201 building website beyond

Web 201: Building your website

Beyond the Basics

Phillip DjwaAgentic Communications

October 7th, 2008

• Agentic Communications Incorporated has the skills, tools, experience, and service excellence to assist progressive organizations to better serve their communities, constituents, and customers online.

• Services include web development and strategic planning

Phillip Djwa• Phillip, as a career-long social

entrepreneur, has more than 15 years experience in the high-technology industry.

• Worked on a wide range of technology and web-integrated communications projects for Fortune 500, high-tech start-up, and not-for-profit organizations.

• Phillip has a BA from Simon Fraser University in Fine Arts with a concentration in electronic music, and an MFA in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Starting Questions

• Have you read a blog? • Have you commented on a blog? • Have you written a blog post —

either for your own blog or as a guest poster?

• Do you have a Facebook profile? • Do you have a LinkedIn profile? • Do you use Twitter?

Agenda

1. What is happening online? 2. Why should you be online? 3. Why not to have too much faith4. What can you do online?5. What are tools you can use online?6. What are some examples?7. Who else has case studies to share?

QUESTION: What’s Happening Online?

• David Gurteen – World 2.0

Web 2.0

• Web 2.0 is the idea that the Internet is a complex web of people that can interact and connect to each other easily and quickly.

Social Networking• 83 per cent of teens have visited a social networking

site like Facebook or MySpace and 74 per cent of those 18 to 29 have done the same.

• Facebook growth has been astronomical

– 800,000 people in Vancouver network on Facebook (Oct 08)

– 1.2M in Toronto (Apr 08)

– 598,000 in Montreal (Apr 08)

– 25% of Canadians are on Facebook

• Awareness and usage of blogs by Canadians online (TNS)

– Under 50 years old: 59% and Over 50 years old: 38%

• Ten per cent of Canadians have a blog, with a high of 31 per cent among the 13 to 17-year-old age group

Rise of Open Source

• More tools available– Drupal, Joomla, civiCRM– More sophisticated

• Not free in TCO, but at least licensing is free

• Non-proprietary comes with benefits

Why should you be online?1. Important to acknowledge that people have

turned to the World Wide Web as the fundamental place for information

– Increasingly, all age groups are accessing the WWW

2. Cost of transactions can be lower3. Methods of engagement - "light" touch vs

"heavy" from perspective of organization4. Able to leverage ecology of social change (aka

partners)5. Scale through "catalysts" not doing it yourself6. Address the call to imagination

Why should you be online?

• Moving from an information-led 1.0 website to an interactive 2.0 website increases stakeholder engagement and increases staff efficiency.

Why not to have too much faith1. Doesn't totally replace traditional campaign

activity - online should complement offline2. Not everyone is online (seniors, Aboriginal

communities)3. Be aware of limitations4. Technology has other impacts (landfill/recycling)

QUESTION: Do you have enough time to support your website?

Observations• Effective websites are a communication

paradigm shift – from momentary to ongoing

• Requires staff time to update• Requires staff training to effectively update• Must have executive champions• Must operate in multi-stakeholder

environment• Require resources

QUESTION: What is the best thing

about your website now?

So you have a website…• It’s performing ok, but it’s hard for staff to

update• I can’t figure out whether it’s really useful.

Who’s visiting?• I have to pay big bucks to our website

guru every time we want a change• I don’t know what’s out there that’s better• I just don’t have the time to figure it out…

What can you do online?1. Inform audience about the issue (education)

2. Increase Audiences (expand sphere of influence and engage existing audience)

3. Engage them into taking specific action (forms, list building)

4. You can organize (events, volunteers)

5. You can develop campaigns

You should be at least..

• Using your website to communicate with stakeholders on a timely and relevant basis

• Ensuring that your website is consistent with the organizational promise

10 Best Practices for Legal Sites

1. Contact info2. Dates on substantive content3. Jurisdiction information4. Disclaimer about legal advice5. Links to other sites and resources6. Citations to case material7. Referrals8. Terms and conditions9. Permission for content10.Privacy Statement

American Bar Association, 2003

But much better is to…

• Interact and engage with your stakeholders (web 2.0)

• Simplify and increase efficiency of workflow online.

Engagement Basics

• Build a list• Understand your audience• Request actions

– Develop a ladder of engagement

Who makes a website work?

• Someone who understands partnership (Cross departmental ability)

• Persistent, dedicated and consistent• Adequately resourced by

organization• Tech-savvy and unafraid to try new

things

What tools can you use online?Some examples…

1. Interactive websites (Content Mgmt System, web 2.0)

2. Google Analytics3. Basicstate4. Newsletters/Email-Listservs5. E-cards6. Donations7. Advocacy Toolkits8. Petitions/Letters to the Editor/Pledges9. Conference Support10.Membership/Customer Relationship Mgmt11.Facebook/ Myspace/ Flickr/ Youtube12.Flash Informational Widget

ETC!!!

Thank you

Links:http://del.icio.us/juhwawa/ple

phillip@agentic.caOffice: 604-255-2131 x1

www.agentic.ca