DD: Content

Appendix DD / Content

Disability sign

To take a quote from the design industry: Content is king. Without good, well maintained and factually accurate content your website is worthless. And that pesky "back" button is only one clock away - there are plenty of other sites out there for your would-be visitor to try...



Relevant Content Only

A UKIP website should be primarily about UKIP, not about other political parties or other campaigns. Whilst this sounds obvious, it's good to keep this in mind when devising new content for your site.



News

Keep members and interested people up to date about what's happening in your branch. If your branch hasn't posted any news it looks as though you don't have any!



Articles

If you wish, write articles and place them on the website. As always, make sure they are relevant and accurate. Do not simply reproduce copyright material from other websites or other publications - this is highly dubious and often illegal.



Newsletters etc.

If you are delivering material through letterboxes, make a copy prominently available on your website! That way, people can mail it to their friends and colleagues (Viral Marketing) easily. It also makes it easy for them to obtain more copies without you bearing print costs!

Remember that the web version can be colour, if your distributed copy is black and white.



Pictures

Most mobile phones can take snapshots these days, so make use of them, particularly on your homepage. You can always have small(ish) thumbnails and link to bigger versions - but keep 'em prominent, not tucked away in corners.

If you can't find the pics you need: ask! Plenty of people take pics at UKIP events, and are often happy for them to be used...

Do, however, remember that many people will be accessing your site from a mobile phone, and, if they have to download lots of material, which could be costing them a large part of their monthly plan, they will not be amused.

Register to vote poster

Cartoons and Humour

Can be a great way for drawing people in and annoying opponents. For example, the Electoral Commission asked for help with getting overseas voters registered, and we produced this, riffing off a "Risk" board:



... And for by-elections etc., we run variants of this in local press on polling week - it's easy to change the candidate's face - and it also works well on t-shirts!

Candidate's Nightmare Before Thursday poster.

Events

Listing events held by your branch and neighbouring branches is another good idea but make sure they are accurate. If possible, provide a map. You dont need to be able to draw, for this, or worry about copyright - sites such as Google Maps or Streepmap make it easy for you to link to them once you have found your target...


Consider homepage plugs, and using a picture/ poster:


Do remember to update the site when writing people about a last minute change of plan: the post is unreliable these days, and many people, myself included, look up the branch websites on iPhones, Blackberries etc. or at work if we need to set diary entries!

And post a follow-up - how did it go, did we win in court etc. (Or discreetly remove reference if it was a disaster for whatever reason)

Also, if you keep old events up, order the pages so most recent events appear at the top - then it's easy to spot new additions.



Candidates

If you've selected a General Election candidate, make sure you let the world know about them. Put a biography in a prominent position. As mentioned elsewhere, we have plans to ensure that every candidate gets their own website. Link to it when it has been set up.

If you are still seeking candidates for either the General Election or for council elections make sure you say so. If you do not give any information it will look as though you do not intend to stand a candidate.



Links

Hyperlinks to other websites are a great idea. Select them carefully, though, make sure they fit in with UKIP's principles, and check them regularly. Many links on websites are linking to websites that no longer exist. There are tools that can analyse all the links on your page.

Avoid imagemaps. One image per link is the preferred method.



Copyright

Have a notice and remember to keep the year updated.

See also our Imprint guidance.



Content to be avoided

Given our earlier suggestions on target audience, you should not publish:

  • The national constitution and rules - link to the constitution at Party Constitution if necessary.
  • Contact details for other regions, and branches etc. within other regions - how will you find out when they change?
  • Contact details for resigned committee members - check with them and reedit online newsletters etc. as necessary - do not assume that someone will not try a phone number if it is on a recent news page, even if that person is not on the committee page further down, especially if no other phone nos are given - many people prefer an initial phone call to email when getting in touch...
  • Articles that don't reflect up-to-date thinking - e.g. pieces referencing the 2001 Pearson report on EU costs, with no mention of Gerard Batten's more recent work in this area or, for 2014, Tim Congdon's up-to-date work.
  • Manifesto summaries - too often people fail to notice when policy changes e.g. Cap Inheritance Tax at 500K.
  • And manifestos themselves - which can also quickly become out-of-date. Refer seekers to UKIP.ORG.
  • NEC election results and similar - point 'em to UKIP.ORG if need-be; if it's not on there, it's for a good reason!
  • Content TBA or Coming Soon placeholders.



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