Welcome to the MC Trade Website Implementation Guide
Welcome to your Website Implementation Guide, your guided journey to going live with your very own MemberClicks Website with direct integrations into your MC Trade database.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be guiding you through the steps of implementing and configuring your very own MemberClicks Website. No matter how you differ from the other associations (size, staff, business process, etc.) we’re familiar with all the things that are important to you and will make sure your implementation meets your unique needs.
This article is designed to be your go-to reference as you progress through all the steps, so please make sure you print it out or keep it handy throughout our series of meetings. Because this process has a lot of parts, referencing the Guidebook frequently can help answer your questions quickly.
You can also download this guide here.
About your MemberClicks Website
Your MemberClicks Website is an easy-to-manage, beautifully designed new site meant to help you, your members, and your visitors all accomplish what they need. The process for building your site is straightforward and pretty simple, but we need some time to run it through our web development team and QA process. Therefore, we’ll start this part of the process right away and then move on to working on your MC Trade database while the web team completes their work.
Once it’s complete, you’ll have an incredible site with tons of amazing benefits:
- Seamless integration with your MC Trade database, so all information is in real time
- An online Event calendar that takes registrations and payment, and allows for all sorts of configuration by you on each event
- New revenue opportunities for you through Banner Ads, event sponsorships, enhanced directory listings, and exclusive content
- A member directory (or Buyer’s Guide) to help promote and retain your members
Launching your MemberClicks Website
Below are the initial steps you’ll take to get this part of the process rolling:
- Choose your Theme, colors and styles
- Configure your Member Application
- Get your login credentials to build out your static pages
- We'll deliver your site in 5 weeks so you can review it and make changes
Website Production Information
Please send the following information to your Onboarding Specialist via Email:
- Website Theme - The current list of Website Themes to choose from is available here. If you haven’t already done so, please review the available website themes that we have and make your selection on which website theme you would like to use for your new website. Provide your Onboarding Specialist with the name of the theme once decided.
- Homepage Widgets - Which widgets would you like to see on your Homepage? (Events, New Members, News, Blog Feed) And should items be scrolling or static within the widget?
- Membership Application Worksheet – Please review the link for the membership application worksheet, complete the form and return it to your Onboarding Specialist
- What is your Organizational Email Addresses? (To be used on forms Contact and Member App. If separate emails apply to each, please specify: contact = jane@domain.com, etc.)
- Google Search Engine Code - Please obtain the code for this and provide, Instructions are linked above.
- Google Analytics - Do you currently use Google Analytics for your site tracking? If so, please supply us with the .js Tracking Code (not the "UA-00000000-00" ID number...) from your google analytics account. Click the header for Google Analytics above for instructions on how to obtain your Google Analytics code if you already have a Google Analytics Account set up.
Note: If you do not have a Google Analytics account, let us know and we can create the account for you and apply the code.
- Logo – Please provide a high-resolution .png copy of your logo, with a transparent background.
- Sponsor Scroll – If you would like to have a sponsor scroll on the bottom of your home page, please provide logos and a document providing the URL for each image to be linked to.
Marketing your new Website using “Website in A Box”
Launching a new website is exciting, not only for you, but for your members and website users within your community! We have created a great marketing tool just for you to use throughout your website implementation process that will offer you tips and tricks to market and inform the general public of your upcoming new website launch! This marketing tool is called Website in a Box and you can find it here. (Make sure you open this with Adobe Acrobat in order to edit dates, etc.)
Meetings and Schedules
To make this process as efficient as possible, your group will meet on a regular basis all the way through the process with your Onboarding Specialist. It’s important that you attend every meeting, as each one will complete more steps in the checklist of items you need to do to be successful. This is so you also get individualized attention and can make sure your unique requirements are met as much as possible.
The process will take up about 7 weeks, depending on how quickly you meet each deadline. If you are fast and can work ahead in the schedule, it’s possible to get you live earlier. But because of other resources that are scheduled by us ahead of time, WE CANNOT LET YOU GO LATE!! Missing a deadline by a week might push your Go Live date back by several weeks. So please make every effort to hit your deadlines—and we’ll do the same. At any time, let us know if you are having difficulties meeting a deadline and we will be happy to help.
Project Scope and Schedule Agreement
Your initial Project Scope and Schedule Agreement can be found here. This document will help throughout the Implementation process to keep your project timely and efficient. The document includes the milestones that we will work on together through the process along with the start dates and due dates for each task. We will use these dates to schedule our resources on our end to ensure that we meet the agreed upon Go Live date.
It is imperative that the deliverables listed in this project plan are completed on time in order for the Go Live date to be met successfully. MemberClicks pledges to dedicate adequate resources to meet this mutually agreed upon project schedule. We appreciate your mutual commitment. Progress updates will be communicated weekly to your team, and we welcome discussion along the way.
Website Review/Feedback
After your website production is completed by our web developers, you will be given one week to review the website links and provide feedback for any changes that you would like to have made to the website. You will use the Website Post Production Review Checklist to complete this review and supply your Onboarding Specialist with any feedback that you find as you are walking through the checklist.
View the Website Post Production Review Checklist here.
After your Go-Live
Go Live is a big accomplishment, but it’s also just the beginning of your relationship with us. As you get more and more familiar with the website and its capabilities, you’ll naturally start using more areas and getting more creative with how you configure and manage your website using the CMS editor along with your Web Component pages. You’ll also change how you interact with us on a regular basis.