Communicator | Online Strategist | Considered Opinions
More and more unions are starting up Facebook and Twitter accounts, but the fact is that your union’s website is much more important than all your social media combined. In Australia, there are more people using social media than ever, but when it comes to actually interacting with your union in a meaningful way (such [...]
I am releasing my third free e-book, which compiles my articles on campaign websites, online design and effective Internet campaigining. This e-book, Online Campaigning: A primer for unions shows you how to get the most from Web-based communication and campaings for your union. By campaigning online, you can speak directly to your members, supporters and [...]
I’ve helped a few groups with setting up their websites over the last year or two – and set up many more for work. These have mostly been for specific campaigns or highly focused purposes – campaign sites. Recently, I’ve had reason to reflect on a common challenge that I face when talking about websites [...]
Unions not only have a legal obligation to respect copyright, but an ethical obligation. Unions have fought for intellectual property rights for photographers for years. Respecting copyright doesn’t mean kowtowing to Disney. It means not using photos from the Internet without permission of the owner. I mention this as a “pro-tip” because I have often [...]
Do you have goals for your union’s website? If you’re anything like most unions, probably not. Or, more accurately, your website’s goals are probably ambigious or vague. “Provide information to members” or “an online repository of union resources” or “a way for potential members to join online”. Sound familiar? Whereas most unions would be comfortable [...]
How many times have you visited a website looking for something, like contact details, an email address or phone number, or some specific information – only to spend time looking fruitlessly for it? Usability tests and web analytics suggest that most people spend no more than ten seconds looking for they thing they came for, [...]
Two instances of spoof activist websites have come to my attention recently (although there are no doubt thousands of them around). The first was created by The Yes Men – the activists behind numerous notable media stunts including impersonating the WTO – and the Rainforest Action Network in the USA. It is a spoof of [...]
I’ve had a recent surge in traffic from an interesting website, HR Communicator, pointing to my article showcasing union websites. This should be a salutarywarning that as unions become more active, management of the companies where your members work will be checking your website. Of course, this shouldn’t scare you – just be aware of [...]
Google has updated its Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) guide – two years after it first published it. Search engine optimisation is very important for all websites – but union websites are serial offenders when it comes to SEO. Simply put, SEO is about making your website easy for search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo [...]
UK Labour continue to impress, coming out with a very impressive web app only days after the general election.
Twitter has launched a new feature, called @Anywhere, for websites to integrate elements of Twitter onto their websites. This allows you to use your Twitter login to join or log into their website, as well as add Twitter-style popups over names that are Twitter accounts (such as @alexanderwhite, @UKLabour, or @climateprogress). This means you can [...]
I’ve finalised the move from my old host (3iX) to my new host (Digital Pacific). Unfortunately the move means that some of the recent comments (in March) have been lost. This is a real shame, but unfortunately nothing can be done. I’m lucky I was able to save all of my old posts after the [...]
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