Ways To Market Green Campus Programs

Traditional newspapers, newfangled websites: Ways to market your Green Campus program Jeffrey Steuben, Green Campus Staff Jocelyn Orr, Green Campus Alumna

Session overview • Introductions • Discussion of: – Why we use media – What makes something newsworthy? – University vs. student media • Discussion of: – Often observed website pitfalls – Strategies for web content – Social networking sites • Wrap up, take away messages and lessons learned

Common website pitfalls • Custom-built websites are not easy to maintain • Update-heavy sites quickly become outdated • No one is accountable for website • Don’t know what’s going on with web traffic

Pitfalls resolved • Custom-built websites are not easy to maintain • Answer: Build an easy to maintain site using a Content Management System or other web application •Weebly + Very easy to use - Also very basic • other options include Wordpress, Google Sites, other blogging platforms

Pitfalls resolved, cont’d Content Management System (CMS) • Creates fully capable, customized websites • More complicated to set up than weebly/blogger • Easy to maintain, don’t need knowledge of HTML • Although there are others, I recommend • Free, open-source, community supported

Content Management System (CMS) • Joomla!

Pitfalls resolved, cont’d • Update-heavy sites quickly become outdated • Answer: Be realistic, and remove features that need frequent updating. I recommend that you don’t need to update more than twice a term • No one is accountable for website • Answer: Establish a point person to do it, just like meeting minutes or metrics tracking

Pitfalls resolved, cont’d • Don’t know what’s going on with web traffic • Answer: Take advantage of Google Analytics

Google Analytics, cont’d • Where should you focus your efforts?

Important facts about websites • Most people do NOT read websites, 79% merely scan The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn't attract any fixations.

Important facts about websites, cont’d • People typically read 20% of the words in a page’s article • Web content should use half the words of its paper equivalent

Guidelines for strong web content • Talk to visitors. Use “You” • Don’t mix nouns and “you.” – Example: “You will be pleased with this service. Many students find it helpful.” – Use “you” rather than he or she – If you are writing for an organization, use “We” or “Us.” In blogs, it’s preferable to use “I.” • Write in active voice. • Short sentences work. • Keep paragraphs short (a one-sentence paragraph works).

Guidelines for strong web content, cont’d • Use simple and familiar words (e.g. “Dictionary” is more recognizable than “glossary”) • Avoid jargon • Make leading sentences descriptive • Use lists – Use bulleted lists for items or choices – Use numbered lists for instructions (procedures)

Strong web content – Voice Active voice is best for most Web content. Traditional writing guidelines are clear on the use of passive voice: • Worst: The passive voice should be avoided. • Bad: The passive voice should be avoided by writers. • Better: Writers should avoid using passive voice. • Best: Writers should use active voice.

Social Networking Sites • Facebook: Everyone uses it, why not you? – Status updates = news feed – Advertise events, job openings – Remember that it is professional • Myspace: don’t bother – Unless it’s wildly popular at your school • Twitter: maybe? – Similar to Facebook status updates – Limited only to that – Do you really have that much to say?

Thank you! Jeffrey Steuben jsteuben@ase.org Jocelyn Orr Jocelyn.Orr@gmail.com

Ways To Market Green Campus Programs

by Alliance To Save Energy on Feb 12, 2010

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Ways To Market Green Campus Programs — Presentation Transcript