In this this webinar, Maureen Hall, Team Leader, Marketing Branch, from MEDT joined Julian Mills, Vice President of Client Development, Prescient Digital Media, to describe how Prescient assisted MEDT in the redevelopment of their two websites. The presenters provide insights on key techniques for managing a government web redevelopment project supported by best practices and real world experience.
View the webinar video here: http://bit.ly/9H9m2X
Best Practices For Managing A Government Website Redevelopment
1. Best Practices for Managing a
Government Website
Redevelopment
Watch the webinar video instead
January 28, 2010
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2. Housekeeping
Viewing the presentation on SlideShare? Questions to
jmills@prescientdigital.com.
Phone information:
(1) 773-945-1010
Access Code: 485-751-476
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3. Introductions
Julian Mills, Vice President, Client Development,
Prescient Digital Media
Maureen Hall, Team Leader, Marketing Branch,
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade
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4. Webinar Agenda
Government website planning and execution
Context and the imperative
MEDT Case Study
Initial challenge
Project details
Key take-aways
Next phase of website redevelopment
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5. Prescient Digital Media
We build highly effective websites & intranets
Aligning business with the web
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8. Initial challenge
Two sites with 2 distinct audiences that had grown organically
and independently over time.
Content rich sites that were poorly organized and lacking
brand consistency with each other and other marketing
collateral.
Growth and maintenance of the sites was not integrated with
other marketing tactics – they were not strategically aligned
and didn’t reinforce each other.
Inadequate metrics were being gathered and very little new
functionality (e.g. RSS, data capture) had been incorporated.
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10. Project approach
Key components
Objective assessment data: emphasize the user
Consensus-based strategic plan
Governance model
Strong usability to support execution
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12. Assessment
Competitive Review – benchmarked against 6 other sites
User survey
The amount of information on the sites was considered a bit of
a negative, in that the user needs to learn the site due to the
sheer volume of information available. - amalgamate and
simplify.
The majority of respondents were Canadian (followed by
American), who are mostly decision makers followed closely
by advisors and then researchers.
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13. Focus Groups
Reasonably high ranking of the sites, driven by strong
regard for content.
ontarioexports received a 6.3
2Ontario a 7.2
A desire to see the sites emphasize the user. “User
doesn’t care which level of government is offering
information, just want it from their perspective.”
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14. Interviews
Low engagement with and usage of the site
Narrow user interest
Users bring baggage about government to the site
Perception that MEDT focuses on larger corporations
Opportunity to be online aggregator
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16. Objectives
Establish an on-line leadership position by:
1. Improving usability for users in all markets
2. Enabling users to interact with MEDT more effectively –
more self-serve options
3. Presenting a greater amount of content, and a larger
percentage of aggregated information
4. Encouraging shared responsibility of content
5. Boosting awareness of MEDT’s web presence
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17. Planned implementation
Consistent and harmonized web presence based
upon:
One governance model
Strong user-defined navigation and functionality
Two user interfaces with one brand
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19. Governance definition
Web Governance is the structure of people,
positions, authorities, roles, responsibilities,
relationships, and rules involved in managing an
agency’s website(s). The governance structure
defines who can make what decisions, who is
accountable for which efforts, and how each of the
players must work together to operate a website and
web management process effectively.
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20. MEDT governance model
Executive Sponsors
Client Advisory Group
Management Committee
Cross-divisional Advisory Group
Managers to advise on membership
Manager
Web Publishing Team Web Services Team
Content Development Team
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24. Key Take-aways
A strategic approach based on sound research and clearly
understood user preferences and expectations is imperative to
overcoming internal biases – be prepared to challenge your
own assumptions.
Well organized, high value content allows you to confidently
drive more traffic to your website and increase user
engagement and exposure to your brand – even more
important with social media.
A governance structure does not guarantee all stakeholders
remain committed to the website - it does provide a formal
structure to engage them when necessary.
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26. Pace of change will accelerate
Social media drives:
User expectations
Available functionality
Execution is crucial
Balance speed versus
risk
Learn and apply the
fundamentals now
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27. Maureen Hall, Team Lead, Marketing Branch,
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade
Maureen.Hall@ontario.ca
416.325.6689
Julian Mills, Vice President, Prescient Digital Media
jmills@prescientdigital.com
416.926.8800
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