WordPress Theme development process – Beginner, Part 5 (Similar Sites)

Research Similar Sites

In order to better understand how you compare, research similar sites to see what might be missing that you could capitalize on for your readers. Not every site should have the same information, and each should offer up some useful bit of information that might not be found somewhere else. Your readers are trying to solve their problem, and do you offer up something different to help them further their progress in completing tasks. What do similar sites focus on and how do they display the information. Is it concise and easy to read, are the users bombarded with ads or call to actions, or is the information really not there or hard to find.

General Steps

Here are the steps to follow along in the series.

1. Overview – describe  the purpose
2. Local development – Set up development server with DesktopServer Limited (free version)
3. Identify user – and problem I am attempting to solve for them
4. Topic list – Categorize list of needs of users and topics of discussion
5. Research similar sites – and analyze how they answer the user’s needs
6. Create storyboards – or sitemaps for different posts and pages.
7. Sketch on paper various page layouts, first in mobile view and then on up to desktop
8. Determine extra functionalities needed and possible plugins that could be utilized
9. Create page/post templates
10. Test, Test, and Test some more
11. Upload to a live site

 Research

Google is my best friend, or at least it is currently my favorite search engine. There are many out there and might even be better. However, most of the SEO that I have been working with has centered around Google so this is what I know. I really plan to look further into Yahoo and Bind and any other search engines and how they rank, but for now I can only concentrate on one source. Listening to the Smart Passive Income podcasts have taught me to try and not spread myself thin, but rather to concentrate on that one idea and finish it through until complete. So on to Google I go to do some research for similar websites.

Remejy.Com Planning

Find at least three other websites that have similar interest points to your topic and then discuss what you like and don’t like. Do they answer the questions or is it a fluff site just to display ads.

site1: (as of 2/17/16, researching)

site2: (as of 2/17/16, researching)

site3: (as of 2/17/16, researching)

Recap

Research is a very important step into any venture. You need to have a good understanding of what is already out there. Then you can decide if you can provide the same information in a better form, or if you can provide new or better information to better server your readers’ pain points. There are many search engines available to find sites on a similar topic, pick one that is your favorite and identify a minimum of three other similar sites. Critique these sites and better understand if they are in the same direction for your goal or if you think you can provide some other version to answer the questions.

Next Steps > Create Storyboards ( estimated publish date 3/30/16 )