Creating a Compelling Employee Website

This is guidance I wrote for a client, in the process of updating their internal communications website, on best practices for delivering timely and compelling information to their employees:

PUT ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ON THE FRONT PAGE
People rarely navigate much further into a website than the front page and the articles found by directly clicking from that page.  Therefore, every essential piece of information you need to convey to the reader needs to appear on the front page.

GIVE USERS A REASON TO VISIT THE SITE DAILY
Pick an interesting piece of information every day that people need to read.  Train them to rely on the tidbits they get by checking the site daily.

HIGHLIGHT CRITICAL ACTION ALERTS
There should be an obvious place on the front page to communicate critical information that demands immediate attention.

WRITE COMPELLING HEADLINES
There is nothing on a website page more important than short, catchy, compelling headlines.  If authors want users to read their items, they need to attract them boldly.

MAKE EDITORIAL CHOICES
Story selection and placement should always be determined by an editor, and not by any automated system.  So, every gateway page on the site should have an editor, or ‘editorial owner’, deciding what gets attention.

MAKE NAVIGATION INTUITIVE
Most websites have far too many columns and links and navigation points.  Every subpage, off the front page, should have similarly clear and consistent navigation. 

PROVIDE EFFECTIVE SEARCH
More often than not, people are going to a website to get specific information they need now.  When they are frustrated by a non-pertinent search result, they will tend to not return.

PROVIDE A USEFUL CALENDAR SYSTEM
Place the next three important events prominently on the front page.  An editor needs to choose these, giving the highlighted dates a sense of priority and urgency, with critical calls to action.

MAKE A WELL-INDEXED LIBRARY
Libraries should not be judged by how extensive they are, but by how easy they are to use.  Make the entry point to archived materials clean and clear.

PUT FACES TO THE MESSAGES
People like to know their colleagues.  When appropriate, give articles by-lines and photos, so people know the authors of the messages they are receiving.

USE VIDEO
There should always be a short and interesting video on the front page.  Get people used to spending a minute or two watching and listening to a colleague and/or an important message.

START A CONVERSATION
There ought to be a way to foster a constructive conversation about mutual business concerns on the website.  Give people an opportunity to share positive feedback.  This will also drive return visits to the site.

MEASURE WHAT IS BEING VIEWED
It is useful to know what people are reading, and even more useful to measure what they are not viewing.

GIVE PEOPLE BASIC KNOWLEDGE
Too often knowledge about the business and its workings are assumed, and people are generally reluctant to reveal what they don’t know.  Help everyone understand the organization with primers, glossaries and such.

HELP PEOPLE IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS
There should always be an item on the front page directing workers to where they can get training to improve their skills, appropriate to their business needs.

KEEP IT SHORT
Lastly, every item should deliver all essential information in short order, with embedded links to more information.  Always assume that people are not going to follow the link.