Final Project for Web Development NMIX 4010.
Upward Marketing is a WordPress website designed to help small businesses get a start in marketing. The website offers articles, tutorials, and marketing resources to help small businesses with their marketing. The project combined web development and content strategy to create a start guide for small business owners looking to grow their audience. This project challenged me to not only think like a designer and a developer, but to also think as a strategist that is building something that can help small business owners.
Several small businesses struggle with digital marketing because they don’t realize that simple tools and resources are available right at their fingertips. My goal was to create a website that shows those small businesses that those resources are accessible and can help their businesses for the better. Upward Marketing helps small businesses build their business up by providing an educational and approachable website. I wanted each page and post to provide valuable information and also be organized and clear as well. I chose the layout, typography, and hierarchy to make sure that the website communicated information consistently and clearly. To build Upward Marketing I began with selecting a WordPress theme that offered flexibility and support for custom content sites. I then customized the site to include sections for tutorials, tools, and marketing insights for businesses. I used plugins that allowed me to enhance layout and usability. While building the website I focused on ensuring that the website was easy to navigate, clear, and consistent.
Like any project, I faced challenges. One of the most difficult parts was learning how to use the Plugins that I chose to use for my website. I used CPT UI and Forminator. For CPT UI I had to learn the correct way to implement categories and then include posts for them as well. I created two categories: tools and tutorials. The tools section lists different tools that small business owners can use for their marketing tactics and explains what the tools are as well. For the tutorials section, I added articles that small business owners can use to improve their knowledge of digital marketing. I also created a marketing readiness quiz using Forminator. This part was difficult because it involved trouble shooting and adjusting several settings within the quiz on the plugin. I had to retrace my steps several times to achieve the functional quiz that I have on my website. I am very proud of my mastering of these plugins and the skills that I have gained from learning how to use them.
Upward Marketing helped me strengthen my skills in plugin integration, layout design, and WordPress theme customization. The most valuable skills that I learned were WordPress theme customization and utilizing plugins and page builders. I learned the importance of designing with a target audience in mind and also knowing which plugin to use for certain functions. In the future I plan to expand the site using video tutorials and downloadable templates. I am proud of the work that I produced and I look forward to applying the skills that I learned to future projects.