{"id":40162,"date":"2017-08-09T09:38:07","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T13:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/blog\/4-website-misconceptions-avoid\/"},"modified":"2024-02-22T09:58:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T14:58:51","slug":"4-website-misconceptions-avoid","status":"publish","type":"blog_posts","link":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/blog\/4-website-misconceptions-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"4 website misconceptions to 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It acts as the main gateway to your organisation&#8217;s\u00a0information and resources, and is often the first point of contact for\u00a0the citizens you serve. In my role here at Granicus, I hear a lot from many government organisations on lessons learned when it comes to leveraging a website to connect with their audience.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few common misconceptions we\u2019ve heard about\u00a0from\u00a0everybody from IT professionals to communications directors and what you should avoid when building your government website:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. The \u201cIf you build it, they will come\u201d mentality<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A new website isn\u2019t the end of the initiative \u2013 it\u2019s just the beginning. Before investing in a new website or revamping your old website, be sure that citizens will find your online content accessible and valuable. 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Ignoring the competition and taking audiences for granted<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In today\u2019s digital world, you are competing for your audience\u2019s attention and, increasingly, their trust of\u00a0information sources. The average website visitor<a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/12933\/what-you-think-you-know-about-the-web-is-wrong\/\">\u00a0spends around 15 seconds<\/a>\u00a0on an individual webpage before leaving the page or closing the window. Sometimes that means they quickly found what they were looking for and off they hopped, but other times that means your website didn&#8217;t provide what they were looking for and your <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.granicus.com\/pdfs\/Guide_ContentMarketing_UK.pdf\">content strategy or navigation may need some attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Creating and sharing content just for the sake of it isn\u2019t enough. Make sure your website has meaningful, useful content that will strengthen the relationship between your organisation\u00a0and the community it serves. Looking at your analytics to determine the most visited webpages can give you great insight into where people are coming from, which pages are most popular, and where your audience spends the most time. Focusing on content for these pages can give your audience what they want, and can capture their attention for longer.<\/p>\n<p>By adhering to good website design and content practices with a focus on relevance and a &#8220;less is more&#8221; approach, your organisation\u00a0can create a strong bond with its\u00a0audience and deliver the information and services citizens need. Your audience will rely on your website as the place to go for helpful information.<\/p>\n<p><i>To learn more about building effective websites, and the strategy behind them, please check out details on <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.granicus.com\/solutions\/digital-services-suite\/\">Granicus&#8217; Digital Services Suite<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","button":""}}]},"posts_slider_group":{"show_section":true,"posts_slider":[{"add_anchor":false,"anchor_name":"","background_color":"green","slider_subhead":"","slider_headline":"Discover More Blogs","slider_text":"","slider_type":"blog_posts","manual_resources":false,"slider_resource_tax":"recent","add_additional_filters":false,"department_filter":false,"market_filter":false,"outcome_filter":false,"product_filter":false,"region_filter":false,"solution_filter":false,"topic_filter":false,"slider_link":{"title":"View All Resources","url":"\/uk\/learning-center\/","target":""},"slider_link_icon":false}]},"centered_layout_builder_clone":{"flexible_page_builder_group":{"flexible_page_builder_fields":[{"acf_fc_layout":"wysiwyg","add_menu_anchor":false,"anchor_menu_text":"","wysiwyg_group":{"show_section":true,"alignment":"left","subhead":"","headline":"","wysiwyg":"<p>Your organisation\u2019s website is one of the most effective and important digital engagement tools you have at your disposal. It acts as the main gateway to your organisation&#8217;s\u00a0information and resources, and is often the first point of contact for\u00a0the citizens you serve. In my role here at Granicus, I hear a lot from many government organisations on lessons learned when it comes to leveraging a website to connect with their audience.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few common misconceptions we\u2019ve heard about\u00a0from\u00a0everybody from IT professionals to communications directors and what you should avoid when building your government website:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. The \u201cIf you build it, they will come\u201d mentality<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A new website isn\u2019t the end of the initiative \u2013 it\u2019s just the beginning. Before investing in a new website or revamping your old website, be sure that citizens will find your online content accessible and valuable. More importantly, ensure that you will be able to promote your website content to the public and grow the number of visitors effectively. Too often, organisations\u00a0may invest a considerable sum in a website, only to find that residents remain unaware of the opportunities and benefits available online. A successful launch of a website or a website overhaul must be accompanied by a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/granicus.com\/pdfs\/successstory_GC_MHA.pdf\">communications campaign<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 using\u00a0email, text messaging or and other relevant marketing outreach tactics \u2013 so that citizens can really use your website and benefit from easy access to public information online.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. Overloading visitors with content\u00a0straightaway<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In an effort to present each and every bit of information, some webpages strive to do too much. For example, in addition to the top-tasks information (for example, rubbish and recycling collections, library renewals, and payments\u00a0for a local authority), a home page can also be cluttered with twitter feeds, weather reports, and other non-essential information. These extra elements can be useful, but make sure they aren\u2019t crowding or obscuring your home page\u2019s most important offerings.<\/p>\n<p>Determine\u00a0<i>why<\/i>\u00a0citizens are visiting your site and then identify\u00a0<i>what\u00a0<\/i>information they need. Non-essential information can be located on different pages. Additionally, having too much content on your home\u00a0page will make navigation difficult for visitors who are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2016\/nov\/02\/mobile-web-browsing-desktop-smartphones-tablets\">viewing your site<\/a>\u00a0on a smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Making websites too \u201cflashy\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen these websites before. Perhaps there\u2019s a long introduction video playing at the top that can\u2019t be skipped while the front page is filled with pictures and social media posts. These flashy elements can help draw attention and create the feeling of a modern website, but they don\u2019t necessarily help citizens easily find the information that they need. Be sure to balance aesthetic needs with basic information your constituents are looking for. By using surveys and<a href=\"https:\/\/granicus.com\/blog\/blog\/public-sector-content-types-metrics-matter\/\">\u00a0website metrics<\/a>, you can determine the most sought after information on your website and place it in an easily-found bar, tab or website rotator.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Ignoring the competition and taking audiences for granted<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In today\u2019s digital world, you are competing for your audience\u2019s attention and, increasingly, their trust of\u00a0information sources. The average website visitor<a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/12933\/what-you-think-you-know-about-the-web-is-wrong\/\">\u00a0spends around 15 seconds<\/a>\u00a0on an individual webpage before leaving the page or closing the window. Sometimes that means they quickly found what they were looking for and off they hopped, but other times that means your website didn&#8217;t provide what they were looking for and your <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.granicus.com\/pdfs\/Guide_ContentMarketing_UK.pdf\">content strategy or navigation may need some attention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Creating and sharing content just for the sake of it isn\u2019t enough. Make sure your website has meaningful, useful content that will strengthen the relationship between your organisation\u00a0and the community it serves. Looking at your analytics to determine the most visited webpages can give you great insight into where people are coming from, which pages are most popular, and where your audience spends the most time. Focusing on content for these pages can give your audience what they want, and can capture their attention for longer.<\/p>\n<p>By adhering to good website design and content practices with a focus on relevance and a &#8220;less is more&#8221; approach, your organisation\u00a0can create a strong bond with its\u00a0audience and deliver the information and services citizens need. Your audience will rely on your website as the place to go for helpful information.<\/p>\n<p><i>To learn more about building effective websites, and the strategy behind them, please check out details on <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.granicus.com\/solutions\/digital-services-suite\/\">Granicus&#8217; Digital Services Suite<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","button":""}}]}},"post_slider_clone":{"posts_slider_group":{"show_section":true,"posts_slider":[{"add_anchor":false,"anchor_name":"","background_color":"green","slider_subhead":"","slider_headline":"Discover More Blogs","slider_text":"","slider_type":"blog_posts","manual_resources":false,"slider_resource_tax":"recent","add_additional_filters":false,"department_filter":false,"market_filter":false,"outcome_filter":false,"product_filter":false,"region_filter":false,"solution_filter":false,"topic_filter":false,"slider_link":{"title":"View All Resources","url":"\/uk\/learning-center\/","target":""},"slider_link_icon":false}]}},"call_to_action":{"hide_call_to_action":false,"color":"red","custom_cta":false,"custom_subhead":"","custom_headline":"","custom_description":"","custom_link":null,"custom_image":false}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_posts\/40162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog_posts"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_market","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_market?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_dept","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_dept?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_type?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_region?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_outcomes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_outcomes?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_topic?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_products","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_products?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_solutions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_solutions?post=40162"},{"taxonomy":"resource_tax_services","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granicus.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_tax_services?post=40162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}