Not too long ago, the common wisdom was that every organization
or business should have one website. This website was designed
to serve the needs of all users and visitors. There were
many reasons for this prevailing predilection. One obvious
reason was cost. Websites, at least professional websites
with functions beyond displaying text, were very expensive
to program and maintain. Another reason was concern for branding
and common messaging. This led to the third concern, control.
There must be some control over who has access to change
an organization’s website. There are other reasons
but these are probably the big three. Are they still valid?
Here are some examples of problems that arise from one website
thinking:
- A department within a large organization is hosting a
conference for professionals in their line of work and would
like to register participants online and have some exchange
of ideas prior to the conference. The corporate website,
which is designed for product sales and investor relations,
could do the job, but the Webmaster is reluctant to make
changes to suit just one department.
- A nonprofit organization has launched a major fundraising
campaign for a new facility. The campaign has its own slogan
and brand and would benefit from the public exposure the
website could give them. The campaign is advertised on the
main site but is lost in the information necessary for the
needs of users of the organization’s services.
- A small business takes on a new product line and finds
that new customers are reluctant to click on a URL named
consolidatedcandy.com when they are searching for thermometers.
A new site with a new URL would solve that problem.
- You want to run new employees through a training program
and have them fill out a feedback form at the end of each
step. Your IT department always has an emergency that is
more urgent than the need to get these feedback forms on
the site.
There are probably hundreds of examples of sites that are
trying too hard to be all things to all people when several
sites, each targeting a distinct audience would do a better
job. Why are organizations reluctant to go this route? Let’s
take a look at some of the reasons. Cost was mentioned in
the first paragraph. News flash – web sites are cheap.
Sure, there are still sites that cost millions. But just
because your organization has a million dollar site doesn’t
mean you should be forced to use it for a simple, short-term
function. Setting up a professional looking function site
may be possible for a few hundred dollars and you may be
able to do it yourself before your IT people return your
call. As far as the user is concerned, is there really any
difference between clicking on to a new page or on to a new
site?
Branding and making sure that all communications that come
from an organization share common themes, both verbally and
visually, may be an issue. On the other hand, it may not
be an issue. If the site is for a specific purpose and audience,
why not brand it appropriately for those users, in which
case, the corporate brand may take second spot to the event
brand, as an example. Control of what emanates from an organization
is always a balance between encouraging employee participation
and creativity and ensuring there is consistency of perception.
Setting up a web site may involve some policy guidelines,
but it is accepted that organization cannot monitor what
is said in every email or letter. So allowing for multiple
web sites may be simply a similar matter of trust.
Take another look at the idea that a website should be all
things to all people and look into the idea of setting up
separate sites for specific purposes and audiences when the
need arises. So before you automatically try to change your
site to accommodate every need that arises, do a little research
on how easy it can be to set-up a new site to meet the new
need.
Ron Strand teaches Applied Communications at Mount Royal
College and is the President of Strateo Consulting Inc.,
a marketing and communications consulting firm, and operates
http://www.freesiteoffer.com
