First Round Checks Guidelines

The First Round Check is requested by Web Content Specialists after completing a self-check.

1. The last step of a project’s Initial Build task is to complete a self check. Once you’ve finished building in Wordpress, export a checklist copy of these criteria to guide your self check.
2. Compare all major pages against the checklist’s related criteria:
   1. Homepage
   2. Segmentation (All Activities, All Categories, or Category pages)
   3. Activities (yes, every single activity page)
   4. Any “top-most” foundational pages (first in their menu dropdown if there are multiple related to a topic)
      1. About Us
      2. Contact Us
      3. Etc.
3. Make sure to check each page mentioned above for general criteria as well:
   1. Color scheme
   2. Button/Link function
   3. Mobile friendliness
4. After making any edits to match the checklist, submit your site for an official First Round Check.
   1. Move your Initial Build task status to “Complete” in the SBMM Tasks table.
   2. Move your Onboarding Project status to “First Round Check” in the SBMM Onboarding table.
   3. Navigate to the #checks_fhs Slack channel.
   4. Open the channel workflows and select the First Round – SBMM option.
   5. Fill out the form:
      1. Type of Check: Select the New Site option.
      2. Provide a link to the SBMM Onboarding project.
      3. Select the Project Coordinator assigned to the project in Airtable.
      4. Provide the shortname from the Airtable field: Shortname (Intake Form).
      5. Provide the site build URL (fareharbor.me URL).
      6. Fill the “Were there any best practices not followed? Why?” field with any client demands or technical challenges that impacted your ability to meet checks criteria. Checkers should not leave you any feedback concerning exceptions noted here.
5. Your project coordinator will fill out the check form and your feedback will be delivered to you in the Airtable Onboarding project. The project will be passed to Copy for their check before it finally reaches the Checks Feedback status.
6. Please make any necessary changes once the project has been assigned back to you in Airtable.

The First Round Check requested by Web Content Specialists should be completed by the Project Coordinator assigned to the same project, when possible. If that Project Coordinator will be out of office for more than two days, please pick up your partner’s checks. Team Leads will monitor the channel to make sure Project Coordinators are responsive or pick up checks when both partners are unavailable.

1. The WCS assigned to your project will submit the First Round check workflow from #checks_fhs, tagging you in the post.
2. Read through the “Notes for Checker” field. WCS should explain why certain pieces of feedback may be inapplicable to their build.
3. Post in a reply thread that you are beginning your check.
4. Open the First Round Checks form and the site linked in the post. (Optional: Export a checklist copy of FRC criteria to guide your check).
5. Compare all major pages (listed below) against the checklist’s related criteria, marking the check form when an issue is spotted. Use the text fields to explain where on the page the issue is. If there are multiple pages or places on the page where the issue is present, note it in the text field.
   1. Homepage
   2. Segmentation (All Activities, All Categories, or Category pages)
   3. Activities (yes, every single activity page)
   4. Any “top-most” foundational pages (first in their menu dropdown if there are multiple related to a topic)
      1. About Us
      2. Contact Us
      3. Etc.
6. Make sure to check each page mentioned above for general criteria as well:
   1. Color scheme
   2. Button/Link function
   3. Mobile friendliness
7. Pressing Submit will post the feedback to the Airtable card for the project.
8. Return to the project in Airtable and change its status to Copy Check. A copywriter will claim the check and forward the project to the WCS when completed.

• Button Color
  • Buttons should always be easy to see.
  • Primary CTAs (links that are the fastest route to booking) should be filled in with color.
  • Secondary CTAs (any other links) should be reduced prominence, but still easy to find.
• Legibility
  • Font choice should be easy to read in all situations (no cursive, translates well to mobile).
  • Font color should be high contrast compared to the background.
  • Background choice should not complicate reading text (busy image backgrounds, video backgrounds that occasionally lower text contrast).

• Hero Unit Link
  • The hero unit should have at minimum one CTA (jumbotron/multi column row button or banner button).
  • The hero unit button should point to the lightframe or take the most direct path to activity selection.
• About Section Missing
  • The homepage must have some trust-building information about the company, preferably linking to a foundational page.
• Social Proof Missing
  • The homepage must have some customer-generated or outside business’ content. Reviews (using the testimonial row or not), press coverage, etc.
• H1/H2 Missing Location
  • Location terms are an important SEO strategy, they should be present above the fold for homepages.

• Most Popular Badge Missing
  • The most popular activity on the site must be labeled or exaggerated somehow. Activity Badges or Featured Activity Rows often help here.
• Missing Taxonomies/Quick Details
  • All activities should have taxonomies or quick details to help clients learn whether they can participate at a glance.
• Inaccurate Taxonomies/Quick Details
  • Taxonomies should set the correct expectations for customers; they should be easy to verify when comparing the web page against the Lightframe.
    • Ex. A Duration taxonomy should match a Lightframe availability’s duration.
    • Ex. A Capacity taxonomy should match the Lightframe’s largest customer selection when choosing how many people will attend.
• H2 is missing or undescriptive
  • The activity description should begin with a heading that uses the Pre Sweep’s recommended keywords.
• Booking link accuracy
  • The book button for activities should take the customer to an item or flow matching the page’s description and title.
• Scannable Content
  • The activity description should be easy and pleasant to read. Avoid a wall of text.
  • Content should be placed using blocks or formats that match the type of content:
    • Long descriptions broken into smaller paragraphs, separated by headings
    • Reviews in Testimonial Blocks
    • Menus or optional activity add ons in Sectioned Content
    • Rules/Highlight lists formatted as bullet points or numbered lists.
    • Etc.

• Customer Type Match
  • Descriptions of eligible customers are the same from activity page to Lightframe. This includes age, group size, or any other information contained in the Lightframe customer type.

• Banner Booking Link Accuracy
  • For Activity Pages: The banner button should point to the parent page (Category or All Activities). If there is no segmentation page, hide the button.
  • For Foundational Pages: The banner button should point towards booking (either a segmentation page or the lightframe).
  • For Segmentation Pages: The banner button should lightframe to a flow that matches the activity selection of the page (if possible – cannot contain activities from multiple dashboards).

• All Tours Option
  • The menu should have a link to the segmentation page(s) easily accessible.

• Page Layout Incompatible
  • All pages should be just as easy to use on mobile devices as they are on desktop.
    • No content extending off the screen
    • No awkward gaps of content
    • No content out of order