In the 21st century, a powerful online presence is mandatory for a credible brand. This truth applies as much to a local health department constructing a reputation in the community as to a traditional company marketing goods and services. A vital website can do everything from shape market perceptions to educate and assist visitors.
A comprehensive local health website will help you:
- Build your brand,
- Engage your audience,
- Share public health data, and
- Disseminate timely and valuable information.
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) recognizes the importance of websites in Domain 3 of its Standards & Measures by noting that “branding is important for the department’s image, reputation and perceived value.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expands on this topic in a presentation describing the 10 Essential Public Health Services a good system must provide.
There are a number of digital approaches you can use to inform and educate. Static websites built of lists of services and contact information will no longer get the job done. Instead, you must construct a site that is interactive and dynamic, that engages your partners and the public in the shared goals of health and well-being.
Building specific components into your website can achieve your goals:
Blog: A blog area can become the heart of your website, where you can provide detailed information and fulfill a variety of needs with videos, infographics, and articles.
Portfolio of resources: Consider how much more engaging Pinterest is than a list of craft ideas; your website should display images to capture the eye as well as words to engage visitor interest. Your resource portfolio should be designed and presented carefully, so that necessary information is sorted and filtered, and not just arranged as posted, static lists.
Email newsletter: A thoughtful newsletter can distribute informative content, promote upcoming events, and maintain partner relationships.
Interactive forms: You can create brief surveys and interactive questionnaires to collect data from your visitors, as well as enable your partners and the public to report problems on your website or in the community.
Social Media Integration: Your website should always complement your social media strategy by posting your latest tweets and Facebook posts. You can also automatically publish blog posts to your social media accounts.
Events Calendar: Sharing community health events is an important part of your health promotion strategy and a valuable tool for your partners and community.
Community Health Dashboard: Your website will feature a dynamic “dashboard” that provides insights both you and your visitors can use. More interactive than a plain chart or data table, a good dashboard will condense public health data to meet the requirements of PHAB Measure 1.4.2 to provide summaries and fact sheets of community health data that you can then make available to the public.
Future blog posts will explore each of these components of effective websites and offer resources with which you can make your vision a reality.