Download “First impressions count: learning from websites of Roman Catholic

“First impressions count:
learning from websites of
Roman Catholic dioceses”
Analysis of nine international
websites from a communications
perspective
Daniel Arasa
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
Maynooth, October 16, 2007
What & Why
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School of Institutional Communications
Personal research: Church communication over
the Internet
Research conducted between 2002-6
9 dioceses: Bogotá, Johannesburg, Los Angeles,
Madrid, Manila, Melbourne, México City, Milan
and São Paulo.
Interviews (webmasters / journalists) +
Observation of the sites
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Internet & the Catholic Church
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Internet’s role in communications.
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Internet affects Church’s communication:
 2,000
years of history without Internet
 But crucial in today’s world
 Subject of communication: faifthful & others
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Websites = multidimensional realities
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Websites = multidimensional
realities
Contents/services
Technical instruments
Managers
Visitors
Website
Communication
Model
and
Context of reference
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Website Communication Model
E VALUATI O N
Context or Relevant Market
IV. A Group of People Who Access the Site
III. A Group of People Who Produce, Update and
Promote the Site
II. A Collection of Technical Instruments that Make
Accessible Those Contents and Services
I. A Cluster of Contents and Services
PROJECT
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Catholic Diocesan Websites
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what they offer, the way they offer and why
Institutional communications
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No ideal website: variable environment +
diversity of circumstances
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Guidelines / Suggestions
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General Observations
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Websites as “open intranets”
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No contradiction between INFORMATION
& EVANGELIZATION
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Websites are means, not ends
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Improve website promotion & accessibility
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Specific Observations
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Importance of Title and Description tags.
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Search engines: search + presentation
Browsers: bookmark
Approach visibility from users’ perspective
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Self-evident labels & interaction: respond to
expectations, avoid frustration.
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Usability tools: print-friendly formats, send to a
friend, link to this site, etc. Pretty good job.
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Don’t make obsolete what is not: time indicators
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Challenges for Web Managers
Quality requires constant evaluation
 Professionalism of the website team
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 Technicians
and communicators wanted
 Continuous training
 Financial coverage: advertising, online
donations...
Internal communications affects visitor’s
attention
 Users’ quality > user statistics
 Benchmarking & Networking
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Pod and Webcasting
Why not?... Better: for what purpose?
 Permanent or mid-term value
 Importance of testimonies
 Only if it enrichs: music, etc.
 Journalists are not interested, but in
pictures
 Some examples webcasting: Pope’s
election, WYD (video-casting), sqpn.com
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Journalists & Diocesan Webs
Journalists = main target of MR
 Website
MR faster & more complete
 But:
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 MR
≠ main activity of diocesan websites
 Journalists ≠ primary target
 Conflictual relationship
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Suggestions / Complaints
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Journalists’ View
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Understand journalists’ constraints
 Time
 Transparency
 Relevancy
Supplying adequate tools to inform
 Diversity of sources
 Major collaboration: web team & media
officers
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Parameters for MR
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Expertise
Willingness to reply
Being good interpreters and able to make sense
of the information
Clarity
Favouring internal networking
Favouring multi-focal perspectives
Coherence
(Prof. Carroggio, 2002)
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