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Today:
Millions online
Tomorrow:
Billions online
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Information wants to be free.
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Volume 2, Number 6
July 24, 2002
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Creating the "Go To" Site: Get Out In Front With an
Issue Website
Now that you have a clearer sense of how your issue
is playing out online (see TOA
2.05: Online Issue Audits: When Do You Need One?), the next
step is to take a strong, proactive step towards shifting the online
debate in your favor. The most powerful vehicle available to help
you take a proactive role in the online debate is an issue Website.
And it is best to launch this Website at the beginning of your issue
campaign, so it is in place and prominent in the online debate before
a crisis occurs.
An issue Website provides a platform for educating
voters, the media and policy-makers, alike. It provides the opportunity
to add substantive depth to your policy positions in a way that
satisfies the growing demand for such information, while maintaining
your ability to control the spin of your message. It makes your
press releases (and other offline efforts) more effective because
you can provide extensive supporting information that remains accessible
long after the press release finds its way into the trash.
An issue Website should be designed so that it
satisfies your audience of interested parties' wants and needs for
information about the issue. The Web offers people the ability to
gather, with great ease, information from all sides of an issue
debate. While people usually use a search engine to find all perspectives,
a good issue Website can take greater control over the flow of information
to interested parties by providing access to opposing viewpoints.
The key is to present opposing viewpoints in a fair manner, while
maintaining an environment that favors your position, overall.
For example, when providing access to opposing
viewpoints, make sure your specific responses to those arguments
are displayed side-by-side. This can be accomplished many ways,
but one approach would be to have the link to the opposing view
open two documents at once… their argument and your response.
While copyright protection may prevent you from including the opposing
view directly on your site, you can link to the specific page on
an opposing site containing the argument while displaying your direct
response on your own site.
Though you need to be careful about which opposing
Web resources you link to, the more access to other views you provide
to your site visitors, the more likely they will use your site as
their starting point (and perhaps only point) for keeping up on
your issue. If you can establish your site as the "go to"
site for people interested in your issue, you improve your own credibility
and you enhance your ability to shape the balance and direction
of the debate.
Finally, in order to maintain and improve the value
of an issue Website, it must be kept fresh and timely. Even if you
cannot update it daily, setting a regular schedule for updates,
weekly or bi-weekly, will give your audience a reason to keep coming
back. Also, in addition to a Discussion Forum (discussed in TOA
2.03), news feeds to your site can help to keep the content
up to date automatically and in a fresh and timely manner. As long
as your audience knows they can come to your site for the latest
information, they will be back. In the end, make the interested
audience yours and you will be better able to shape the policy debate.
Online Advocacy Tips:
Creating the "Go To" Site: Get Out In Front With an Issue
Website
1. Create an issue Website early in your program.
2. Provide access to opposing viewpoints within the context of your
own issue positions.
3. Keep your issue positions clear and prominent, even when showing
opposing views.
4. Keep your issue Website fresh and timely with regularly scheduled
updates, discussion forum, and an automated news feed.
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