Managing any type of website can feel like a daunting task. There are many decisions to be made, and just as many reasons why these decisions need to happen.
This blog will cover initial considerations that will help manage your GovCMS website as well as build an understanding of some of those “whys”.
Most of these considerations can also apply to managing websites in general. While this blog will give you a valuable starting point; it is not an exhaustive list. You may come up with additional items of your own, unique to your own website and organisation.
| Topic | Considerations |
|---|
| Requirements | - What do you want for your website?
- How do you want it to be used?
- Who is your website for? Who will use it?
- What kind of content do you want to put on your website? e.g. Text, images, videos?
- What do you want your site to look like?
- What does your end user want?
- Why is your end user at your website?
- How can you help your end user get what they need from your website seamlessly?
Knowing what you want and considering what the end user wants from your website will assist you in building a foundation for the tasks you need to complete, examine further and monitor to ensure it’s successful. |
| What can GovCMS do? | - What features does GovCMS have that are useful for your requirements?
- What can’t GovCMS do?
- What are possible solutions or workarounds you can utilise to achieve your goal?
|
| Key roles | - Who should be on my team and/or whose contact should I keep handy to help me manage the website?
- GovCMS Team who can assist with software and/or platform technical issues
- GovCMS Community to share ideas or troubleshoot issues
- Developers to build, update and maintain the website
- Marketing staff to promote the website
- Analysts to review key statistics e.g. which parts of the website generate traffic or engagement
- Design staff to assist with image, branding and media
- Legal and compliance consultants who can advise what can/cannot be done from a regulatory perspective
|
| Other stakeholders | - Who else needs to have awareness or oversight to manage the website? E.g. Higher management, SMEs
|
| Existing policies, procedures and standards | - What existing policies, procedures, and/or standards need to be adhered to when managing your website? This includes regulations and laws.
|
| Costs | - What are the costs of maintaining the website? e.g.
- GovCMS subscription fees
- Set-up fees
- Costs for external specialist staff (if hiring)
|
| User Management | - Who has access to the website?
- What roles/permissions should different users have?
- How are we monitoring to make sure the user roles are correct and up to date?
|
| Update process | - What are the steps to manage updates or changes to the website? Consider the processes required for software, platform, and content changes. Items to think about include:
- What needs to be updated and how frequently?
- How are changes going to be implemented?
- Who do these changes need to be communicated to?
- How will they be communicated?
- What is the approval process for changes?
- Who needs to approve the changes?
- Who needs oversight over the process?
- How is the change and approval documented?
|
| Security and compliance | - How is your website’s security and compliance being managed?
- Who is keeping track to ensure that your website is consistently secure and compliant?
- How is this being documented?
|
| Marketing and Analytics | - How are you going to track analytics? (e.g Google Analytics)
- What are your key indicators?
- Is your website reaching your target audience?
- Where is your website being promoted?
- What kind of traffic is your website getting?
- Which sections are getting the most traffic?
- Are users interacting with your website as intended?
- What needs to change?
|
| When things don’t go as planned | - What are your processes for reporting, managing and solving cases when things don't go as planned? For example:
- Security issues or breaches
- Updates not implemented in time
- Wrong content published
- Negative public feedback
- Technical issues e.g. website is down
- Who is responsible for managing these?
- Who needs oversight on the progress of these cases?
- Are there timelines that need to be adhered to resolve these?
- How are these cases documented?
|
Many of these considerations may be covered by pre-existing processes and procedures. If not, consider implementing the required steps to address gaps.
