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 creating goals for their organising campaigns – “sign up 50 workers” or “mentor 20 delegates through Level A training” – we often skip the all-important thinking and reflection on what the goal of our website is; what should it achieve?

The New Organizing Institute is a fantastic organisation that I’ve watched from afar (I’m in Australia, they’re in the USA). As part of their “tip a day” email newsletter (which I recommend you sign up to), they give some fantastic tips on goal setting for your website.

What do you want people to accomplish?

There are things you want visitors to do, whether it’s sign up for the newsletter, or donate or volunteer. The idea is to make those goals clear and easy for the general audience.

Is there a clear hierarchy?

Think about visual importance. Does the design play into the goals of the site? Do people know what actions/goals should be important to them and which ones at the most important?

Is it fun?

People will take an action that’s engaging and fun. Granted, it’s difficult to incorporate fun into all tasks (looking at your bank statement isn’t usually considered “fun,” e.g.), but the more fun you can make it, the more likely people are to work a bit for the end result.

While these seem “common sense”, I’m willing to bet that most union websites do not have these questions asked about them regularly (if at all).

[box type=”info” border=”full”]There’s a lot more great tips from NOI, so check them out.[/box]