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Successful online businesses and organisations all have one thing in common: they are useful for their users.

Whether a user returns to your website to buy, learn, share, converse, donate, research or be entertained is purely determined by the purpose of your website. Whatever the angle of your online presence, a common need is visible: retention.

For organisations to remain relevant within the online space, they will need to adapt to both emerging technologies and shifting consumer behaviour. Those who will succeed need to focus on the premise of immediate access to content, cultural relevance, personalisation and interactivity.

The future of the web and associated technologies lies in the notion of immediate access to content. Within the online sphere, accessibility and the “what you want, when you want it” motto are at the forefront of best practice and imply openness, transparency and relevancy.

Diversifying channels to content to provide a richer user experience and facilitate an interactive relationship with the user is recommended. This includes the provision of videos, visual messaging of content, podcasting, vodcasting, virtual tours, downloadable resources, user-generated content, the ability to share content, pushing content to social media and the creation of personalisation and community through the tailored presentation of content to the user. The provision of multilingual content is also a key driver to accessibility and implied openness.

Our recommended approach is that our clients work alongside Gruden in establishing a digital roadmap for the future of their website.

By doing so, we identify how the website and other digital channels should fit into our client’s overall strategic direction, how these channels can be moulded to be more relevant to users, and set them on a clear path for online-driven growth over an extended period of time. It provides us with a benchmark by which strategic goals and online activities can be set, tracked and monitored, in a continual process of improvement based on the underlying principle of strategy: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? Are we there yet?

This process ensures that the website remains alive and relevant, a centralised hub of dynamic content, growing organically with the needs of the client and their users: their URL is no longer a website, it’s a resource.

Interactivity is a key driver in maintaining relevancy to your audience. Several years ago, a website known as the Big Red Button demonstrated the power of interactivity to retain visitors to a website. The button asked visitors not to push; visitors felt compelled to push; and each successive push rewarded the visitor with entertaining responses. It successfully invited interaction and helped give rise to viral marketing.

Additionally, user-generated content is a growing phenomenon online. In the words of Mark Pollard, the basic premise that content=conversation=content: don’t use social media, let social media use you, rings true in today’s online environment. Our user-generated content campaigns for Disney Channel Australia such as  Hannah Montana are proven examples of the success of this medium.

The White House run an online blog which encourages the sharing of content, as well as links to their various online social media channels.

Gruden have developed customised social media channels for many of our clients, with the premise of opening up multiple channels to content and allowing people to access content specific to their interests via social media hub’s of their choice. Such an example can be seen at: www.youtube.com/skillsdmc. Additionally, the Sydney Opera House has implemented this with great success: www.youtube.com/sydneyoperahouse.

The key to creating and sustaining an online brand is in building experiences and creating a link between the physical and digital world. An experience which is both personal and interactive will engage the end user and transform your online presence from a website into a resource. However, it is important to understand that the underlying foundation of defining which experiences will be successful is strategy, and this must be clearly defined through a digital roadmap before any key recommendations can be made as to how to achieve your online goals.

Additionally, it’s important to recognise that a website is a living thing. It is vital that you constantly measure your online goals via analytics and review the initial KPI’s established at the project’s onset. By doing so, you can identify areas of the site that aren’t quite hitting the mark and capitalise on those areas that are deemed successful.  It’s important to validate the project’s success by measuring it against your initial objectives, and ensuring that content is constantly refreshed and revisited.