Doug Morneau

Case Study: DougMorneau.com – Building a Comprehensive Branding Platform

The Challenge

As the saying goes, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Like many service providers, working on my own website often took a back seat to client projects. However, when a hosting server issue arose, it was clear the best course of action was to take DougMorneau.com offline and rebuild it from scratch.

The challenge wasn’t just technical—it was conceptual. The site needed to reflect my personal brand, host a large volume of content, and incorporate modern best practices for SEO, content quality, and accessibility. Additionally, we aimed to make it a comprehensive branding platform with several unique features.

The Solution

The rebuild of DougMorneau.com focused on creating a professional branding site inspired by industry leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk. We doubled down on content quality, implemented a range of new policies, and developed custom tools to meet our needs.

Key steps included:

1. Content-Rich Podcast Integration
   • The site hosts over 205 podcast episodes, each transcribed into 2,000–3,500 words. This creates a rich content repository to support SEO and provide value to visitors.
   • Blog posts on marketing and email marketing complement the podcast content, ensuring fresh and relevant updates.
2. Commitment to Content Integrity
   • To align with Google’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) standards, we added sections like Content Quality & Integrity and an AI Assist Policy to disclose how AI tools are used responsibly.
3. Enhanced Legal Transparency
   • Comprehensive legal policies include advertising and affiliate notices, cookie policies, a privacy policy, and terms of use.
4. Unique “Meet Our Experts” Directory
   • A custom WordPress plugin powers the Meet Our Expert Contributors section. Visitors can search by name, company, keyword, or superpower to discover podcast guests and bloggers.
   • Each expert profile includes their superpower, professional background, links to their website and social platforms, and images from their podcast interviews.
5. Accessibility and Navigation Improvements
   • User-friendly navigation includes enhanced accessibility features, a Contact Us page, a Newsletter sign-up, and a sitemap for easy exploration.
6. SEO and Content-Focused Features
   • We leveraged SEO best practices with strategic content structuring and analytics to monitor performance and user behavior.
7. Book Integration
   • Featured my books, Three Big Lies (on email list rentals) and Prescribed to Death (on my health journey), to reinforce my thought leadership in marketing and wellness.

The Outcome

The new DougMorneau.com is not just a website—it’s a dynamic branding platform that reflects my professional journey, expertise, and vision.

Key results:

• Scalability: With its modular design and robust backend, the site can easily grow as new content and features are added.
• User Engagement: Enhanced navigation and SEO improvements increased user satisfaction and time on site.
• Team Collaboration: The rebuild brought together one of the sharpest development teams I’ve ever worked with, showcasing exceptional collaboration and execution.
• Unique Selling Point: The custom Meet Our Experts directory plugin is a standout feature, offering significant value for podcasters and bloggers who want to showcase contributors.

Lessons Learned

1. Launching Is Just the Beginning
   • The real work starts post-launch. Regular analysis of website analytics is crucial to understand user behavior and optimize accordingly.
2. Content Quality Is Non-Negotiable
   • Over-delivering on content pays dividends in both SEO performance and user trust.
3. The Right Team Makes All the Difference
   • Having a skilled full-stack development team and graphic designers ensured the project’s success.

Conclusion

Rebuilding DougMorneau.com was a massive undertaking, but the result is a site that achieves its primary goal: acting as a comprehensive branding platform. By focusing on content quality, accessibility, and unique user features, we’ve created a site that not only serves my personal brand but also sets a standard for modern, content-rich websites.