STRATEGIES FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Module

STRATEGIES FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Module 1 Lesson B. Planning for Website Development

LESSON OBJECTIVES • 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

USE WORKSHEET AS A GUIDE • 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

VISION AND MISSION • 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

BUY-IN / INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS

TARGET AUDIENCE • Who are you targeting? • Remember, the target audience will influence: • Content • Marketing strategies • Technology • Branding • Cross-linking • Site design

WEBSITE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES • 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

COMMON COMMUNITY WEBSITE COMPONENTS

CREATING THE SITE MAP BRAINSTORM • 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

CREATING THE SITE MAP LUMPING • 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

HOMEWORK - CONTENT DEVELOPMENT • 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 RESOURCES • 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

BRANDING • 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?

BUDGET • 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. ?

TIMELINE • 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?

DO 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?

THE EXISTING SITE…ASSETS • 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

SUSTAINABILITY • 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.

COMPLEMENTARY SITES 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 recreate 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

CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME • 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 DOMAIN NAMES • 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/

WHERE 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:

MARKETING YOUR SITE • 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

NEXT STEPS • 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