Members of Congress are always coming up with new and innovative ways to engage citizens online, but no congressional office should neglect their website. After all, in our survey of over 10,000 citizens, we found that the website of the Senator or Representative is the one of the first places they turn for information. So it's essential that congressional websites provide at least a basic level of information and services. With limited time and resources, where should offices focus their efforts? Here are the 4 most critical areas to focus on, the questions to ask yourself as you improve your website, and examples from award winning websites from the 111th Congress:
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CMF hosted a training program for House and Senate staff on how to improve their websites in preparation for the Gold Mouse Project website evaluations this summer. Here are 5 tips from our Q+A with award winning staffers and 5 recommendations from our presentation:
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You might be able to do it alone, but it's easier with some help! In fact, it's close to impossible for a single staffer to create an award-winning website by himself. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire office to maintain an excellent website.
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As Hollywood prepares for the Oscars, Congress is gearing up to compete for a different prize: the Gold Mouse Awards. They are awarded to the Members of Congress who best use the Internet to more effectively communicate with and serve citizens. Preparations have already begun for the evaluations to start this summer!
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Members of Congress and their staff are eager to communicate more effectively with constituents. They come to the Congressional Management Foundation and the Partnership for a More Perfect Union with questions about everything from how to best improve their constituent mail operations, to how to best use social media tools like Twitter or Facebook. Through our new 'Ask Us' series, we will attempt to answer those questions for the benefit of not only the asker (whose identity we will carefully guard) but also for anyone else who might have the same question.
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For congressional offices looking to improve their online communications, one of the biggest challenges can be deciding what information to put on your website, or what's most important. We find that it can be helpful to think of the website as another district or state office which serves constituents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What services do your physical offices provide to constituents? What questions and concerns do they hear? Let the answers to those questions be your guide.
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Earlier this week at our House training on congressional websites and the Gold Mouse Report, one of the attendees asked what his office - as an award winning office - could do to improve their website and perhaps get a Gold or even the Platinum Mouse Award next time around. I love that question because it shows that an office is not resting on their laurels happy that they won an award. It's something we get a lot. The best want to be better. Regrettably, we don't always see that same focus and drive in the offices at the bottom of the list.
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Today we conducted training programs for House and Senate congressional staff on "Lessons from the 111th Congress Gold Mouse Project". Attendees looked at examples of successful websites, learned how to immediately improve their websites and received advice and insight from a panel of staff from award-winning congressional offices.
If you missed it, download the presentation handouts here: (PDF) (9.3 MB).
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In the second installment of "Inside the Hill", congressional staff discuss what it takes to create and maintain an effective and useful website.
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Building and managing a successful congressional website can be difficult. Check back often for information, tips, and guidance on how to make the process easier.
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Building Trust & Effectiveness in Congress
