From the course: Upgrading Legacy WordPress Projects: Modernize Workflows and Codebase

Setting modernization goals - WordPress Tutorial

From the course: Upgrading Legacy WordPress Projects: Modernize Workflows and Codebase

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Setting modernization goals

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- [Instructor] Without a clear roadmap, modernization efforts can lead to wasted time, increased costs, and even new technical problems. Let's dive in to how we can define measurable objectives that align with business needs. Setting clear goals ensures that modernization aligns with your business needs and technical feasibility. It helps prioritize work, manage resources effectively, and prevent scope creep. Without well-defined goals, projects can lose focus, leading to budget overruns and inefficiencies. Some of the most common pitfalls of undefined goals include unrealistic expectations, without clear objectives, teams may set impractical targets that lead to frustration. Scattered efforts, a lack of priorities means work gets spread too thin without meaningful progress. And no measurable success criteria, if you don't define what success looks like, tracking progress can become difficult. One of the best ways to set effective goals is by using the SMART framework. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. A specific goal clearly defines what needs improvement. To be measurable, you can use quantifiable metrics to track progress. To stay achievable, set realistic expectations. For relevancy, ensure alignment with project and business needs. And to stay time-bound, establish a deadline for accountability. Let's compare a weak goal to a SMART goal. A weak goal would be improve website performance. A SMART goal could be reduce page load time from six seconds to two seconds within the next three months by optimizing images and implementing caching. By using this method, you can create goals that are actionable and trackable. Prioritization is key. Focus on quick wins that deliver immediate improvements while also planning for long-term fixes. Quick wins might include optimizing images, updating plugins, or enabling caching. Meanwhile, long-term goals could include implementing CI/CD pipelines for deployment or migrating to modern coding practices. Modernization should support business objectives, not just technical improvements. For example, improving page speed can reduce bounce rates and boost SEO rankings, while updating security enhances user trust and compliance. Once your goals are set, define milestones and success criteria to track progress effectively. Use KPIs, or key performance indicators, like page speed improvements, uptime and reliability, or conversion rate changes. Modernization is an iterative process. Review and adjust goals as new challenges arise. Setting modernization goals is a critical step in ensuring success. With SMART goals, prioritized action items and clear tracking metrics, you'll be set up for a smooth transition. In the next video, we'll take this step further and develop a modernization roadmap to bring these goals to life. Now it's your turn. Use the worksheets in the course GitHub repo, and take some time to draft your own modernization goals using the SMART framework. What's your first priority?

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