted on the map, and the others are for other subjects. Using yet another analogy, it’s like using a hashtag #, where the middle is already filled with the theme.

And in the remaining 8 squares, I usually divide the insights and issues like this:

1 – Graphic references, font names, colors, branding rules. Simple things like drawing a square or a circle (which is one of the briefing questions I ask: “Think about shapes and images…”.

2 – Tone of voice, personality, brand word, feelings you want to arouse.

3 – Products and services. Except, of course, when there are many, then I just insert a general description of all or categories.

In tables 4 to 8, it’s always something different for each client, but in general terms, I put phrases that the client said in the briefing, the actions that the client expects his end client to do when entering the site, the things that end customer has to know that makes the company different.

The point is that people do not always have the answers to every question, and the answers they may have are not always good for every question, but there will always be some precious jewels among them that your own customer will have said and that will surely also serve to delight your customer’s customer.”

Lucas also provide some essential rules for making a good mind map:

“First rule: there are no rules. Always try to adapt to what makes the most sense for you.

The second rule: don’t fully respect imaginary squares. For each customer, the amount of content will be different in each subject. There is no problem if a large part of the mind map is filled with some kind of content if that content is relevant.

The third rule: be concerned about making sense, but summarize as much as possible. Remember that the mind map is something to organize your thinking, so you should always make it easier to visualize it by writing highlighted words, short sentences, or even simple drawings.

And one last tip: personally I really prefer to use paper. There is something magical about putting ideas and notes down on paper with all the imperfections, misalignments and scrawls that your own fine motor skills can produce. But you can also use other online tools and methods, to do it directly or to clean it up, especially when you need to present it later, or where mind maps become too large to fit on one sheet.”

Speaking of tools, lets look now at some of the most popular mind map tools available.

Mind Mapping Tools

Mind maps can be drawn by hand on paper or created using free or paid digital and online tools.

You can create mind maps using design and image editing tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, VistaCreate, and others.

However, you can also use the dedicated free and paid mind-mapping tools below, which offer additional benefits over general drawing tools, such as specialized functions, collaborative features, integration with other tools, better organization, more customization, and better visualization options:

Mind Map Pro

Mind Map Pro is a powerful tool for mind mapping that offers various perspectives, such as map view, tree view, and 3D view.

Its user interface is user-friendly, and it has a simple process to get started. The color and shade of ideas can be changed using the color picker, and the size of idea boxes can be adjusted automatically or manually. Keyboard shortcuts are available to make mind mapping easier, and background images can be moved around the canvas by dragging and dropping. Zoom in and out using icons or a mouse scroll is also available.

Moving ideas and changing their relationships can be done by dragging and dropping, and additional associative links between ideas can be created. Contextual labels can also be added. The doodles can be exported to an Office document or an image, and the mind map can be kept private or public.

Mind Map Pro has a plugin to build a visual sitemap for your website, allowing you to drag-and-drop pages to edit your site’s structure and rearrange the architecture of your site. It can also connect with WordPress, allowing you to stay on track with tasks from your dashboard. You can add tasks from your dashboard or directly from a post or page.

Overall, Mind Map Pro is a versatile tool that can help you explore your ideas in different ways.

MindMup

MindMup is an easy-to-use online mind-mapping tool. You can create mind maps for free without registering and export your mind maps as images or an outline document.

The free version offers a number of customizable features but limited capacity. The paid version options includes many additional features and increased capabilities.

MindMeister

MindMeister is a web-based collaborative mind mapping tool with a range of powerful features and versatile tools to help you organize, plan and execute your projects.

MindMeister lets you easily create to-do lists, website planning sheets, and arrange team assignments. The app also allows you to share the workspace online or via mobile devices like Android and iOS, and create email reminders for tasks.

Collaboration is made easy with MindMeister’s cloud-based platform. The “Opinions” feature, lets you get feedback from your team in real-time. Collaborators can vote “yay” or “nay” to individual nodes in your shared mind map and you can divvy up the work via drag-and-drop if you use MeisterTask to manage your projects.

MindMeister offers several different plans and a range of premade templates to help guide you in getting started with your own mind map. The free basic plan supports up to three mind maps at no cost. If you need more and additional features like including multiple users, custom themes, branding, multiple admins, custom domains, or group sharing, then you’ll need to upgraid to one of its paid plans.

MindNode

MindNode is a popular and easy-to-use and versatile mind-mapping software available for Mac and Apple iOS devices. It offers a simple and intuitive user interface, which makes it a great option for both beginners and experienced users. With quick entry features, you can start creating your mind map within seconds, allowing you to capture your ideas and thoughts on the go.

One of the best things about MindNode is that it allows you to create simple or elaborate mind maps, making it perfect for brainstorming sessions or organizing your daily tasks. You can even use it to set priorities, make to-do lists, or create annual goals. And with its syncing capability with Apple Watch, iPad, or iPhone, you can access your mind maps on the go, no matter where you are.

MindNode also offers import/export features, which make it an ideal tool to integrate with your workflow. With the ability to attach images, links, and files to your mind map, you can easily visualize and organize your ideas in one central location. And with the ability to fold nodes and use focus mode, you can easily manage complex mind maps without getting lost in the details.

Xmind

Xmind is a powerful mind-mapping software that offers a range of features to create clear, concise, and customizable mind maps for brainstorming ideas, managing a project, or simply organizing your thoughts. It’s available for Mac, Windows, and iOS.

One of the key features of XMind is the Zen mode, which allows you to focus on a single mind map without any distractions. This feature is especially useful for when you need to concentrate on your thoughts and ideas without any external interference. In addition, XMind also has an equation feature that lets you add mathematical and chemical equations to your mind maps.

With XMind, you have access to a wide range of mind map templates that are designed to suit various needs. The multi-branch colors also help you to identify different nodes, making it easy to navigate your mind maps.

XMind allows you to protect your mind map files with passwords, ensuring that your data is safe and secure. It offers a smooth workflow, responsive graphics engine, distraction-free mode, and all the basic features you need to create and format mind maps. You can also export your mind maps as PNG, PDF, or markdown files, which makes sharing and collaborating with others easy. The mobile app for iOS and Android devices is also available, allowing you to work on your mind maps while on the go.

XMind lets you create mind maps easily using just the keyboard, and there are plenty of formatting options available. The themes and templates are attractive and allow you to jump-start your mind map. XMind also provides a range of useful project management and reference features, including task-based icons, adding notes and file attachments, and hyperlinks to web pages and mind map nodes. The Pro version adds even more features.

XMind is a subscription-based app for personal use, which may not suit everyone. Additionally, there is no cloud sync between devices.

Miro

Miro is a collaborative online whiteboarding platform that includes a mind mapping feature. The mind mapping software allows you to visually organize and connect ideas in a non-linear format, making it easy to brainstorm, plan projects, and solve problems.

With Miro, you can create and customize mind maps with text, images, and icons, and collaborate in real-time with other team members. The platform also includes features such as comments, voting, and tagging, which make it easy to gather feedback and keep track of important ideas.

Miro is designed for use by teams of all sizes, and can be integrated with a variety of other tools and platforms to streamline workflow and boost productivity.

Coggle

Coggle is a web-based mind mapping tool that lets you map out complex processes, connect related ideas, and visualize information with intuitive controls and features for creating, sharing, and collaboration.

Coggle’s drag-and-drop interface lets you add images and text anywhere on the canvas to annotate and organize your map. The software’s advanced features give you complete control over connection paths and styles, enabling you to create loops, join branches, and add multiple central items as starting points to map related topics together in one workspace.

With real-time collaboration and a built-in chat tool, Coggle is a great tool for teams to communicate and co-create diagrams simultaneously, without the need to log in. Plus, Coggle’s change history feature automatically saves all changes, so you can revert to a previous version from any point.

Coggle works seamlessly with Google services, making it easy to share files and collaborate with colleagues using Google accounts. Its template gallery also provides access to pre-built, customizable templates for setting SMART targets, root cause analysis, meeting notes, and more.

While Coggle’s web app interface does not offer all the full-featured native apps’ capabilities, such as themes, images, presentation, and brainstorming mode, its simple and intuitive design, floating text and images, and lively color scheme make it a cool and fun tool to work with. You can even use your smartphone to create or edit mind maps on the go.

Map Out Some Mind-Blowing Web Development

Mind-mapping is a flexible and adaptable tool that can help your web development business in many ways… from note-taking and brainstorming new ideas for websites and content creation to project planning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

There are various tools available to help you create mind maps that will speed up your web development, make your work more efficient, and help you communicate your ideas to clients more easily.

We hope this article has inspired you to expand your mind and map out new approaches to building a better web development business.

***

A special thank you to Lucas from ON|Data Marketing for his contribution to this post. ON|Data helps companies to position themselves professionally and creatively on the internet through WordPress websites.

Would you like to move qualified prospects through your web dev sales process more successfully, deliver consistently better results, and send your sales closing rates soaring? Of course you would, right?!

Well, good news – you’re in the right place to learn how! This no-hype guide to running a hyper successful client briefing session will show you how to boost sales of your web development services.

We’ll cover the following topics:

• Your Client Briefing Secret Weapon
• The 7 Stages of an Effective Sales System
• The Needs Analysis Presentation
• Designing Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire
• What to Do Before and After Your Client Briefing Session

Your Client Briefing Secret Weapon

Q: Which of the following is an absolutely essential “must-have” to conduct a highly successful client briefing session?

A) A fancy office on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking one of the 7 wonders of the world.

B) Sending out a stretch limo to pick up your prospective clients and drive them back after the briefing.

C) Serving clients chilled champagne, canapes, and caviar as soon as they arrive.

D) Having an impeccable sense of dress matching your suit with your hairstyle and the office decor.

Answer: None of the above.

To conduct a successful client briefing session, you need only two ears and …

A Needs Assessment Questionnaire

A Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ) is an essential tool for your WordPress web development services business.

It’s a crucial part of an effective sales process as it helps you to:

• Understand your client’s needs, preferences, and goals so you can provide them with the right solution for their needs.
• Ask the right questions and gather the necessary information about the project’s scope, timeline, and budget to provide a realistic plan for the project and an accurate estimate of the project’s costs.
• Identify any potential issues or concerns early in the sales process.
• Manage the client’s expectations.
• Qualify your prospect as being either a good fit for your services or not (yes, sometimes it’s better to let them go) and move them successfully through your sales process.
• Establish a strong relationship with the client based on trust and communication.

Your questionnaire should be carefully crafted to glean the necessary information from the client while being concise and easy to understand.

It should also be customized to the client’s specific needs and provide clear instructions on how to complete it correctly, so that anyone in your business can conduct a client briefing session successfully.

By demonstrating a deep understanding of the client’s needs and goals, you can create a website or deliver a project that will hopefully exceed your client’s expectations. This, in turn, can lead to satisfied clients who are more likely to recommend your services to others.

The NAQ, then, is not just any old “questionnaire.” It’s an integral and valuable part of your sales process.

So, before we look at how to develop an effective Needs Assessment Questionnaire that will help you get better results in your business, let’s briefly go over the different stages of an effective sales system so we can have a clear understanding of where the Needs Assessment Questionnaire fits in.

The 7 Stages of an Effective Sales Process

An effective sales process typically consists of the following stages:

• Stage 1: Initial Contact – This is the first stage of the sales process, where your potential client becomes aware of your service. They may visit your website, receive an email, phone call or recommendation, or see an advertisement, directory listing, etc.
• Stage 2: Needs Assessment – In this stage, you (or your sales rep) asks questions to understand the client’s needs, challenges, and goals. The aim of this stage is try to gather information about the client’s business, industry, and competition and qualify them as a potential client.
• Stage 3: Presentation – In this stage, you present a solution to the client’s problem or need. Your presentation may include a demonstration, samples of previous work, or a proposal.
• Stage 4: Objections – In this stage, the client may raise objections or concerns about your proposed solution. You (or your sales rep) then address these objections and provide additional information or clarification.
• Stage 5: Closing – In this stage, you (or your sales rep) ask for a decision. This may involve negotiating the price, terms, or delivery of the service.
• Stage 6: Follow-up – After the sale, your business follows up with the client to provide onboarding (e.g. training), ensure satisfaction with your service, and to address any issues that may arise. You may also look for opportunities to cross-sell or upsell other services.
• Stage 7: Referral – The final stage is when your satisfied client refers your business to others who may benefit from your services. This can be a powerful source of new business and growth for your company.

The sales process described above emphasizes the importance of understanding your client’s needs and providing a solution that meets those needs. It also highlights the need for ongoing customer engagement and relationship-building to drive long-term business success.

Your NAQ is vitally important to completing Stage 2 (Needs Assessment) of your sales process successfully.

This article focuses on the Needs Assessment stage of the sales process, so let’s take an in-depth look at the role your Needs Assessment Questionnaire plays in it.

The Needs Analysis Presentation

All you need to run an effective sales presentation is an effective script and an effective sales tool.

To illustrate this, let’s say that you are asked to give a slide presentation to an audience about a subject you know little to nothing about.

If you design your slide presentation well using the right content and the right slide sequence, all you would have to do is show a slide, read the words on the slide, show the next slide and repeat the process, and you could run a successful presentation.

More importantly, anyone in your business could consistently and repeatedly deliver a successful presentation by simply following the same process. Even if you went a little off-topic and ad-libbed every now and then, the tool (i.e. the slides) and its built-in script (i.e. the words on each slide) would still guide the presenter successfully through the entire process.

This is essentially what we are aiming to achieve in “Stage 2” of the sales system… an effective and repeatable presentation that delivers consistent results and moves your client successfully to the next stage.

Stage 2, then, is your Needs Analysis Presentation and consists of two main elements:

1. The presentation script
2. The Needs Assessment Questionnaire

The “presentation script” is what you say and do during your client briefing session to create the best user experience possible for your client.

This includes how you greet your potential client, what you do to make them feel comfortable (e.g. offer water, tea, or coffee), the words you use to start the briefing session, the questions you ask them during the briefing, how you structure the entire meeting so clients feel relaxed and open to share information that will allow you to assess their needs and qualify them as prospects, the words you use to end the meeting and set up the next stage of the process, and so on.

For example, the “opening script” for your Needs Analysis Presentation might go something like this:

“[Client name], as I mentioned to you when setting the appointment, the purpose of today’s meeting is for us to get a better idea of your business, what it does, what problems you need help solving, what kind of results you expect from your website, and so on.

I’ve done some research on your business and there are some questions I’d like to ask so we can get the full picture of what you need and how we can help you. This will probably take about 30 minutes or so.

I will then review the information carefully with my team and come back to you with a customized solution that will best suit your needs and your budget.

And if it turns out that we are not a perfect fit for working with each other, I’ll let you know and recommend a more suitable solution.

Are you ok for us to get started?”

***

After delivering the opening script above, you then complete the Needs Assessment Questionnaire with your client. This is the tool that will guide you successfully through your Needs Analysis Presentation.

After completing your NAQ, you then deliver the “closing script,” which could be something like this:

“[Client name], thank you… I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all of these questions. This gives me everything I need.

As I mentioned at the start of the meeting, give me a day or so to review this with my team. We’ll put together the solution we think will best deliver what you’re looking for and then we’ll meet again and go through everything in detail and answer any other questions you have.

Are you happy for us to set up the next meeting now?”

The above is Stage 2 in a nutshell. Its purpose is to help you set up the next appointment, where you deliver your solution and hopefully get the client’s business.

The more attention you put into designing and structuring your Needs Assessment Questionnaire, the better the client’s experience will be and the more smoothly, consistently, and effectively your client meetings will run.

Even better, if you plan to scale your business, you will be able to train anyone to run client briefings competently. All they will need to do is learn the opening and closing scripts and use the Needs Assessment Questionnaire to complete this stage.

Now that we understand what the Needs Assessment Questionnaire’s purpose is and where it fits into the sales process, let’s start building an effective NAQ for your business.

Designing Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire

Since there is no “one size fits all” way to build a web development business, this section will provide a general framework to help you design a Needs Assessment Questionnaire customized to suit your specific needs, with a list of sections and suggested questions you can include in your NAQ.

We’ll begin by looking at the steps involved in creating a NAQ.

How To Create An Effective NAQ For Your WordPress Web Development Business

Here are the steps involved in creating an effective Needs Assessment Questionnaire that will enable you to gather the critical information needed to deliver successful WordPress web development services to your clients:

1. Identify the key areas of information you’ll require: Begin by outlining the main areas of information you need to gather from the client, such as their business goals, target audience, website functionality, content needs, marketing strategies, budget, and timeline expectations.
2. Determine the types of questions to ask: Once you have identified the main areas of information you need to gather, determine the types of questions to ask. Open-ended questions are ideal as they encourage clients to provide detailed information, allowing you to better understand their needs and preferences.
3. Develop specific questions: Put together key questions for each area of information to gather more detailed insights. For example, to understand the client’s business goals and challenges, you could ask “What are your top business goals, and what challenges are you facing in achieving them?”
4. Organize the questionnaire: Ensure that the questions flow logically and are easy for clients to understand. Group similar questions together, and consider using subheadings to organize the questionnaire by topic.
5. Include instructions and explanations: Provide context for each question by explaining why you are asking it and how the answer will help you develop a customized solution for the client. The best way to do this is to turn this explanation into a “script” and write it into your questionnaire after each of the section headings and subheadings (e.g. “Now, I’d like to ask you questions about your current marketing efforts. This will help us understand what you are currently doing to generate new leads and drive traffic to your site, how these activities are performing, and if there are any issues that we would need to look at or improve…”). Including clear instructions and explanations will help clients understand the purpose of the questionnaire and what to expect in the web development process, and help you to fill it out.
6. Test the questionnaire: Try out your newly created questionnaire on a few clients to ensure the questions are clear, relevant, and useful. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure the questionnaire effectively gathers the information needed for successful web development projects.
7. Continuously review and refine: The questionnaire is not set in stone, so adjust and improve it over time based on feedback from clients and your team members. As your business evolves and new trends emerge, make sure that the questionnaire remains up-to-date and relevant.

So that’s the outline of the process. Now, let’s start putting a Needs Assessment Questionnaire together.

1) Decide What Information You Need

As mentioned above, the first step is to identify the key areas of information you need to gather from clients.

Mind-mapping the process at this stage can be useful for brainstorming ideas and organizing your thoughts.

2) Define Your NAQ Categories

Once you have a clear idea of what information you need from your client, the next step is to organize this information into question categories. These will form the main sections of your NAQ.

Think about the logical flow of your questionnaire’s sections, especially when planning subcategories, such as hosting and domains, design, functionality, and content for the website, or marketing-related questions.

For example, when discussing your client’s website needs, should you start by asking them questions about hosting and domains and then follow with questions about design, functionality, and content, or is there are better sequence that you feel would make the discussion flow more smoothly?

Also, consider things like:

• Which areas are absolutely essential to get information from the client? Where should you insert this into your NAQ so you can make sure it gets covered in case the meeting is cut short or goes off on a tangent, or the client starts to feel overwhelmed?
• Which areas of discussion could potentially blow out and take up a big chunk of the meeting? How can you design the process to quickly rein the client back into focus if this happens?

All of these details are very important when building a process flow for your NAQ’s design.

3) Decide on the Format

How are you going to run your Needs Analysis Presentation and record the client’s answers?

Will your client briefing sessions be done face-to-face, over the phone, online via video conferencing, or a combination of different styles?

Will your NAQ be printed with answers recorded as handwritten notes, in an electronic document, or a custom form application running from a phone, tablet, or laptop?

Probably the easiest and most effective way to start is using pen and paper. A printed questionnaire can serve as your prototype. This will allow you to review, tweak, test, and improve your sections, questions, question flow, accompanying instructions, fields for entering answers, etc, after every client briefing session.

Once you have a NAQ that delivers you consistent results, you can then turn your prototype into a format better suited for your business, like an electronic questionnaire or even an app. Or, just keep using a printed questionnaire if it works for you. Why complicate something when the simplest approach works?

4) Add Questions to Your NAQ Sections

Now that you have planned everything out, the next step is to add questions to each section of your NAQ.

Note: You don’t have to add every suggested question below to your NAQ. Just pick out the ones you need. Also, keep in mind that some questions may overlap for different sections, so include them where you think it would make the most sense for you to ask.

Let’s go over the main sections we suggest you consider including in your NAQ:

1) Overview

Your NAQ is an internal business document. It’s not something that you will leave with the client. So, it’s probably a good idea to add an Overview section. This could include a checklist of everything you need to cover during the session, such as documents or information the client needs to provide, instructions for completing certain sections, even your opening script.

2) Client’s Business

As a website developer, it’s important to understand the client’s business goals and challenges to create a website that meets their specific needs. During the client briefing session, it’s essential to ask the right questions to identify the client’s goals, target audience, unique selling points, and competition.

Questions about the client’s goals can include inquiries about what they hope to achieve with their website, whether they are looking to increase sales, generate leads, or increase brand awareness. Knowing the client’s goals will help you tailor your approach to meet these objectives.

Target audience questions should delve into the demographics of the client’s customers, their interests and behaviors, and what they are looking for in a website. By understanding the target audience, you can create a website that appeals to their audience’s needs and preferences.

Unique selling point questions can help you understand what sets the client’s business apart from the competition. This information will help you highlight these unique selling points on the website and create a competitive advantage for the client.

Finally, questions about the competition can help you understand what other businesses are offering and how the client’s website can differentiate itself. This information will help you create a website that stands out from the competition and attracts more customers to the client’s business.

Here is a list of questions you can include in this section of your NAQ:

Business Details

Prefill some of these details before your client briefing and ask the client to confirm these:

• Company name: The legal name of the client’s business entity.
• Contact person name: The name of the individual representing the client, such as the CEO or a manager.
• Address: The physical address of the client’s business, including the street address, city, state/province, and zip/postal code.
• Phone number: The primary phone number for the client’s business.
• Email address: The email address of the client’s business or the contact person.
• Website URL: The website address of the client’s business (if they have one).
• Social media handles: The client’s social media handles (if applicable), such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Industry: The industry that the client’s business operates in, such as finance, healthcare, technology, etc.
• Legal status: The legal status of the client’s business, such as LLC, corporation, sole proprietorship, etc.
• Revenue: The annual revenue of the client’s business.
• Number of employees: The number of employees working for the client’s business.
• Tax ID: The client’s tax identification number (if applicable).
• Payment information: The payment information that the client uses to pay for goods or services, such as a credit card, bank account, or payment service.
• Additional notes: Any additional notes or comments about the client that may be helpful for future reference.

Note: Some of this information may need to be asked or obtained at a later stage of the sales process if applicable (e.g. Revenue, Tax ID, Payment information).

About Your Business

• What is your business and what does your business do?
• What are your unique selling points (USPs)?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are the demographics of your target audience?
• What are the interests and behavior patterns of your target audience?
• What markets do you sell your products and services in? (Local, Regional, National, Global)
• Is your business seasonal?

Your Business Goals

• What are your primary business goals and objectives?
• What difficulties are you currently experiencing in achieving them?
• How do you envision an agency like ours will help you address these challenges?

Your Competition

• Who are your main competitors?
• What makes your business unique compared to your competitors?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ websites?
• What do you like and dislike about your competitors’ websites?

3) Client’s Website

Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire should take into account the fact that a potential client may or may not already have an existing website. If so, it is essential to conduct a thorough assessment of the client’s existing website. This will help you understand their website, identify any issues that need to be addressed, and ensure that the end product is tailored to their specific needs and goals.

Here is a list of questions to ask a potential client during the client briefing session about their website to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of their needs and requirements in terms of functionality, design, content, and performance:

Hosting & Domains

• What are your requirements for website hosting and maintenance?
• Do you need help with website hosting or domain registration?
• Do you have any registered domains?
• Have you purchased webhosting for your site?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• Do you have any additional domains?
• Do you have any big changes (like a migration) planned within the next 12 months?

General

• What is the purpose of your website?
• What are your primary business goals for this website? Is it achieving these goals?
• What is the estimated size of your website (number of pages)?
• Are there any legal or regulatory requirements that need to be considered for your website?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• What are the current issues or challenges you are experiencing with your website?

Design

• Do you have any specific design preferences or requirements for your website?
• Do you have any specific branding or visual identity guidelines that need to be followed?
• What is your preferred color scheme?
• Do you have any existing design elements that you would like us to incorporate?
• What is your preferred tone of voice for your website?

Functionality

• What features and functionalities do you want your website to have (e.g. eCommerce, contact forms, appointment scheduling, user registration, etc)?
• Do you require any special integrations (e.g. social media sharing, Google Analytics, email marketing software, etc)?
• What are your expectations for website performance (e.g. load time, speed, mobile responsiveness)?
• Do you have any specific security requirements for your website?
• Do you have a plan in place for website backups and security?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• Is your website mobile-friendly and responsive?
• How does your website perform in terms of loading speed?
• Is your website optimized for search engines?
• Do you have any analytics or tracking tools installed on your website?
• Has your website ever been negatively impacted by any core algorithm updates?

Content

• How will you be creating and managing content for your website?
• What type of media will you be using (e.g. images, videos, audio)?
• Will you be updating the website content yourself or do you need ongoing maintenance and updates?
• Do you need any help creating new content for your website?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• What content management system (CMS) are you currently using?
• How frequently do you update your website’s content?
• Do you have any existing website content that you would like to migrate to the new website?
• Do you have any existing content that you would like us to use?

Also…

If content services are part of your offering, see the additional “Content Marketing” section below for more questions you can ask.

4) Client’s Marketing Efforts

By understanding your client’s marketing efforts, you can ensure that the website you create for them will be optimized for success.

For example, you can ask about the client’s SEO efforts, including any past keyword research or optimization. It is also important to understand any PPC campaigns the client has run, as well as their social media presence and email marketing efforts. Additionally, you can inquire about any PR campaigns the client has been a part of, including media outlets they have been featured in and soundbites from their representatives.

Here is a list of questions you could ask a potential client during the client briefing session to identify their marketing efforts related to SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, PR, etc:

Marketing Goals

• What are your primary marketing objectives, and how do you plan to achieve these?
• Do you have a marketing plan in place for your website?
• Have you done any marketing research to identify your target audience’s needs, preferences, pain points, and online behavior?
• Have you done any competitive research to understand the strategies they are using to attract and retain customers?
• Do you have a content marketing strategy in place? If so, what types of content have you found to be most effective in engaging your target audience?
• What are your expectations for the role of your website in your overall marketing strategy, and how do you see it contributing to your business objectives?
• Do you have any particular marketing challenges or pain points that you would like us to address through the website development process?
• What increase in organic traffic (numbers or percentage) are you aiming for in the next six to 12 months?
• How many conversions (leads and sales) would you like to get in the next six to 12 months?
• Can you list any freelancers or agencies you have previously worked with? If so, what processes did you have in place with them that you would like for us to continue with, and what would you like to change?

Marketing Channels

• How do you plan to promote your content to attract visitors to your website?
• Have you ever invested in search engine optimization (SEO) services for your website? If so, what were the results?
• Do you currently use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to drive traffic to your website? If so, what platforms do you use, and what has been your experience with them?
• Have you established a presence on social media? If so, which platforms do you use, and how frequently do you post updates?
• Have you used email marketing to promote your business or website? If so, what has been your experience with it?
• Have you invested in public relations (PR) services to increase brand awareness or promote your products/services? If so, what has been the outcome? Can you provide us with the media outlets you have been published on and existing soundbites from your representatives?
• Are there any specific keywords or phrases that you would like your website to rank for in search engine results pages (SERPs)?
• How do you plan to allocate your marketing budget across different channels, and what portion of it are you willing to invest in website development and maintenance?
• Do you require any specific SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features or services?
• Do you need assistance with setting up and integrating social media accounts?
• What’s your top acquisition channel?

Marketing Performance

• How do you plan to measure the success of your website?
• How do you currently measure the success of your marketing efforts, and what metrics do you track?
• Are you currently doing anything to acquire links? Do you have a list of websites you’d like us to start with?
• Have you ever purchased any paid links or been part of any link schemes?
• Has your website experienced any issues with link penalties?
• What are the primary calls to action for your website?

Also…

Access to platforms:

• Do you have Google Analytics set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]
• Do you have Google Search Console set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]
• Do you have Google Ads set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]

Access to documents:

• We may need access to some existing documents to help us align our campaign with those already running. Can we get access to existing documents?
• Can you provide us with keyword research done by previous agencies/staff?
• Can you provide us with reports/work done by the previous agency?

5) Content Marketing

The success of a WordPress website is heavily dependent on the quality and relevance of its content. As a result, it’s important to understand the client’s content needs and preferences during the needs analysis. Understanding the client’s content preferences can help the web developer to create a website that aligns with the client’s brand identity and resonates with the target audience.

In addition to gleaning information about your client’s marketing efforts and goals using channels like paid advertising, social media, etc, understanding the client’s content needs and preferences is crucial for the success of their project.

During the needs analysis, it’s important to ask the client about the types of content they want to create and publish on their website. This could include blog posts, videos, infographics, and more. Additionally, the web developer should inquire about the topics that the client wants to cover, the frequency at which they want to publish content, and the overall tone and voice that they want to convey.

Here are some questions you can ask during the client briefing session to gain a better understanding of the client’s content marketing needs and preferences and create a website that supports those goals:

Content Creation

• What are the main topics that your audience is interested in?
• What topics do you want to cover in your content?
• What type of content do you plan on publishing on your website?
• What types of media do you plan on incorporating into your content, such as images, videos, or infographics?
• How often do you plan on publishing new content?
• Who will be responsible for creating content for your website?
• What tone and voice do you want your content to convey?
• Have you identified any gaps in your content that need to be addressed?
• Do you have any existing content that can be repurposed or updated for your new website?
• Are there any particular examples of content that you like or dislike?
• Do you have any existing content that you would like to repurpose or optimize for SEO?
• Will you need assistance creating content?

Content Management

• How do you plan to manage your content?

6) Client’s Budget and Timeline

Before starting any project, it is crucial to set clear expectations for the budget and timeline.

Asking the right questions about the client’s budget and their timeline expectations during the briefing session will help you and your client understand the scope of the project and plan accordingly to ensure the success of the web development project.

Here are some questions you can ask a potential client to gain a better understanding of their budget constraints, project scope, and timeline expectations to create a proposal tailored to their needs and budget:

Timeline

• What is the scope of the project?
• What is the timeline for completing this project?
• Are there any important deadlines that we should be aware of or strict deadlines that must be met?
• Are there any specific project milestones that you would like to achieve?
• How flexible are you with the project timeline?

Budget

• What is the budget you have allocated for this project? (Ideal, minimum, maximum)
• Have you worked with a website developer before? If so, what was your budget for that project?
• Are you looking for a developer to work on a fixed budget or hourly rate?
• What is the scope of the project?
• Are there any additional services or features that you would like to include in the project?
• Are there any budget constraints that we should be aware of?
• Do you have a preferred payment schedule or milestone-based payment plan?
• Is there any flexibility in the project scope, budget, or timeline?

7) Additional Notes

Create a space in your questionnaire for additional notes. Use this space to record your own thoughts, observations, contact names, things your client says that you can quote, etc.

What to Do Before and After Your Client Briefing Session

The Needs Analysis Presentation is an integral part of your overall sales process. Getting your presentation scripts and Needs Assessment Questionnaire right are vitally important.

But so is what you do before and after this stage.

Let’s look at what you can do to maximize the results from your client briefing sessions.

Before The Client Briefing Session

Here are the steps you should take before conducting your client briefing session to ensure that you are well-prepared and can conduct a successful needs analysis that will lead to a customized solution for your client’s website and marketing needs:

• Research the client’s business: Before meeting with the client, research their business and industry to understand their target audience, competitors, and market trends.
• Identify the client’s pain points: Determine the client’s pain points by reviewing their existing website, marketing materials, and customer feedback.
• Customize the questionnaire: Depending on the format of your NAQ, you may be able to customize the questionnaire for each client based on their specific business, website, and marketing needs. If not, a simple way to do this is to create your ideal NAQ and then simply cross off any unnecessary questions you can skip during the client briefing session, or add any specific questions to the “Additional Notes” section of the questionnaire.
• Set clear objectives for the meeting: Determine the objectives for the meeting with the potential client, such as understanding their goals, identifying their website requirements, and discussing their budget.
• Schedule the meeting: Schedule the client briefing meeting at a time that is convenient for both parties, and make sure the meeting is held in a distraction-free environment.
• Rehearse the presentation: Practise your presentation, review your scripts, and visualize how your client briefing meeting will run to create a positive and successful client experience.

After The Client Briefing Session

After conducting your needs analysis presentation with a potential client, make sure to complete the following steps to maximize your results:

• Analyze the information: Review and compile all the information gathered during the needs analysis session. This includes the client’s business goals, website requirements, marketing efforts, and budget. If your analysis qualifies the potential client as a prospect for your business, continue with the steps below. If not, proceed no further with this process. Instead, reach out to the client and explain why you don’t think you will be the best fit for their needs.
• Develop a proposal: Develop a comprehensive proposal that outlines your website development process, timeline, deliverables, and costs. The proposal should address the specific needs and goals of the client and should highlight how your WordPress web development services will help the client achieve their objectives.
• Customize the proposal: Once developed, customize it to address any specific concerns or questions the client raised during the needs analysis session. Ensure that the proposal reflects the client’s unique requirements and preferences.
• Provide a clear quote: A quote that clearly outlines the costs associated with your services should be provided. It should be transparent and easy to understand, and should reflect the services outlined in the proposal.
• Provide a timeline: Give the client a detailed timeline for the WordPress web development project that outlines key milestones and deliverables. The timeline should be realistic and achievable, and should reflect the client’s timeline expectations.
• Schedule the next meeting: Book in a meeting at a time that is convenient for both parties in a distraction-free environment where you will provide the client with a presentation of your solutions and recommendations.

Depending on how you structure your sales process, you may also want to:

• Schedule a follow-up call or meeting with the client to answer any outstanding questions or clarify any concerns or misunderstandings they may have about the proposal, quote, or timeline.
• Provide additional information or clarification as needed to ensure the client is fully informed and comfortable moving forward with the proposal, including project scope, timeline, and cost.
• Finalize the proposal, quote, and timeline with the client, confirm the client’s agreement and obtain any necessary signatures or approvals to move forward with the WordPress web development project.

Finally, you have asked clients lots of questions about their business, so be prepared if clients have some questions about your business.

If Questions Arise, Systematize

As a WordPress web developer, one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the success of your projects is to conduct a thorough needs analysis with your clients.  This will help you understand your client’s business, goals, existing website, marketing efforts, content needs, budget, and timeline.

Asking the right questions during the client briefing process is crucial for delivering the best solution that will not only meet their needs and budget, but hopefully also exceed their expectations.

Using a needs analysis tool like a Needs Assessment Questionnaire can save you valuable time during the client briefing and in the process of qualifying prospects for your business.

Additionally, it can help your business to identify potential roadblocks and challenges upfront, allowing you to develop a strategy that addresses these before they become a problem, keep your project on track, on budget, and on time, create customized WordPress solutions tailored to your clients’ unique needs, goals, and challenges, and establish a strong relationship with your client that can lead to repeat business, referrals, and long-term partnerships.

We hope you have found this information useful. Apply it to your business and watch your sales results improve!

Would you like to move qualified prospects through your web dev sales process more successfully, deliver consistently better results, and send your sales closing rates soaring? Of course you would, right?!

Well, good news – you’re in the right place to learn how! This no-hype guide to running a hyper successful client briefing session will show you how to boost sales of your web development services.

We’ll cover the following topics:

• Your Client Briefing Secret Weapon
• The 7 Stages of an Effective Sales System
• The Needs Analysis Presentation
• Designing Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire
• What to Do Before and After Your Client Briefing Session

Your Client Briefing Secret Weapon

Q: Which of the following is an absolutely essential “must-have” to conduct a highly successful client briefing session?

A) A fancy office on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking one of the 7 wonders of the world.

B) Sending out a stretch limo to pick up your prospective clients and drive them back after the briefing.

C) Serving clients chilled champagne, canapes, and caviar as soon as they arrive.

D) Having an impeccable sense of dress matching your suit with your hairstyle and the office decor.

Answer: None of the above.

To conduct a successful client briefing session, you need only two ears and …

A Needs Assessment Questionnaire

A Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ) is an essential tool for your WordPress web development services business.

It’s a crucial part of an effective sales process as it helps you to:

• Understand your client’s needs, preferences, and goals so you can provide them with the right solution for their needs.
• Ask the right questions and gather the necessary information about the project’s scope, timeline, and budget to provide a realistic plan for the project and an accurate estimate of the project’s costs.
• Identify any potential issues or concerns early in the sales process.
• Manage the client’s expectations.
• Qualify your prospect as being either a good fit for your services or not (yes, sometimes it’s better to let them go) and move them successfully through your sales process.
• Establish a strong relationship with the client based on trust and communication.

Your questionnaire should be carefully crafted to glean the necessary information from the client while being concise and easy to understand.

It should also be customized to the client’s specific needs and provide clear instructions on how to complete it correctly, so that anyone in your business can conduct a client briefing session successfully.

By demonstrating a deep understanding of the client’s needs and goals, you can create a website or deliver a project that will hopefully exceed your client’s expectations. This, in turn, can lead to satisfied clients who are more likely to recommend your services to others.

The NAQ, then, is not just any old “questionnaire.” It’s an integral and valuable part of your sales process.

So, before we look at how to develop an effective Needs Assessment Questionnaire that will help you get better results in your business, let’s briefly go over the different stages of an effective sales system so we can have a clear understanding of where the Needs Assessment Questionnaire fits in.

The 7 Stages of an Effective Sales Process

An effective sales process typically consists of the following stages:

• Stage 1: Initial Contact – This is the first stage of the sales process, where your potential client becomes aware of your service. They may visit your website, receive an email, phone call or recommendation, or see an advertisement, directory listing, etc.
• Stage 2: Needs Assessment – In this stage, you (or your sales rep) asks questions to understand the client’s needs, challenges, and goals. The aim of this stage is try to gather information about the client’s business, industry, and competition and qualify them as a potential client.
• Stage 3: Presentation – In this stage, you present a solution to the client’s problem or need. Your presentation may include a demonstration, samples of previous work, or a proposal.
• Stage 4: Objections – In this stage, the client may raise objections or concerns about your proposed solution. You (or your sales rep) then address these objections and provide additional information or clarification.
• Stage 5: Closing – In this stage, you (or your sales rep) ask for a decision. This may involve negotiating the price, terms, or delivery of the service.
• Stage 6: Follow-up – After the sale, your business follows up with the client to provide onboarding (e.g. training), ensure satisfaction with your service, and to address any issues that may arise. You may also look for opportunities to cross-sell or upsell other services.
• Stage 7: Referral – The final stage is when your satisfied client refers your business to others who may benefit from your services. This can be a powerful source of new business and growth for your company.

The sales process described above emphasizes the importance of understanding your client’s needs and providing a solution that meets those needs. It also highlights the need for ongoing customer engagement and relationship-building to drive long-term business success.

Your NAQ is vitally important to completing Stage 2 (Needs Assessment) of your sales process successfully.

This article focuses on the Needs Assessment stage of the sales process, so let’s take an in-depth look at the role your Needs Assessment Questionnaire plays in it.

The Needs Analysis Presentation

All you need to run an effective sales presentation is an effective script and an effective sales tool.

To illustrate this, let’s say that you are asked to give a slide presentation to an audience about a subject you know little to nothing about.

If you design your slide presentation well using the right content and the right slide sequence, all you would have to do is show a slide, read the words on the slide, show the next slide and repeat the process, and you could run a successful presentation.

More importantly, anyone in your business could consistently and repeatedly deliver a successful presentation by simply following the same process. Even if you went a little off-topic and ad-libbed every now and then, the tool (i.e. the slides) and its built-in script (i.e. the words on each slide) would still guide the presenter successfully through the entire process.

This is essentially what we are aiming to achieve in “Stage 2” of the sales system… an effective and repeatable presentation that delivers consistent results and moves your client successfully to the next stage.

Stage 2, then, is your Needs Analysis Presentation and consists of two main elements:

1. The presentation script
2. The Needs Assessment Questionnaire

The “presentation script” is what you say and do during your client briefing session to create the best user experience possible for your client.

This includes how you greet your potential client, what you do to make them feel comfortable (e.g. offer water, tea, or coffee), the words you use to start the briefing session, the questions you ask them during the briefing, how you structure the entire meeting so clients feel relaxed and open to share information that will allow you to assess their needs and qualify them as prospects, the words you use to end the meeting and set up the next stage of the process, and so on.

For example, the “opening script” for your Needs Analysis Presentation might go something like this:

“[Client name], as I mentioned to you when setting the appointment, the purpose of today’s meeting is for us to get a better idea of your business, what it does, what problems you need help solving, what kind of results you expect from your website, and so on.

I’ve done some research on your business and there are some questions I’d like to ask so we can get the full picture of what you need and how we can help you. This will probably take about 30 minutes or so.

I will then review the information carefully with my team and come back to you with a customized solution that will best suit your needs and your budget.

And if it turns out that we are not a perfect fit for working with each other, I’ll let you know and recommend a more suitable solution.

Are you ok for us to get started?”

***

After delivering the opening script above, you then complete the Needs Assessment Questionnaire with your client. This is the tool that will guide you successfully through your Needs Analysis Presentation.

After completing your NAQ, you then deliver the “closing script,” which could be something like this:

“[Client name], thank you… I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all of these questions. This gives me everything I need.

As I mentioned at the start of the meeting, give me a day or so to review this with my team. We’ll put together the solution we think will best deliver what you’re looking for and then we’ll meet again and go through everything in detail and answer any other questions you have.

Are you happy for us to set up the next meeting now?”

The above is Stage 2 in a nutshell. Its purpose is to help you set up the next appointment, where you deliver your solution and hopefully get the client’s business.

The more attention you put into designing and structuring your Needs Assessment Questionnaire, the better the client’s experience will be and the more smoothly, consistently, and effectively your client meetings will run.

Even better, if you plan to scale your business, you will be able to train anyone to run client briefings competently. All they will need to do is learn the opening and closing scripts and use the Needs Assessment Questionnaire to complete this stage.

Now that we understand what the Needs Assessment Questionnaire’s purpose is and where it fits into the sales process, let’s start building an effective NAQ for your business.

Designing Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire

Since there is no “one size fits all” way to build a web development business, this section will provide a general framework to help you design a Needs Assessment Questionnaire customized to suit your specific needs, with a list of sections and suggested questions you can include in your NAQ.

We’ll begin by looking at the steps involved in creating a NAQ.

How To Create An Effective NAQ For Your WordPress Web Development Business

Here are the steps involved in creating an effective Needs Assessment Questionnaire that will enable you to gather the critical information needed to deliver successful WordPress web development services to your clients:

1. Identify the key areas of information you’ll require: Begin by outlining the main areas of information you need to gather from the client, such as their business goals, target audience, website functionality, content needs, marketing strategies, budget, and timeline expectations.
2. Determine the types of questions to ask: Once you have identified the main areas of information you need to gather, determine the types of questions to ask. Open-ended questions are ideal as they encourage clients to provide detailed information, allowing you to better understand their needs and preferences.
3. Develop specific questions: Put together key questions for each area of information to gather more detailed insights. For example, to understand the client’s business goals and challenges, you could ask “What are your top business goals, and what challenges are you facing in achieving them?”
4. Organize the questionnaire: Ensure that the questions flow logically and are easy for clients to understand. Group similar questions together, and consider using subheadings to organize the questionnaire by topic.
5. Include instructions and explanations: Provide context for each question by explaining why you are asking it and how the answer will help you develop a customized solution for the client. The best way to do this is to turn this explanation into a “script” and write it into your questionnaire after each of the section headings and subheadings (e.g. “Now, I’d like to ask you questions about your current marketing efforts. This will help us understand what you are currently doing to generate new leads and drive traffic to your site, how these activities are performing, and if there are any issues that we would need to look at or improve…”). Including clear instructions and explanations will help clients understand the purpose of the questionnaire and what to expect in the web development process, and help you to fill it out.
6. Test the questionnaire: Try out your newly created questionnaire on a few clients to ensure the questions are clear, relevant, and useful. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure the questionnaire effectively gathers the information needed for successful web development projects.
7. Continuously review and refine: The questionnaire is not set in stone, so adjust and improve it over time based on feedback from clients and your team members. As your business evolves and new trends emerge, make sure that the questionnaire remains up-to-date and relevant.

So that’s the outline of the process. Now, let’s start putting a Needs Assessment Questionnaire together.

1) Decide What Information You Need

As mentioned above, the first step is to identify the key areas of information you need to gather from clients.

Mind-mapping the process at this stage can be useful for brainstorming ideas and organizing your thoughts.

2) Define Your NAQ Categories

Once you have a clear idea of what information you need from your client, the next step is to organize this information into question categories. These will form the main sections of your NAQ.

Think about the logical flow of your questionnaire’s sections, especially when planning subcategories, such as hosting and domains, design, functionality, and content for the website, or marketing-related questions.

For example, when discussing your client’s website needs, should you start by asking them questions about hosting and domains and then follow with questions about design, functionality, and content, or is there are better sequence that you feel would make the discussion flow more smoothly?

Also, consider things like:

• Which areas are absolutely essential to get information from the client? Where should you insert this into your NAQ so you can make sure it gets covered in case the meeting is cut short or goes off on a tangent, or the client starts to feel overwhelmed?
• Which areas of discussion could potentially blow out and take up a big chunk of the meeting? How can you design the process to quickly rein the client back into focus if this happens?

All of these details are very important when building a process flow for your NAQ’s design.

3) Decide on the Format

How are you going to run your Needs Analysis Presentation and record the client’s answers?

Will your client briefing sessions be done face-to-face, over the phone, online via video conferencing, or a combination of different styles?

Will your NAQ be printed with answers recorded as handwritten notes, in an electronic document, or a custom form application running from a phone, tablet, or laptop?

Probably the easiest and most effective way to start is using pen and paper. A printed questionnaire can serve as your prototype. This will allow you to review, tweak, test, and improve your sections, questions, question flow, accompanying instructions, fields for entering answers, etc, after every client briefing session.

Once you have a NAQ that delivers you consistent results, you can then turn your prototype into a format better suited for your business, like an electronic questionnaire or even an app. Or, just keep using a printed questionnaire if it works for you. Why complicate something when the simplest approach works?

4) Add Questions to Your NAQ Sections

Now that you have planned everything out, the next step is to add questions to each section of your NAQ.

Note: You don’t have to add every suggested question below to your NAQ. Just pick out the ones you need. Also, keep in mind that some questions may overlap for different sections, so include them where you think it would make the most sense for you to ask.

Let’s go over the main sections we suggest you consider including in your NAQ:

1) Overview

Your NAQ is an internal business document. It’s not something that you will leave with the client. So, it’s probably a good idea to add an Overview section. This could include a checklist of everything you need to cover during the session, such as documents or information the client needs to provide, instructions for completing certain sections, even your opening script.

2) Client’s Business

As a website developer, it’s important to understand the client’s business goals and challenges to create a website that meets their specific needs. During the client briefing session, it’s essential to ask the right questions to identify the client’s goals, target audience, unique selling points, and competition.

Questions about the client’s goals can include inquiries about what they hope to achieve with their website, whether they are looking to increase sales, generate leads, or increase brand awareness. Knowing the client’s goals will help you tailor your approach to meet these objectives.

Target audience questions should delve into the demographics of the client’s customers, their interests and behaviors, and what they are looking for in a website. By understanding the target audience, you can create a website that appeals to their audience’s needs and preferences.

Unique selling point questions can help you understand what sets the client’s business apart from the competition. This information will help you highlight these unique selling points on the website and create a competitive advantage for the client.

Finally, questions about the competition can help you understand what other businesses are offering and how the client’s website can differentiate itself. This information will help you create a website that stands out from the competition and attracts more customers to the client’s business.

Here is a list of questions you can include in this section of your NAQ:

Business Details

Prefill some of these details before your client briefing and ask the client to confirm these:

• Company name: The legal name of the client’s business entity.
• Contact person name: The name of the individual representing the client, such as the CEO or a manager.
• Address: The physical address of the client’s business, including the street address, city, state/province, and zip/postal code.
• Phone number: The primary phone number for the client’s business.
• Email address: The email address of the client’s business or the contact person.
• Website URL: The website address of the client’s business (if they have one).
• Social media handles: The client’s social media handles (if applicable), such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Industry: The industry that the client’s business operates in, such as finance, healthcare, technology, etc.
• Legal status: The legal status of the client’s business, such as LLC, corporation, sole proprietorship, etc.
• Revenue: The annual revenue of the client’s business.
• Number of employees: The number of employees working for the client’s business.
• Tax ID: The client’s tax identification number (if applicable).
• Payment information: The payment information that the client uses to pay for goods or services, such as a credit card, bank account, or payment service.
• Additional notes: Any additional notes or comments about the client that may be helpful for future reference.

Note: Some of this information may need to be asked or obtained at a later stage of the sales process if applicable (e.g. Revenue, Tax ID, Payment information).

About Your Business

• What is your business and what does your business do?
• What are your unique selling points (USPs)?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are the demographics of your target audience?
• What are the interests and behavior patterns of your target audience?
• What markets do you sell your products and services in? (Local, Regional, National, Global)
• Is your business seasonal?

Your Business Goals

• What are your primary business goals and objectives?
• What difficulties are you currently experiencing in achieving them?
• How do you envision an agency like ours will help you address these challenges?

Your Competition

• Who are your main competitors?
• What makes your business unique compared to your competitors?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ websites?
• What do you like and dislike about your competitors’ websites?

3) Client’s Website

Your Needs Assessment Questionnaire should take into account the fact that a potential client may or may not already have an existing website. If so, it is essential to conduct a thorough assessment of the client’s existing website. This will help you understand their website, identify any issues that need to be addressed, and ensure that the end product is tailored to their specific needs and goals.

Here is a list of questions to ask a potential client during the client briefing session about their website to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of their needs and requirements in terms of functionality, design, content, and performance:

Hosting & Domains

• What are your requirements for website hosting and maintenance?
• Do you need help with website hosting or domain registration?
• Do you have any registered domains?
• Have you purchased webhosting for your site?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• Do you have any additional domains?
• Do you have any big changes (like a migration) planned within the next 12 months?

General

• What is the purpose of your website?
• What are your primary business goals for this website? Is it achieving these goals?
• What is the estimated size of your website (number of pages)?
• Are there any legal or regulatory requirements that need to be considered for your website?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• What are the current issues or challenges you are experiencing with your website?

Design

• Do you have any specific design preferences or requirements for your website?
• Do you have any specific branding or visual identity guidelines that need to be followed?
• What is your preferred color scheme?
• Do you have any existing design elements that you would like us to incorporate?
• What is your preferred tone of voice for your website?

Functionality

• What features and functionalities do you want your website to have (e.g. eCommerce, contact forms, appointment scheduling, user registration, etc)?
• Do you require any special integrations (e.g. social media sharing, Google Analytics, email marketing software, etc)?
• What are your expectations for website performance (e.g. load time, speed, mobile responsiveness)?
• Do you have any specific security requirements for your website?
• Do you have a plan in place for website backups and security?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• Is your website mobile-friendly and responsive?
• How does your website perform in terms of loading speed?
• Is your website optimized for search engines?
• Do you have any analytics or tracking tools installed on your website?
• Has your website ever been negatively impacted by any core algorithm updates?

Content

• How will you be creating and managing content for your website?
• What type of media will you be using (e.g. images, videos, audio)?
• Will you be updating the website content yourself or do you need ongoing maintenance and updates?
• Do you need any help creating new content for your website?

For existing websites, include the following questions:

• What content management system (CMS) are you currently using?
• How frequently do you update your website’s content?
• Do you have any existing website content that you would like to migrate to the new website?
• Do you have any existing content that you would like us to use?

Also…

If content services are part of your offering, see the additional “Content Marketing” section below for more questions you can ask.

4) Client’s Marketing Efforts

By understanding your client’s marketing efforts, you can ensure that the website you create for them will be optimized for success.

For example, you can ask about the client’s SEO efforts, including any past keyword research or optimization. It is also important to understand any PPC campaigns the client has run, as well as their social media presence and email marketing efforts. Additionally, you can inquire about any PR campaigns the client has been a part of, including media outlets they have been featured in and soundbites from their representatives.

Here is a list of questions you could ask a potential client during the client briefing session to identify their marketing efforts related to SEO, PPC, social media, email marketing, PR, etc:

Marketing Goals

• What are your primary marketing objectives, and how do you plan to achieve these?
• Do you have a marketing plan in place for your website?
• Have you done any marketing research to identify your target audience’s needs, preferences, pain points, and online behavior?
• Have you done any competitive research to understand the strategies they are using to attract and retain customers?
• Do you have a content marketing strategy in place? If so, what types of content have you found to be most effective in engaging your target audience?
• What are your expectations for the role of your website in your overall marketing strategy, and how do you see it contributing to your business objectives?
• Do you have any particular marketing challenges or pain points that you would like us to address through the website development process?
• What increase in organic traffic (numbers or percentage) are you aiming for in the next six to 12 months?
• How many conversions (leads and sales) would you like to get in the next six to 12 months?
• Can you list any freelancers or agencies you have previously worked with? If so, what processes did you have in place with them that you would like for us to continue with, and what would you like to change?

Marketing Channels

• How do you plan to promote your content to attract visitors to your website?
• Have you ever invested in search engine optimization (SEO) services for your website? If so, what were the results?
• Do you currently use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to drive traffic to your website? If so, what platforms do you use, and what has been your experience with them?
• Have you established a presence on social media? If so, which platforms do you use, and how frequently do you post updates?
• Have you used email marketing to promote your business or website? If so, what has been your experience with it?
• Have you invested in public relations (PR) services to increase brand awareness or promote your products/services? If so, what has been the outcome? Can you provide us with the media outlets you have been published on and existing soundbites from your representatives?
• Are there any specific keywords or phrases that you would like your website to rank for in search engine results pages (SERPs)?
• How do you plan to allocate your marketing budget across different channels, and what portion of it are you willing to invest in website development and maintenance?
• Do you require any specific SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features or services?
• Do you need assistance with setting up and integrating social media accounts?
• What’s your top acquisition channel?

Marketing Performance

• How do you plan to measure the success of your website?
• How do you currently measure the success of your marketing efforts, and what metrics do you track?
• Are you currently doing anything to acquire links? Do you have a list of websites you’d like us to start with?
• Have you ever purchased any paid links or been part of any link schemes?
• Has your website experienced any issues with link penalties?
• What are the primary calls to action for your website?

Also…

Access to platforms:

• Do you have Google Analytics set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]
• Do you have Google Search Console set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]
• Do you have Google Ads set up on your website? If so, please share access with [your email]

Access to documents:

• We may need access to some existing documents to help us align our campaign with those already running. Can we get access to existing documents?
• Can you provide us with keyword research done by previous agencies/staff?
• Can you provide us with reports/work done by the previous agency?

5) Content Marketing

The success of a WordPress website is heavily dependent on the quality and relevance of its content. As a result, it’s important to understand the client’s content needs and preferences during the needs analysis. Understanding the client’s content preferences can help the web developer to create a website that aligns with the client’s brand identity and resonates with the target audience.

In addition to gleaning information about your client’s marketing efforts and goals using channels like paid advertising, social media, etc, understanding the client’s content needs and preferences is crucial for the success of their project.

During the needs analysis, it’s important to ask the client about the types of content they want to create and publish on their website. This could include blog posts, videos, infographics, and more. Additionally, the web developer should inquire about the topics that the client wants to cover, the frequency at which they want to publish content, and the overall tone and voice that they want to convey.

Here are some questions you can ask during the client briefing session to gain a better understanding of the client’s content marketing needs and preferences and create a website that supports those goals:

Content Creation

• What are the main topics that your audience is interested in?
• What topics do you want to cover in your content?
• What type of content do you plan on publishing on your website?
• What types of media do you plan on incorporating into your content, such as images, videos, or infographics?
• How often do you plan on publishing new content?
• Who will be responsible for creating content for your website?
• What tone and voice do you want your content to convey?
• Have you identified any gaps in your content that need to be addressed?
• Do you have any existing content that can be repurposed or updated for your new website?
• Are there any particular examples of content that you like or dislike?
• Do you have any existing content that you would like to repurpose or optimize for SEO?
• Will you need assistance creating content?

Content Management

• How do you plan to manage your content?

6) Client’s Budget and Timeline

Before starting any project, it is crucial to set clear expectations for the budget and timeline.

Asking the right questions about the client’s budget and their timeline expectations during the briefing session will help you and your client understand the scope of the project and plan accordingly to ensure the success of the web development project.

Here are some questions you can ask a potential client to gain a better understanding of their budget constraints, project scope, and timeline expectations to create a proposal tailored to their needs and budget:

Timeline

• What is the scope of the project?
• What is the timeline for completing this project?
• Are there any important deadlines that we should be aware of or strict deadlines that must be met?
• Are there any specific project milestones that you would like to achieve?
• How flexible are you with the project timeline?

Budget

• What is the budget you have allocated for this project? (Ideal, minimum, maximum)
• Have you worked with a website developer before? If so, what was your budget for that project?
• Are you looking for a developer to work on a fixed budget or hourly rate?
• What is the scope of the project?
• Are there any additional services or features that you would like to include in the project?
• Are there any budget constraints that we should be aware of?
• Do you have a preferred payment schedule or milestone-based payment plan?
• Is there any flexibility in the project scope, budget, or timeline?

7) Additional Notes

Create a space in your questionnaire for additional notes. Use this space to record your own thoughts, observations, contact names, things your client says that you can quote, etc.

What to Do Before and After Your Client Briefing Session

The Needs Analysis Presentation is an integral part of your overall sales process. Getting your presentation scripts and Needs Assessment Questionnaire right are vitally important.

But so is what you do before and after this stage.

Let’s look at what you can do to maximize the results from your client briefing sessions.

Before The Client Briefing Session

Here are the steps you should take before conducting your client briefing session to ensure that you are well-prepared and can conduct a successful needs analysis that will lead to a customized solution for your client’s website and marketing needs:

• Research the client’s business: Before meeting with the client, research their business and industry to understand their target audience, competitors, and market trends.
• Identify the client’s pain points: Determine the client’s pain points by reviewing their existing website, marketing materials, and customer feedback.
• Customize the questionnaire: Depending on the format of your NAQ, you may be able to customize the questionnaire for each client based on their specific business, website, and marketing needs. If not, a simple way to do this is to create your ideal NAQ and then simply cross off any unnecessary questions you can skip during the client briefing session, or add any specific questions to the “Additional Notes” section of the questionnaire.
• Set clear objectives for the meeting: Determine the objectives for the meeting with the potential client, such as understanding their goals, identifying their website requirements, and discussing their budget.
• Schedule the meeting: Schedule the client briefing meeting at a time that is convenient for both parties, and make sure the meeting is held in a distraction-free environment.
• Rehearse the presentation: Practise your presentation, review your scripts, and visualize how your client briefing meeting will run to create a positive and successful client experience.

After The Client Briefing Session

After conducting your needs analysis presentation with a potential client, make sure to complete the following steps to maximize your results:

• Analyze the information: Review and compile all the information gathered during the needs analysis session. This includes the client’s business goals, website requirements, marketing efforts, and budget. If your analysis qualifies the potential client as a prospect for your business, continue with the steps below. If not, proceed no further with this process. Instead, reach out to the client and explain why you don’t think you will be the best fit for their needs.
• Develop a proposal: Develop a comprehensive proposal that outlines your website development process, timeline, deliverables, and costs. The proposal should address the specific needs and goals of the client and should highlight how your WordPress web development services will help the client achieve their objectives.
• Customize the proposal: Once developed, customize it to address any specific concerns or questions the client raised during the needs analysis session. Ensure that the proposal reflects the client’s unique requirements and preferences.
• Provide a clear quote: A quote that clearly outlines the costs associated with your services should be provided. It should be transparent and easy to understand, and should reflect the services outlined in the proposal.
• Provide a timeline: Give the client a detailed timeline for the WordPress web development project that outlines key milestones and deliverables. The timeline should be realistic and achievable, and should reflect the client’s timeline expectations.
• Schedule the next meeting: Book in a meeting at a time that is convenient for both parties in a distraction-free environment where you will provide the client with a presentation of your solutions and recommendations.

Depending on how you structure your sales process, you may also want to:

• Schedule a follow-up call or meeting with the client to answer any outstanding questions or clarify any concerns or misunderstandings they may have about the proposal, quote, or timeline.
• Provide additional information or clarification as needed to ensure the client is fully informed and comfortable moving forward with the proposal, including project scope, timeline, and cost.
• Finalize the proposal, quote, and timeline with the client, confirm the client’s agreement and obtain any necessary signatures or approvals to move forward with the WordPress web development project.

Finally, you have asked clients lots of questions about their business, so be prepared if clients have some questions about your business.

If Questions Arise, Systematize

As a WordPress web developer, one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the success of your projects is to conduct a thorough needs analysis with your clients.  This will help you understand your client’s business, goals, existing website, marketing efforts, content needs, budget, and timeline.

Asking the right questions during the client briefing process is crucial for delivering the best solution that will not only meet their needs and budget, but hopefully also exceed their expectations.

Using a needs analysis tool like a Needs Assessment Questionnaire can save you valuable time during the client briefing and in the process of qualifying prospects for your business.

Additionally, it can help your business to identify potential roadblocks and challenges upfront, allowing you to develop a strategy that addresses these before they become a problem, keep your project on track, on budget, and on time, create customized WordPress solutions tailored to your clients’ unique needs, goals, and challenges, and establish a strong relationship with your client that can lead to repeat business, referrals, and long-term partnerships.

We hope you have found this information useful. Apply it to your business and watch your sales results improve!

WordPress offers endless possibilities for designing and customizing your website. In this article, we’ll share some practical CSS tips specifically for WordPress users, from styling your header to tweaking your fonts.

While WordPress offers plenty of pre-made themes and templates, sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands and make customizations with CSS.

If you have ever asked any of these questions as you work on your WordPress site:

• “How do I remove the ‘read more’ button?”
• “How can I change the color of this link?”
• “How do I make this link unclickable but keep the text on the page?”

…then read on to learn some valuable CSS tricks for your website.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover:

• WordPress CSS Tips
  1. Center an element horizontally and vertically
  2. Change the link color
  3. Remove a link
  4. Disable a link (link stays visible but users can’t click on it)
  5. Change the color of links on hover
  6. Style links
  7. Style a button
  8. Change the font of a section
  9. Create a sticky header
  10. Create a sticky header with a shadow effect
  11. Add a background color to a section
  12. Change the background color of the body
  13. Change the color of a specific word or phrase
  14. Create a border around an image
  15. Create a hover effect on an image
  16. Style a form
  17. Create a responsive layout
• Take Your CSS Skills to The Next Level

WordPress CSS Tips

The only two things you need to know to implement these tips are:

• How CSS works
• How to add CSS to WordPress

Note: CSS is not risky, so if you make a mistake you can just delete your code or modify it… it won’t break anything 🙂

With that out of the way, let’s jump straight into some practical CSS tips with examples so you can try it on your own WordPress site:

Center an element horizontally and vertically

To center an element (such as an image, text or a div) both horizontally and vertically, use the following CSS code:

.element {
position: relative;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}

In this code, the position: relative property is used to position the element relative to its nearest positioned ancestor. The top: 50% and left: 50% properties move the element to the center of its container. Finally, the transform: translate(-50%, -50%) property centers the element both horizontally and vertically by moving it back 50% of its own width and height.

Change the link color

.item-class{
color : blue;
}

You can use colors like white, black, blue, red… but you might want to use specific colors.

In this case, you can do it like this:

.item-class{
color : #F7F7F7;
}

If you’re looking to create a color palette for your website design, try using the Paletton tool. It’s very helpful!

Note: If you want to combine elements, it is pretty easy.

For example, let’s say you want to disable the click and put the link back in black.

You can use this code:

.item-class{
pointer-events : none;
color : black;
}

Remove a link

.item-class{
display : none;
}

Note: Sometimes you may need to put an a after your class to make it work, like this:

.item-class a{
display : none;
}

Try adding the a or experimenting without it to see if your code is working or not. Just add your CSS, save, and check your frontend.

Disable a link (link stays visible but users can’t click on it)

Note: It is always better to modify HTML in order to do this, but if CSS might be easier or the only solution possible, use this code:

.item-class{
pointer-events: none;
}

Change the color of links on hover

You can make links change color when a user hovers over them by using the following CSS code:

a:hover {
color: red;
}

In this code, the a:hover selector targets all links on the page that the user is currently hovering over. The color: red property changes the color of the text to red.

Style links

To style links on your website, use the following CSS code:

a {
color: #0077cc;
text-decoration: none;
border-bottom: 1px solid #0077cc;
transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out;
}

a:hover {
color: #005299;
border-bottom: 1px solid #005299;
}

In this code, the a selector is used to style all links on the page. The color property sets the color of the links, and the text-decoration property removes the default underline. The border-bottom property adds a subtle underline effect. The transition property creates a smooth transition effect when the user hovers over the link. The a:hover selector is used to style the link when the user hovers over it.

Style a button

Use the following code to style a button:

.button {
background-color: #4CAF50; /* Green */
border: none;
color: white;
padding: 15px 32px;
text-align: center;
text-decoration: none;
display: inline-block;
font-size: 16px;
margin: 4px 2px;
cursor: pointer;
}

In this code, the various properties are used to style a button, including the background-color and color properties for the button’s appearance, the padding property for the button’s size, and the cursor property to change the mouse pointer when hovering over the button.

Change the font of a section

Change the font of a section of your website using the following CSS code:

.section {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 1.5;
}

In this code, the font-family property sets the font to Arial or a similar sans-serif font, the font-size property sets the font size to 16 pixels, and the line-height property sets the spacing between lines of text to 1.5 times the font size.

Create a sticky header

If you want to create a header that stays fixed to the top of the page as the user scrolls, you can use the following CSS code:

.header {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left:0;
width: 100%;
background-color: #333;
color: #fff;
z-index: 9999;
}

In this code, the position: fixed property fixes the header to the top of the viewport, and the top: 0 property positions it at the very top of the page. The width: 100% property ensures the header spans the entire width of the viewport. The background-color, color are used to style the header, and the z-index: 9999 property ensures that the header appears on top of all other elements on the page.

Create a sticky header with a shadow effect

To create a sticky header with a shadow effect that stays fixed to the top of the page as the user scrolls, use this CSS code:

header {
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
background-color: #fff;
z-index: 999;
box-shadow: 0 2px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
}

.content {
padding-top: 100px;
}

In this code, the position: fixed property is used to fix the header to the top of the page. The top: 0 and left: 0 properties position the header at the top-left corner of the page. The width: 100% property sets the width of the header to be the full width of the page. The background-color property sets the background color of the header, and the z-index property ensures that the header appears on top of other elements on the page. Finally, the box-shadow property adds a subtle shadow effect to the header. The .content selector is used to add padding to the top of the page so that the content doesn’t get covered by the fixed header.

Add a background color to a section

Do you want to add a background color to a section of your website? Then use the following CSS code:

.section {
background-color: #f2f2f2;
padding: 20px;
}

In this code, the background-color: #f2f2f2 property sets the background color to a light gray, and the padding: 20px property adds 20 pixels of space around the content within the section.

Change the background color of the body

Add this code to change the background color of the body of your website:

body {
background-color: #f5f5f5;
}

In this code, the background-color property sets the background color to a light gray.

Change the color of a specific word or phrase

To change the color of a specific word or phrase within a block of text, you can use the following CSS code:

p span {
color: red;
}

In this code, the p span selector targets any span element that appears within a p element. You can then wrap the word or phrase you want to target with a span element in your HTML, like this:

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, <span>consectetur adipiscing elit</span>. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.</p>

This would make the phrase “consectetur adipiscing elit” appear in red.

Create a border around an image

Here’s how to add a border around an image:

img {
border: 2px solid #ccc;
}

In this code, the border property sets the width, style, and color of the border. The 2px value sets the width of the border to 2 pixels, solid sets the style to a solid line, and #ccc sets the color to a light gray.

Create a hover effect on an image

Use this code snippet to create a hover effect on an image:

img:hover {
opacity: 0.8;
}

In this code, the img:hover selector targets the image when the user hovers over it. The opacity property sets the transparency of the image. In this case, the value is set to 0.8, making the image slightly transparent when the user hovers over it.

Style a form

Style a form on your website with the following CSS code:

form {
background-color: #f2f2f2;
padding: 20px;
border-radius: 5px;
}

form label {
display: block;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}

form input[type="text"], form input[type="email"], form textarea {
width: 100%;
padding: 10px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
border: none;
border-radius: 3px;
box-shadow: 0 0 5px #ccc;
}

form input[type="submit"] {
background-color: #4CAF50;
border: none;
color: #fff;
padding: 10px 20px;
border-radius: 3px;
cursor: pointer;
}

In this code, the various properties are used to style a form, including the background-color, padding, and border-radius properties for the overall appearance of the form. The form label selector is used to style the labels associated with each form field. The form input[type="text"], form input[type="email"], form textarea selector is used to style the various input fields in the form. The form input[type="submit"] selector is used to style the submit button.

Create a responsive layout

If you want to create a responsive layout that adjusts to different screen sizes, use the following CSS code:

@media (max-width: 768px) {
/* Styles for screens smaller than 768px */
.container {
width: 100%;
}

.menu {
display: none;
}

.mobile-menu {
display: block;
}
}

@media (min-width: 769px) {
/* Styles for screens larger than 768px */
.container {
width: 768px;
margin: 0 auto;
}

.menu {
display: block;
}

.mobile-menu {
display: none;
}
}

In this code, the @media rule is used to specify different styles for different screen sizes. The first @media rule targets screens with a maximum width of 768px, and the second @media rule targets screens with a minimum width of 769px. The various selectors within each @media rule are used to adjust the layout and appearance of the page based on the screen size.

One more CSS tip…

You might find your code not working even though you did everything correctly. This might be because there is already a CSS code saying something different than your code.

To override this, just add !important like this:

.item-class{
pointer-events: none !important;
}

These are just a few examples of practical ways you can use CSS to enhance your WordPress website.

With CSS, the possibilities for customizing your website’s appearance are virtually endless. By learning and applying these tips, you can create a website that is not only visually appealing but also optimized for a better user experience.

Take Your CSS Skills to The Next Level

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro web developer or web designer, if you want to dive deeper into using CSS with WordPress, these additional CSS tutorials will help you expand your knowledge and skills:

• 10 Simple Tips For Learning CSS For WordPress – Practical tips for beginners who want to learn CSS specifically for use with WordPress. It covers everything from understanding CSS syntax to using CSS frameworks.
• Learning and Referencing CSS for WordPress – A comprehensive guide to learning and referencing CSS specifically for use with WordPress. It covers topics like using the WordPress Customizer, understanding CSS selectors, and working with child themes.
• 7 Best Sites to Find CSS Snippets and Inspiration – Looking for some inspiration for your CSS code? This article lists seven websites that offer CSS snippets and examples that you can use in your own WordPress website.
• How To Style Images on Your WordPress Website with CSS – Images are an important part of any website, and this article offers tips on how to style them using CSS. You’ll learn how to add borders, change image size and alignment, and more.
• How to Add Custom CSS to Your WordPress Site – This article walks you through the process of adding custom CSS to your WordPress website, using both the built-in Customizer and plugins.
• Free CSS Plugins For Live Editing Your WordPress Site – This article lists some free CSS plugins that allow you to live edit your WordPress website, making it easier to see the effects of your CSS changes in real-time.
• 14 Cool CSS Animation Tools For WordPress – If you want to add some animations to your WordPress website using CSS, this article lists some cool tools you can use to do it.
• Add Masonry and Grid Layouts to Your WordPress Site Using CSS – This article explains how to use CSS to add masonry and grid layouts to your WordPress website, creating a more visually appealing design.
• 25 Expert Tips for Cleaner CSS Coding for WordPress – If you want to improve the cleanliness and readability of your CSS code, this article offers 25 expert tips for doing just that.
• 25 Pro Tips for Improving Your CSS Workflow – Tips for improving your CSS workflow, from using CSS preprocessors to using browser developer tools to debug your code.

Click on the links to learn more and start improving your WordPress website today.

Contributors

Thank you to WPMU DEV member Antoine from Incensy for contributing the idea for this post and several of the CSS examples used above.  Check out Incensy’s Agency partner profile for more details.

***

Note: We do not accept articles from external sources. WPMU DEV members, however, may contribute ideas and suggestions for tutorials and articles on our blog via the Blog XChange.

If you’re running a larger WordPress site, you may be facing performance challenges that can impact user experience and search engine rankings. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to improve your site’s speed and performance. This article covers some of the most common performance challenges for larger WordPress sites and provides tips and solutions for addressing these.

Growing pains… some should be so lucky to have them!

Let’s talk about how to manage a WordPress site that is growing too quickly too soon and causing you or your clients all sorts of pains and problems.

If the issue is temporary, such as dealing with an unexpected traffic spike from a post gone viral (another thing we should be so lucky to experience!), then knowing how to scale your WordPress site when traffic soars can fix this.

However, if problems persist, it may take more than a couple of aspirins and calling the doctor in the morning to make the headaches go away.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• WordPress Enterprise Development Challenges
• Common Performance Challenges for Large WordPress Sites
  • WordPress Database
  • WordPress Core, Themes, and Plugins
  • Site Content
  • Hosting

WordPress Enterprise Development Challenges

Q: How complex can you make a WordPress site?

A: Very.

When it comes to building large and complex sites, WordPress’s capacity to handle it is not an issue. As WordPress enterprise developer and global SME business adviser Mario Peshev states in his excellent article on building large and complex sites using WordPress…

“WordPress is a proven CMS that handles various applications handling millions of users and tens or even 100M views a month.”

As Mario also states…

“Scaling from 10M to 50M is feasible, 50M to 100M is challenging, 100M–200M is quite complex and 200M+ may require some serious engineering effort.”

So, the capacity of the WordPress CMS platform to handle large and complex sites is not a problem.

The issue is having the skills to handle WordPress enterprise development challenges.

As most developers know, WordPress is not only a widely popular content management system known for its flexibility, ease of use, and affordability, but it is also an excellent platform for small businesses and startups that want to establish a web presence quickly and easily.

However, when it comes to enterprise-grade WordPress development, the amount of information available is as scarce as a developer who hasn’t resorted to cursing loudly at their code editor at least once.

So, before we get into diagnosing the challenges and issues of dealing with large WordPress sites, let’s explore some of the challenges of finding relevant information on WordPress enterprise development.

Here is a summary of the points Mario Peshev makes in his article…

Scarcity of Information on Enterprise-Grade WordPress Development

One of the main reasons why information on enterprise-grade WordPress development is scarce is that only a handful of agencies specialize in building WordPress platforms, applications, plugins, or performing migrations and integrations for the enterprise.

Most vendors profile in small business websites, and only a small chunk of the service providers work with enterprises.

Furthermore, those consultants and agencies often don’t have the time and resources to write tutorials and share their know-how with the industry, or they just don’t care, especially more hardcore engineers who don’t want to bother.

Another reason why information on WordPress enterprise development is limited is that WordPress is often not the core application that enterprises use in the first place. It’s another obstacle for many, like working on the front-end interface as 1% of the main platform running behind the scenes.

However, WordPress developers who want to bid on enterprise projects can focus on several different areas to enhance their expertise.

Focus on Different Areas for Enhancing Expertise

The first area that WordPress developers should focus on is studying the WordPress Core, APIs, and the surrounding ecosystem in-depth. This will give developers a deeper understanding of the platform and how it works.

They should also make sure that they’re comfortable with WordPress coding standards and best practices. This will ensure that the code they write is maintainable and easy to read.

The second area that WordPress developers should focus on is practicing in the main technical areas that enterprises care about, such as performance, security, scalability, and backward compatibility.

Enterprises have high expectations, and it’s essential to demonstrate that you have the expertise to meet their requirements.

These WordPress development resources will help you gain these valuable skills and expertise:

• From WordPress Beginner to WordPress Pro: 200+ Career-Boosting Resources
• Courses that Turn WordPress Users into Developers

Strategic Players in the Field

Hosting vendors are strategic players in the field and occasionally work with high-scale applications. Developers can browse their resources and follow their blogs, knowledge base articles, and the like. WordPress is a platform built on top of PHP and SQL, front-end served through HTML, CSS, JavaScript. It runs on a web server like Apache or Nginx using mod_php or php-fpm, connected to a MySQL database on a Linux server.

Most of the heavy lifting for enterprises happens on top of those layers. Therefore, it makes sense to dive deeper into their own communities and resources stressing on those topics.

Follow WordPress Core Contributors and Employees

It always helps to follow WordPress Core contributors, employees at enterprise-grade companies, and the blogs of the leading agencies working with enterprises. You may find some relevant case studies, interviews with clients, or other top engineers that could help you improve even further.

Now that we’ve looked at the first challenges, which is acquiring the expertise to handle large and complex WordPress sites and meeting the expectations of enterprises, let’s turn to addressing common performance issues you may experience working with large WordPress sites.

Common Performance Challenges for Large WordPress Sites

WordPress is used by some of the biggest and most well-known companies, celebrities, and brands in the world, like Intel, Pepsi Cola, PlayStation, American Express, TechCrunch, Fisher-Price, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Usain Bolt, and many more.

Someone has to look after these large sites… why not you?

While browsing through WPMU DEV’s member forums (which, by the way, is a treasure trove of information for web developers), I came across this post from WPMU DEV member Charly Leetham, which I am reproducing in full below:

***

I was contacted by a long term client asking for assistance with their client.

The end customer is setting up a rather large website in WordPress and they were having no end of difficulties in keeping the site running. It was so bad, that they had to reboot their Amazon EC2 instance regularly (several times a day regularly).

With trepidation I agreed to take a look and see if I could help. What I found has left me … saddened. For the client, mostly.

The site:

• Database: 4Gigabytes (after optimization)
• Posts / Pages and other content: Over 900K entries.

This is not a small site.

It was built in Elementor which initially left me concerned, as I know that Elementor is resource hungry.

The EC2 instance was provisioned with 140 Gig storage and 32 Gig memory. More than enough, right? One would think so.

The business had been moved to EC2 by a consultant who had promised them it would improve their performance. Then they told them that the reason the instance kept hanging was because of the high number of transients that were being created.

They created a cron job that deleted the transients every hour and with very little improvement.

I’ve found a number of things during my investigations but the three most concerning things are:

1. Although the server was provisioned with 32G of memory. PHP had been limited 2G and WordPress had been limited to 40M.

It’s no wonder they were having trouble.

Increasing these limits has stopped the hanging but we’re still experiencing memory overflows.

2. The database was provisioned on the same server.

Splitting the database onto a RDS (remote database server) should provide more performance increases.

3. No optimization or performance improvement work had been done.

By implementing Hummingbird, I’ve been able to improve the load time of the site and that’s without doing anything really hard core. That’s still to come.

The main thing I want to highlight for others here, is that it’s the incremental knowledge you bring to the table when working with clients.

Yes, people can build their own WordPress sites but few people can really make them hum. That takes experience and a lot of work.

***

Charly’s forum post is a great example of some of the typical performance challenges you can expect when working with larger WordPress sites and provides a number of useful insights into handling these.

To address these challenges, let’s first summarize the main technical issues Charly described when looking at this client’s site:

1. The end customer is setting up a rather large website in WordPress with over 900k entries and a 4GB database after optimization, which is not a small site.
2. The website was built in Elementor, which is resource-hungry and requires a lot of server resources.
3. The EC2 instance was provisioned with 140GB storage and 32GB memory, but PHP had been limited to 2GB and WordPress had been limited to 40MB, causing performance issues and memory overflows.
4. The database was provisioned on the same server, which caused performance issues. Splitting it onto a remote database server should provide performance improvements.
5. No optimization or performance improvement work had been done. By implementing Hummingbird, Charly was able to improve the site’s load time.
6. The incremental knowledge and experience brought to the table by an experienced web developer is crucial for optimizing and improving the performance of WordPress sites, which can be complex and require a lot of work to make them run smoothly.

We’ve already addressed point #6, so let’s go through the other issues on the list above.

Large WordPress Site Performance Issue #1 – WordPress Database

As your WordPress site grows, so does the size of its database. Your WordPress database can become quite large and may start causing some issues.

Managing a large WordPress database can be a daunting task, so let’s take a look at some of the challenges, best practices, strategies, and solutions for managing your WordPress database on larger sites.

The challenges of having a large WordPress database include:

• Slow page load times: A large database can slow down your website, making it difficult for visitors to load pages quickly.
• Backup and restore issues: Backing up and restoring a large database can be a challenge, and it may take a long time to complete the process.
• Database corruption: A large database can be more prone to corruption, which can cause data loss and other issues.
• Difficulty in database maintenance: Maintaining a large database may require more resources and expertise to keep it running smoothly.

Here are some strategies and best practices managing WordPress databases on larger sites:

Initial Configuration

Before you even start thinking about managing your database, it’s important to make sure that it’s set up correctly. When you install WordPress, it creates a new database for you. However, if you’re running a large site, you may want to consider using a separate database server. This will help to improve performance and reduce the load on your web server.

When configuring your database, it’s important to choose the right settings. In particular, you’ll want to pay attention to the database character set and collation. These settings can affect how your content is displayed on your site, so it’s important to get them right from the start.

Where to Keep the Databases

When managing a large WordPress site, you’ll want to think carefully about where to keep your databases.

There are a few different options to consider:

• Local Database: You can keep your database on the same server as your website. This is the simplest and most common option, but it can lead to performance issues as your site grows, as Charly referred to in the client example above.
• Remote Database: You can keep your database on a separate server, either within your own network or in the cloud. This can improve performance, but it can also increase costs.
• Managed Database: You can use a managed database service, such as Amazon RDS or Google Cloud SQL. This can be a good option if you don’t have the expertise to manage your own database.

Database Access Time with Large Numbers of Records

As your WordPress site grows, the size of your database can have an impact on how quickly your site loads.

When you have a large number of records in your database, queries can take longer to run, which can slow down your site.

Caching can help speed up your website by storing frequently accessed data in memory, reducing the need to access the site’s database and PHP. This, of course, depends on the kind of caching being used, e.g. database caching (which includes object caching) or page caching (where the cache of the web pages is stored and presented when a specific page is requested later without needing to be processed by PHP and MySQL).

To improve performance, you can use server-side caching, caching plugins that manage server-side caching solutions, or standalone caching plugins. Our performance-optimizing plugin Hummingbird, for example, has its own caching but also integrates with WPMU DEV’s server-side caching.

Caching can have a significant impact on site performance, particularly for larger sites. However, setting up and managing caching can be complex and time-consuming.

Also, it’s important to regularly monitor your site’s performance to ensure the caching is optimized for your specific needs.

To learn more about caching solutions, check out our Ultimate Guide to WordPress Caching.

Another option is to use a technique called “sharding,” which involves splitting your database into smaller pieces. This can help to improve performance by spreading the load across multiple servers.

Techniques for Splitting the Data Up

If you’re using a technique like sharding, you’ll need to decide how to split your data up. One option is to split your data by category or tag. For example, you could have one database for posts related to technology, and another for posts related to entertainment.

Another option is to split your data by date. This can be particularly useful if you have a lot of older content that doesn’t change very often. You could have one database for posts from the last year, and another for older posts.

Consider also using a plugin like HyperDB. HyperDB is maintained by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.

As described on the plugin page…

HyperDB allows tables to be placed in arbitrary databases. It can use callbacks you write to compute the appropriate database for a given query. Thus you can partition your site’s data according to your own scheme and configure HyperDB accordingly.

Basic Indexing

Indexing your database can help to improve performance by making it faster to search for data. When you create an index, the database creates a data structure that makes it easier to search for specific values.

To create an index, you’ll need to use the MySQL command line or a tool like phpMyAdmin.

When you’re creating an index, it’s important to choose the right columns to index. Typically, you’ll want to index columns that are frequently used in queries.

You can also use a plugin like Index WP MySQL for Speed. This plugin adds database keys (also called indexes) to your MySQL tables to make it easier for WordPress to find the information it needs. The plugin page also includes excellent information on database indexing in relational database management systems.

Settings and Logs to Check

To keep your database running smoothly, there are a few settings and logs that you’ll want to keep an eye on. These include:

• MySQL slow query log: This log records queries that take longer than a certain amount of time to run. By analyzing this log, you can identify queries that are causing performance issues.
• MySQL error log: This log records any errors that occur in the MySQL server. By monitoring this log, you can identify and troubleshoot issues that may be affecting your database.
• WordPress debug log: This log records any errors or warnings that occur within WordPress. By monitoring this log, you can identify issues with your WordPress installation or plugins.
• Database backups: Regularly backing up your database is important to ensure that you don’t lose any data in case of a server crash or other disaster and can restore your website quickly in case of a problem. You can use a plugin like Snapshot to automate this process, or if you’re hosting with WPMU DEV, you can configure automatic enterprise database backups to perform daily and even hourly. Also, consider storing all backups separately from the server hosting the site, as the backups may be lost if the server crashes.

Other Ongoing Maintenance

In addition to the above, there are a few other ongoing maintenance tasks that you’ll want to perform to keep your database running smoothly.

These include:

• Cleaning up your database: Over time, your database can become cluttered with unused data. Check our article on how to clean up your database and remove unnecessary data for more details.
• Optimizing your database tables: Reducing the size of your database and optimizing your database tables helps to improve site performance. You can optimize your database by removing unnecessary data, such as post revisions, trashed items, spam comments, and unused plugins and themes. Check our complete WordPress database optimization guide for detailed instructions and plugins that help you do this.
• Monitoring your site for security issues: Large sites are often a target for hackers. You can use a plugin like Defender to monitor your site for security issues and prevent attacks.

In terms of cleaning up your database, Charly mentions a high number of transients as being a possible issue affecting the site’s performance. Although addressing this issue seemed to offer very little improvement in Charly’s client’s case, it’s worth mentioning it here as something to check if you are experiencing issues with your site.

Transients are a type of cache that stores data in the database for a specific period of time. They are used to speed up the loading time of a website by storing the results of a complex or time-consuming query, such as an API request, so that the query doesn’t have to be run every time the page is loaded.

Transients have a set expiration time, after which they are automatically deleted from the database. However, if the website is not properly optimized, transients can accumulate in the database and cause performance issues, such as slow page loading times or database crashes.

To optimize WordPress and avoid issues with transients, there are several steps that can be taken. These include:

• Use a caching plugin: A caching plugin like Hummingbird can help reduce the number of database queries and prevent unnecessary creation of transients.
• Delete expired transients: Expired transients can accumulate in the database, so it’s important to regularly delete them to keep the database optimized. This can be done manually, or by using a plugin like Hummingbird.
• Set a maximum lifetime for transients: By setting a maximum lifetime for transients, you can prevent them from being stored in the database for too long, which can lead to performance issues. This can be done using the set_transient() function in WordPress.
• Use a remote database: Storing the database on a remote server can help reduce the load on the server and prevent issues with transients.
• Increase the memory limit: Increasing the memory limit for PHP and WordPress can help prevent memory overflows and performance issues caused by transients.

No matter what size WordPress site you are working on, using WPMU DEV’s Hummingbird caching and site optimization plugin can help to automatically take care of expired transients and eliminate this issue, leading to faster page loading times and a smoother user experience.

In terms of increasing the memory limit for PHP, if you are a WPMU DEV member, it’s really easy to check a whole bunch of information about your WordPress site, include current PHP memory limits and max filesize upload settings.

Just log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the WPMU DEV dashboard plugin menu. Select Support > System Information > PHP tab.

If you are not a WPMU DEV member, you can still check this information manually.

To find out how much php memory is allocated, create a php and add the following:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

Call it something like php-test.php and upload it to your server.

Access the file from a browser and search for memory_limit. This will give you two settings – what the local site settings are and what the server default is. It is possible to have different php memory_limits by site.

For WordPress memory, for instance, you might see the following:

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '64M');

Note that if this entry is missing in the wp-config.php file, then your site is probably working between 40M and 64M.

In addition to the above, make sure to also scan and fix corrupt or broken files and database in WordPress.

As you can see, there are quite a number of things you can do to improve the performance of your WordPress database.

Let’s move on, to…

Large WordPress Site Performance Issue #2 – WordPress Core, Themes, And Plugins

Charly mentions that another possible reason for the performance issues her client’s site was experiencing was using a resource-hungry theme.

Rather than focusing on a particular theme, let’s look at themes and plugins in general (btw… if you use Elementor, check out our article on how to optimize Elementor themes. We’ve also written articles on ways to optimize themes like Divi, WPBakery, Astra, and other page builders.)

Here are some of the things you can do:

Theme and Plugin Bloat – Themes and plugins can significantly impact the performance of a WordPress site, particularly if they are not optimized or updated regularly. Some themes and plugins can also be poorly coded, leading to slow loading times and site bloat.

Solution: Be sure to choose a lightweight and optimized theme that is regularly updated by the developer. Avoid using too many plugins and remove any unnecessary ones to reduce site bloat. Always keep your themes and plugins up-to-date to ensure optimal performance.

• Avoid poorly coded themes and plugins, as these can lead to slow loading times, site bloat, and conflicts.
• Choose lightweight and optimized themes and plugins that are regularly updated by their developer.
• Check your server logs to identify heavy plugins and themes that could be slowing down your site.
• Always keep your themes and plugins up-to-date to ensure optimal performance.
• Deactivate and remove unnecessary and non-essential plugins and themes.

As with all WordPress sites, regardless of size, it’s also really important to optimize your client sites.

There are a number of tools you can use to scan your site and measure site performance, including Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix. These tools provide important insights into ways to optimize your sites.

You can also use a developer tool plugin like Query Monitor to help you identify issues, aid in the debugging of database queries, PHP errors, hooks and actions, block editor blocks, enqueued scripts and stylesheets, and HTTP API calls. The plugin also provides advanced features such as debugging of Ajax calls, REST API calls, and user capability checks.

Additional articles and tutorials that we recommend checking out include our guide on speeding up WordPress, solutions to forgotten WordPress page speed problems, WordPress troubleshooting guide, and Mario Peshev’s article on scaling mistakes when running a large WordPress site.

Large WordPress Site Performance Issue #3 – Site Content

Large WordPress sites typically have loads of content. In Charly’s case, for example, the client’s website had over 900k entries.

If you’ve gone and optimized the database and you’re still experiencing issues, here are some of the things you can look at:

• Perform a content audit: A content audit is essentially performing an inventory of your existing content and assessing and identifying content that’s outdated, obsolete, duplicated, etc, before deciding what to do with it (e.g. update, SEO optimize, trash). It’s a long-term but effective and important strategy for keeping your site’s content manageable and maintained.
• Use lazy loading: Lazy loading can help to ensure that media files are only loaded when they are needed, which can significantly improve page load times.
• Use a content delivery network (CDN): Consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute cached media files and reduce the load on your server. A CDN can help speed up your website by caching your website’s content on servers located around the world, reducing the load on your server. Popular CDNs include Cloudflare and MaxCDN. Note that all WPMU DEV membership and hosting plans include a CDN. Our Hummingbird and Smush plugins also include a CDN (Hummingbird also offers Cloudflare integration).
• Use content optimization plugins: Optimize images, videos, and other media files by compressing them and reducing their file size. If the site contains loads of images, consider using an image optimization plugin like Smush, which significantly reduces image file sizes without compromising on image quality to improve content delivery performance. Smush also includes WPMU DEV’s CDN.
• Use a managed WordPress hosting service: A managed WordPress hosting service can provide you with optimized servers and database management tools to help keep your website running smoothly. As discussed in the next section below, WPMU DEV not only offers a best-of-class managed WordPress hosting service, but it is also specifically configured to deliver enterprise-level hosting for WordPress sites of all kinds and sizes.

Large WordPress Site Performance Issue #4 – Hosting

If you are still experiencing problems with the site after fixing issues with the WordPress database and optimizing the site’s core, plugins, themes, and content, the issue may be related to web hosting.

Consider using a managed WordPress hosting service with a company that specializes in WordPress.

Hosting with a reputable host not only means placing your site in the care of an experienced team who will handle areas like server optimization and database management for you, but also migrate your existing website to their servers.

This is very important, as a large WordPress site no doubt has lots of moving parts and active traffic and transactional events taking place, and you don’t want to lose any valuable data or break anything during the migration process.

Additional hosting considerations for a large WordPress site include the ability to handle demands with ample resources, uptime, speed, and customer support.

WPMU DEV offers enterprise-level hosting, 24/7 expert hosting and WordPress support, and migrations by a team of experts who will handle everything for you, including troubleshooting any potential issues with your site.

Additionally, WPMU DEV has been independently rated and reviewed by many users as one of the leading managed WordPress hosting companies, with a near-perfect rating score. G2.com, for example, rates WPMU DEV 4.8 out of 5 stars overall, and 9.8 out of 10 for quality of support.

More importantly and on a practical level, our expert team proactively manages larger sites by regularly checking areas like “PHP error logs” for any errors in the plugins, themes or in the WordPress core and “PHP slow logs” for slow loading scripts (e.g. plugins where scripts exceed 30 seconds to execute), access logs (to see if there’s a DDoS attack or high visitors in general), and load on the server resources, including CPU, RAM, etc.

The team also checks if WAF is enabled, caching is ON, and any non-used profiling software is turned off when not needed, and will perform conflict tests for plugins and themes and run query monitoring scans at the mysql level when required.

We also offer integration with New Relic and Blackfire to profile the site and its pages for all sites, large and small.

Managing Larger WordPress Sites Is A Big Job

A large WordPress site differs from other WordPress sites mostly in the scale and complexity of its management.

Dealing with performance issues in large, complex WordPress sites requires having the skills and the expertise to handle challenges and meet the high expectations of enterprise clients.

Finding information on WordPress enterprise development can be challenging, but focusing on different areas like studying the WordPress Core, APIs, and the surrounding ecosystem, practicing in the main technical areas, and following leading agencies, will help you become more knowledgeable and confident in your abilities as a developer.

Also, managing a large WordPress database can be challenging but there are solutions available to help you manage it. By optimizing your database, using caching and CDN services, using a managed WordPress hosting service, and regularly backing up your database, you can ensure that your website runs smoothly and avoid potential issues.

By addressing common performance challenges and regularly monitoring your site’s performance to identify and address any issues as they arise, you can significantly improve the performance of your larger WordPress site.

Finally, hosting your site on enterprise-level servers with an experienced and reliable managed WordPress hosting partner like WPMU DEV will not only improve your large site’s performance but also help to eliminate problems and issues, as your site will be expertly managed and monitored 24/7.

If you are looking to migrate your existing site from another host or upgrade hosting for a large WordPress site, we recommend looking at our enterprise-level hosting plans (3 x Essential and 3 x Premium options), and taking advantage of our hosting buyout and free expert site migration service.

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Special thanks to WPMU DEV member Charly Leethan for her contribution to this post. AskCharlyLeethan provides ongoing support and advice to help small businesses define and refine their processes and plan and build their web presence using current and emerging technologies.