Write for your audience, not internal stakeholder groups

Picture this:

You're thrilled to have just received budget to overhaul a section of your website. You're excited to get started as the current website is performing badly and you can't wait to get all of the stakeholders together to discuss requirements and propose a way forward.

You bury your head in analytics, run a fine toothcomb through the strategic plan and start to identify the holes in the current site. You start of by talking with the Faculty Dean, senior management and your Faculty Marketing Officer. You've got some great ideas and a true direction for the site – one that is in line with the institution's marketing and strategic plans.

The Faculty recommends you speak with other stakeholders – researchers, lecturers, and academics – and before you know it, you're even asking the cleaner what they think should happen.

You implement everyone's ideas and create a new website that everyone loves. You're far from your original vision, but it's okay because everyone had their input and got what they wanted.

Fast-forward six months and somehow the new site fails to convert visitors into customers and the bottom line has seen very little difference. The website is a massive failure and therefore the same stakeholders that originally loved your work now hate it. They not only hate the site, but also the people behind its creation.

What went wrong?

A website that everyone loves does not equal a successful website

While we are firm believers in engaging with internal stakeholders and identifying their needs, it is incredibly important to retain a vision and direction and use stakeholder input with care.

Your end goal is to produce a site that works for the user, not your internal stakeholders and more often than not their lists of requirements are nowhere near the same.

For researchers, their profile pages are their primary importance – they want maximum exposure. Every course leader believes their course requires the most prominence and of course everyone in the department wants something on the homepage.

Does your user want any of this? No, probably not.

Your user wants a simple website that is easy to navigate to the content they desire.

To achieve this, you'll need to consider the content that is already the most popular. You'll also need to consider where people leave the site, how much time people spend on pages and decide whether your users are finding and engaging with the content they need.

To succeed, you'll need to be guided by a strong competitor analysis, analytics data and your institution's strategic plan. It is important to not neglect your stakeholders, but don't let your site be led by them either.

The secret is to listen, involve and engage your stakeholders – without allowing them to steal the show. You are the expert in web. They are the experts in their respective fields.

Managing stakeholders

• Make your process clear from the outset
• Listen to your stakeholders opinions and engage them as part of your process
• Be open and transparent with your data and present your analytics reports to support your decisions
• Train your stakeholders to understand what the user wants
• Create regular reports to show your progress

While it is a difficult process, a savvy web designer or content editor can train stakeholders to understand what their users require and help the stakeholders desire the very same site as you. When they desire the same as you and your visions are aligned, you not only have a successful website but happy stakeholders.

This is not a perfect world and you can never please everybody. If you remember to support your decisions with clear and comprehensive data, you will never go far wrong.

Get in touch, we'd love to heard from you!