The document outlines a practical model of web governance, defining it as the management of websites through governance activities and resources. It introduces the concept of website scale, which includes size, busy-ness, and complexity, to help organizations measure and compare their web governance needs. Additionally, it discusses team structure and manpower requirements as they evolve with the scale of the site, emphasizing the importance of expertise and organized roles in effective web governance.

1. A Practical
Model
of Web
Governance
by Shane Diffily

2. Web Governance is the discipline that
describes how to manage a website in a
controlled & orderly way.

3. At its most basic, Web Governance can be
described in terms of just 2 components.
These are…

4. Governance These describe everything you
Activities must do to manage a website effectively.
Governance These describe everything you
Resources must have to support the above activities.

5. These 2 components apply to ALL websites,
no matter how big or small they are, or what
they are about.

6. The only thing that changes is the
granularity & sophistication by which
they are implemented.

7. The way you recognise differences in
granularity & sophistication is by
measuring the Scale of your website.

8. Scale is a measure the Size, Busy-ness
& Complexity of your site. These are
defined as…

9. Size is an estimate of the total effort needed
Size to expedite core site operations, e.g.
maintenance & development.
Busy-ness Busy-ness is a measure of online engagement
(Activity) based on the metric of Unique Visitors.
Complexity is a measure of the sophistication
Complexity of the content & other technologies used on a
site, including hosting.

10. In rough terms, most sites can be
described as being Small, Medium or
Large in Scale, for example…
Note, it is also common to find sites of Mixed Scale, e.g. a site that requires lots of
maintenance & has a complex architecture - but is low in visitor activity.
See http://www.diffily.com/articles/websitescale.htm for more.

12. Governance Activities
+ Governance Resources
+ Website Scale
= A Model of Web Governance…

13. How it
works

14. Example
#1

15. Example
#2

16. PS - Scale is also a benchmark that allows you
to compare your website against any other,
no matter what it is about. For example…

17. Macmillan Cancer Charity = Mid-Scale
BHS online retailer = Mid-Scale
2 sites of
the same
scale
Note: Even though these sites are from 2 very different
industries - because they are of the same Scale - they will
inevitably share many of the same characteristics of Web
Governance, incl. team skills, staffing, etc.

18. Most Web Governance questions are
about People, so let’s see what it means…

19. The Governance Resource “People” is
composed of 3 elements…

20. What type of expertise do I need to carry
Skills out all Governance activity?
Team How to I organise my people - & how do I
Structure allocate roles & responsibilities?
How many staff &/or contractors do I
Manpower need to complete all Governance activity?

21. The same core skills are seen again & again
Skills on all sites, chiefly Design, Code & Content.
Manpower
This sequence shows how core skill requirements evolve & become more
sophisticated as a site grows in ‘Scale’.

22. 1-2 FTEs
8-12 FTEs
+/-20 FTEs
Manpower grows as Scale grows, in order to
Manpower complete activity & deliver specialist tasks.
FTE = Full Time Equivalent

23. What type of expertise do I need to carry
Skills out all Governance activity?
The “right” team structure is
Team exceptionally difficult to pin down – but
Structure there are some emergent patterns.
How many staff &/or contractors do I
Manpower need to complete all Governance activity?

24. Web Team for a
Small Scale Site
A Small Scale Team typically
has a small number of web
generalists organised into an
informal structure.
This team can easily get by with
Freeware tools, informal processes and
a small budget.

25. Web Team for a
Mid Scale Site
A Mid-Scale Team typically has
several specialist staff organised
into a formal structure.
This team requires expensive tools,
documented procedures, formal This team also requires tools, documented procedures, formal
meetings, big budget, etc. meetings, fairly big budget, etc.

26. Web Team for a
Large Scale Site
A Large-Scale Team typically
has many specialist staff
organised into a formal structure.
This team also requires expensive tools,
documented procedures, formal This team also requires tools, documented procedures, formal
meetings, big budget, etc. meetings, fairly big budget, etc.

27. Compiled by © Shane Diffily
Shane is the author of The Website Manager's Handbook, the first
practical guide to Web Governance.
Shane has also been published by the respected online design
journals A List Apart and SmartInsights.com. Recently he has
contributed to a new paper by Forrester Research on the
subject of Digital Governance (release Dec 2012).
For FREE Web Governance downloads & more, visit www.diffily.com