Effective websites — Planning

Most public entities have a website. Many keep them current and update the design periodically. If you don’t presently have a site or are looking to reconstruct yours, you should start the planning process by clearly defining goals and objectives.

Answer the following questions:

• What is the purpose of our web site?
• Who is our target audience? What kinds of technology are they using?
• Why will people come to our site?
• How will a web site support our goals?
• How much time and money do we have to spend on the site design/redesign?
• How much time and money do we have for its maintenance?
• What kind of future growth do we expect?

It’s a good idea to get input from customers when trying to predict why people will come to your site. Formal surveys, focus groups, and questionnaires included in a bill stuffer or distributed at the county fair all help you solicit suggestions from stakeholders.

In general we’ve found that customers want to:

Find information

- New paint lines on the street in front of a customer’s home may send them to the website to see what all the colors mean.

- A customer may wonder whether his utility offers the option of paying his bill with a credit card. The utility website would be a natural place to find that information.

- Interested customers will go to the website to get more information about something they’ve seen in a television ad or a newspaper article. Get more out of your print and television public information efforts by tying those messages to the featured items on your website.

There is a vast amount of information you can make available to your customers exactly when they want it. But they may expect more than a static site that just displays useful information. Explore the benefits of an interactive site.

Complete a transaction

We can transfer money from a savings account to a checking account, buy and sell stocks, reallocate mutual fund holdings, interact with a child’s teacher, buy shoes and so much more online.

It is not unrealistic for a user of government services to expect to be able to apply for a building, burning or septic tank permit, order brochures, or make a payment online.

You’ll want to consider what kinds of high-priority tasks your customers will want to perform and accommodate as many as possible.

Browse for special features

Customers may have heard that you have the best collection of useful links and a very complete community calendar. They will come to your site to find that information and more. As they browse they will also become familiar with your services and messages.

Websites are only effective when they are visited. Anticipate what residents in your service area might want to know and get it online before they ask. Think about their problems and help with solutions.

With useful content you’ll find customers keep coming back to your site so they don’t miss anything! And you can deliver your messages in a friendly format that demonstrates the care and concern you have for them.

Once you have determined the needs of those who will visit you can begin to design an effective website.

Read more about creating effective websites in regard to design, content development, and maintenance.