W EB P RESENCE S TRATEGIES
FOR S MALL C OMMUNITIES
AND L OCAL G OVERNMENTS
Module 1
Lesson B.
Planning for
Website
Development
L ESSON O BJECTIVES
•
Identify committee members that will assist with the
development of a website
•
Discuss ways to create buy-in and obtain input from
stakeholders
•
Develop website goals and objectives
•
Learn how to choose a domain name
•
Build on past experiences
•
Effectively partner with other organizations
•
Ascertain resource availability
•
Develop a site map
U SE WORKSHEET AS A G UIDE
• The essentials of this presentation can be
efficiently catalogued in Worksheet A-1
• Be honest and thorough—hard work on
the front end will pay huge dividends on
the back end
• Remember that this worksheet is a living
document and may change over time
• Let’s get to work
V ISION AND M ISSION
• What is unique about your
community?
• Where do you want to see your
community in five years? In one year?
• Has your community established
vision and mission statements?
• How will our project help achieve the
vision or implement the mission?
B UY- IN / I NPUT FROM S TAKEHOLDERS
TARGET AUDIENCE
•
Who are you targeting?
•
Remember, the target audience will influence:
•
Content
•
Marketing strategies
•
Technology
•
Branding
•
Cross-linking
•
Site design
W EBSITE G OALS AND O BJECTIVES
•
Goals are broad and should be discussed early in the process
•
Meeting the site’s goals is accomplished through achieving
measurable objectives
•
Goals should be SMART
Example “Goal” and Objectives (1-3):
“To promote economic development in Smith County though the
development of a tourism-based website to be launched in Fall 2011”
1.
Offering an online tourism-related business planning guide
2.
Identifying and marketing points of interest using map-based tools
3.
Linking information about local destinations with that given by local destination
owners/managers to create an easily navigable one-stop shop for vacation planning
C OMMON C OMMUNITY W EBSITE
C OMPONENTS
C REATING THE S ITE M AP - B RAINSTORM
• A site map provides a guide to the site’s
overall layout for the developer and the end
user
• The site map connects content and offers a
path to specific information topics
• The first order of business is to brainstorm an
exhaustive list of topics that need to be
included on the site
• Topics can be general and specific
C REATING THE S ITE M AP - L UMPING
• Look over the list of topics
• Are themes beginning to emerge?
• Are there some obvious outliers?
• Is anything missing?
• How well do the suggested topics fit the:
Vision? Goal? Target audience?
• Now, try to create five to ten major
categories or themes and list all of the
corresponding topics within
H OMEWORK - C ONTENT D EVELOPMENT
•
As with everything else, there can be “too many
cooks in the kitchen”
•
Now that the categories have been identified, take
the time to link them with a Chairperson and
members of a sub-committee
•
Roles:
o
Develop and acquire content
o
Serve as contact(s)
o
Work with partners
o
Meet deadlines
o
Report on progress to Project Chair
AVAILABLE R ESOURCES
•
Now that the site, as Available Resources
currently envisions it, is taking shape what
internal (to the committee) and external
resources are available and how will they
contribute?
o Local photographers – images for site
o Youth – logo contest
o School system – server space
o Community college – statistics
B RANDING
•
How should the site be branded?
o Depends on the “community” that the
proposed site is serving
o Is there an existing brand that needs to
expanded to the site?
o Branding details:
•
Logo
•
Tagline
•
Color scheme
•
Other aspects?
B UDGET
•
Is your committee endowed with a budget?
o If so,
•
What can you spend money on?
•
How much?
•
When does the money have to be spent by?
o If not,
•
Who will do the site design?
•
Who will cover the costs of the domain name,
hosting, etc.?
T IMELINE
• We have discussed financial resources and
the deadlines associated with any funding.
Are there other factors that impact the
deadline?
• What is the site launch date?
• What are the initial category content
deadlines?
• Other important deadlines or milestone
markers?
D O YOU ALREADY HAVE A SITE ?
•
What is the current website status?
•
How does your community perceive your site?
•
How do “outsiders” perceive your site?
•
What is the current usage of your site (i.e. web traffic statistics)?
•
Who developed your current site? List contact information.
•
Who maintains your current site(s)? List contact information.
•
Do you have direct access to all of the content files associated
with the current site?
T HE EXISTING SITE …A SSETS
•
If the existing site is being overhauled or completely
replaced, are there items that should be retained?
o
Text
o
Photos
o
Logos
o
Color schemes
o
Domain name(s)
o
Links
o
Documents
S USTAINABILITY
• Describe how this new website will be
updated and sustained.
• Do you need assistance finding a web
developer?
• If not, who may be developing the site?
List contact information.
C OMPLEMENTARY S ITES AND PARTNERS
•
Are there sites that complement your own?
o
List sites and general content of interest
•
o
Ensure that redundancies are avoided
•
o
Use to your advantage so you do not have to re-create
content
Co-marketing/promotion is different from recreating
the wheel
Guarantee that credit is given when credit is due
•
Partnering is a two-way street
C HOOSING A D OMAIN N AME
•
Domain names come in a variety of flavors that are
applicable to a community’s goals
o .com = Commercial
o .org = Organization
o .gov = Government
•
The part of the domain name unique to your site (i.e.,
smithcounty) should be available, reflect your goals and
easy to remember and spell.
• Owning the most common options is a good
idea…but only one should be promoted!
A BIT MORE ON D OMAIN N AMES
•
Availability
o
•
To check domain name availability:
•
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
•
http://whois.domaintools.com/
.gov
o
Available to local, state and federal government entities
o
Requires registration process and needs to be available http://www.dotgov.gov/whois.aspx
o
Begin at: Government Domain and Registration Services http://www.dotgov.gov/
W HERE WILL PEOPLE FIND YOU ?
Given your vision, goal(s) and audience:
•
What URL(s) are you proposing to use (i.e.,
www.morgancountytn.org)?
•
Do you already own this (these) URL(s)?
•
Are there other URLs that you should own? Please list:
M ARKETING YOUR S ITE
•
Search Engine Optimization
•
Online Listings
•
Word of Mouth – physical and virtual
•
Professional Associations
•
Online Directories
•
Banner Advertisements
•
Media Exposure
•
Cross linking on other web sites
•
Your Products
•
Existing offline marketing tools
N EXT S TEPS
•
The next workshop (#3) will be held on:
o Date:
o Time:
o Place:
•
Please invite your sub-committee members if
they are not part of the original core group
•
We will be exploring a wide variety of content
options and moving forward with our individual
category page development