KEYWORD DISTRIBUTION
For this project, we were instructed to act as an outside consulting firm to develop an e-business plan for a hypothetical business startup that needed to utilize the web and mobile applications to carry out its business objectives. The report needed to include an Executive Summary, Company Background, Audience User Demographics, Usability Requirements, Keyword Analysis and Distribution, Competiton Analysis, User Personas, Project Management Methodology, a Mood Board, SEO Plan, Online Marketing and Advertisin considerations, Hosting plans, Securiy, and Website structure including mockups and wireframes.
In this deliverable I reference my consulting company as NW Design, and the hypothetical business that I chose to create a plan for is Modern Bakes, a bakery in Richmond, VA.
Our company, NW Design has created a comprehensive project plan for Modern Bakes to increase brand visibility and help encourage sales, as well as increase foot traffic into their physical store. NW Design conducted user research and established the key user demographics for Modern Bakes as 18–50-year-old Richmond Residents, who may be college students or are seeking custom pastries for special events.
In order to reach the designated target market, NW Design will create a Modern Bakes website to help organize and maximize custom orders by allowing customers to browse products and fill out an order request form online. We will also include links to social media on the contact page, which will help facilitate direct customer interaction between Modern Bakes and their target market.
For this website we will ensure that it is designed to be responsive and can be used across all types of devices. We will also ensure the website is designed for accessibility by using alt text for images, reduce motion, and dark mode. NW Design will also establish clear information hierarchy and ensure high levels of readability. We have also included a thorough keyword analysis, and keyword distribution that we plan to implement. We have utilized on page optimization using Metatags, specifically Description tags to help with click through, as well as optimized H1 tags. Additionally, we have ensured keyword density is at the optimal 2-4% per page, and that they are placed mainly within the body content and the header.
We have also completed a thorough competition analysis amongst other Richmond Bakeries and utilized that to inform site design plans as well as our keyword selection. NW Design has created two user personas to depict two average users, including a student looking for a quality yet cheap bakery, as well as client looking for a special event custom order. These personas have also helped inform our design and aim to connect Modern Bakes to their customers by allowing them to understand their motivations and needs.
Our selected project management method is Waterfall, and NW Designs will utilize the Gantt Chart to schedule and plan our sprints and keep us on task with executing deliverables. We have included a mood board to illustrate our physical design ideas, as well as a site map and wireframes for the entire site as well as a Home Page Mockup. We have a comprehensive marketing plan including details for social media marketing with Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Tiktok.
NW Design also included strategies for Google Ads to help with Modern Bakes web traffic. SEO will be focused on long tail and fat tail key phrases, as well as on site optimization of content including, images, headings, and meta tags.
We have selected HostGator as the hosting company for Modern Bakes website and have decided on a VPS Hosting for increased control at a reasonable price. They offer free SSC Certificates as well as weekly backups that will help create site security. Additionally, QuickBooks will be implemented to aid in secure customer payment.
Overall, NW Design created a comprehensive plan that will aid Modern Bakes in establishing their online brand and expand their customer base and sales.
The company Modern Bakes Confectionery is a bakery based in Richmond, Virginia. They specialize in special event cakes and pastries. They have a store front located in the Jackson Ward area, and in addition to being very successful with their custom cake and sweet orders, they also have many customers in their walk-in location where they have fresh baked goods available for sale daily, on a first come first serve basis.
The audience user demographics are people in and around the Richmond area who enjoy eating high quality baked goods at reasonable prices. Their target market also consists of people who are looking for baked goods and cakes for special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, corporate events, and birthdays. Additionally, because of Modern Bakes successful custom order business, their target market extends outside of Richmond, as they deliver to events throughout Southern Virginia. Modern Bakes is also close in proximity to Virginia Commonwealth University, so they have a desire to target 18-21 year old’s as they are a huge market opportunity.
The main devices that we are estimating the target audience to use are cellphones and computers/laptops. Because we are creating a website and not an app, we are not focusing solely on cellphones. Our website will be responsive thought to accommodate accessibility on different size screens using breakpoints. We will also use alt text with any images to assist with accessibility for those who use screen readers. Additionally, we will establish clear hierarchies within information using font, font size, and color. We will also have reduce motion options for users who have motion sensitivities, as well as dark and light mode for people who may need content with higher contrast to help them see. The website will use whatever preferences the user has specified within their IOS settings.
NW Design will utilize long and fat tail keywords in order to help enable connection between the users and the company. Focusing on these types of terms as well as higher volume, lower competition words will ensure our keyword optimization is effective.
Local Bakery: This keyword was selected because it has a relatively high search volume at 1k-10k monthly searches, and a medium level of competition. It is also a two-word phrase that is more niche and specific.
Custom Cakes: This keyword was selected because it is an incredibly relevant term for Modern Bakes, as this keyword references the market where they make a large majority of their profit. This has very high relevance and has a lower volume at 100-1k searches per month. The only drawback to this is that is has high competition, but we felt that it was still important to include a term like this, and Custom Cakes had the best relevance and volume. Additionally, Custom Cakes had a much higher rate interest over time within the Virginia area compared to Custom Desserts, which was the other term we were considering.
Richmond Bakery: We selected this keyword because it has a good volume of monthly searches at 1k-10k, as well as low competition. It will also help Modern Bakes connect directly to their audience.
Best Bakery Richmond: This keyword was selected because it has a large number of average monthly searches of 100-1k, as well as low competition. This search is also one that is very commonly done when trying to narrow down locations and will be a great keyphrase to include.
Donuts: We selected this keyword to include on the product page because it has a very high monthly search rate average at 1M-10M searches, but also has a low competition rate. Additionally, when compared to other types of baked goods, specifically when narrowing products down, Donuts won out against Bagels for maintained relevance in Virginia.
Cheap Desserts: We selected this keyword because it has a relatively high number of searches as well as a low competition level. It is also a two-word term and is very in line with a large portion of Modern Bakes target market, college students.
Wedding Cakes: This keyword was selected because we wanted to focus on a specific event cake that someone would directly search for. It is a two-word term, that is very niche, and when compared with other event cakes, such as birthday cake, it has a higher prolonged relevance. It does have a high average monthly search at 100k-1M, and it does have a high competition, although I feel like it is very relevant to the company and their target market.
Pasteries: We selected this keyword because it has a high average number of monthly views at 100k- 1M, as well as low competition levels. For the order page, it was difficult finding key words that had low competition, because the nature of the cake industry is very competitive. Because of this, I tried to select keywords and terms that we thought could still aid Modern Bakes in its competition with other, smaller companies that also have lower Domain Ratings.
Richmond Cake Delivery: This keyword was selected because it has a low competition level, and is relevant to the niche market in Richmond that Modern Bakes is targeting. It has a lower average viewing per month at 10-100, however being a small, locally owned business, the word doesn’t need to have 1,000 average views.
We focused on competitors who are smaller bakeries based in or near Richmond, VA. These were selected as Modern Bakes biggest competitors, as they are all successful bakeries that already have a notable online presence, and would be in direct competition with the client. They all have very distinct branding, and have notable differences. We have included a summary of the competitors, their relevant statistics (collected with Ubersuggest) and their respective branding strategies below.
Because we are highly familiar with the end product of the company, and the Bakery business is a relatively stable industry, we will use Waterfall Methodology. Additionally, this methodology works well as we have a strong idea about what our final project and deliverables will be, with few deviations expected from initial plan.
We will use Gantt charts to help us stay organized and plan the sprints that we will work in to complete the project from start to finish.
We will also use Harvey Ball Diagrams to measure the degree of completion and quality of our web-based elements, specifically;
We will optimize through organic search using on-page SEO, long tail and fat tail keywords and key phrases that are detailed earlier in the report within the keyword distribution. We will also optimize headers, meta tags, URL, and Images.
Additionally, we will optimize search engine rankings through backlinks, targeting Richmond area tourism websites. We will also target improved SEO through faster page speed, which we aim to maintain through our selection of the VPS hosting platform.
HostGator, our selected hosting platform also offers SEO Marketing services that can be implemented, such as keyword research and reporting, content creation and on-page optimization.
In terms of traditional marketing, we suggest utilizing a standing street sign outside of the bakery that will be updated daily in order to advertise specials and encourage foot traffic into the store.
Google Ads will be implemented because Modern Bakes is a local business. This makes it very important that the listing can be found among larger businesses and chains. Because of this, Google Ads is a priority to gain exposure. Especially since one of our largest targets is special orders, people who want to get cakes and pastries made for events need to be able to find the business so that it can be successful.
We will also utilize banner ads, as they can help encourage web traffic and brand awareness and are available in affordable pricing schemes. We can also use Google AdSense for this service, making easy to implement this in addition to other marketing efforts.
Social media is also something that will be heavily utilized. Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok will be used to promote content and encourage exposure. We will also ensure all of Modern Bakes social media pages are listed, and available through links on their website.
Instagram will be used to showcase previous work that the company has done, both with special events to encourage customer trust, and with pastries available for purchase in the walk-in Bakery. We will also use Instagram stories to promote daily specials to encourage foot traffic in the bakery. We can also use stories to run polls to ask our customers directly what pastries they want the company to make more of. This is an ideal platform to engage the younger portion of our target market with 18–30-year-olds.
Tiktok will be used to create content that engages viewers and allows Modern Bakes to show them inside their creative baking and decoration process. We will also assist our client with utilizing relevant trends to keep up with the modern image of the bakery. This plan also engages the younger portion of users at 18–30-year-olds. Tiktok also allows the viewer to directly interact with content by using stitching videos and duetting, as well as the more traditional commenting. This will also help the bakery understand what their clientele responds well to regarding content and products.
Facebook will be a good platform to engage older users of 30 +. This is a reliable platform where clients can leave reviews directly on the company page which will help to gain client trust and establish a good reputation.
Pinterest is relevant to all ages. Our intent with suggesting the utiliziation of this platform is to allow Modern Bakes to post content that is accessible for people looking for inspiration for special events pasteries. Pinterest can be used as inspiration and a place customers can find a link to the Modern Bakes website and then place an order from. This will consistently be updated with special order content and images of custom cakes and pastries.
Modern Bakes will utilize VPS hosting because it offers more control and security than shared hosting does, but doesn’t have the increased price tag, or knowledge requirements for security and updating software that dedicated hosting does.
NW Design suggests utilizing HostGator Snappy 4000 VPS Hosting plan for a discounted initial 36-month term atr $34.95 a month. This plan includes
This plan includes weekly backups, and 24/7/365 support. It also guarantees root access to install customizable features. Additionally, VPS hosting ensures eCommerce sites run fast to keep visitors engaged and allows resources to be scaled up as businesses grow. HostGator also has a feature that allows seamless transition to other types of hosting, so if an advanced type of web hosting is needed, Modern Bakes doesn't have to worry about losing their current site. We ultimately selected HostGator because in our research, it was frequently listed as best hosting company, and had very good customer reviews. NW Design also did a speed test using pickuphost.com, and HostGator’s results were from 0-50 for Start Speed Test, which is in the Turbo range (the highest performance possible).
We will utilize the QuickBooks invoice software that allows direct tracking of income and expenses, unlimited invoice and accept payments, tax tracking, and much more. This service will be the Simple Start QuickBooks online plan, and cost $12.50 a month
Host Gator offers free SSL Certificate that will help protect our users and will be included as a security feature within our selected Hosting plan. Our hosting company also offers weekly backups which will help keep our files safe and site functional in case something does happen.
We will utilize object-based navigation. Composite Navigation with Social Media Navigation using logos for the Contact page. We have placed the Social Media Navigation on the bottom of the page to encourage the user to remain on the site for longer.
