(c) Joachim Farncombe, Friends of the Earth UK - https://friendsoftheearth.uk/ Nine lessons learnt from the aftermath of a website rebuild projects - assessing the performance of a new site, supporter journeys and the trade-offs made. Presented at ECF Europe 2018. Join the Campaigning Forum and find out more about its upcoming events here: http://fairsay.com/events

1. 9 Lessons From a
Website Rebuild
Joachim Farncombe

2. Background
In late 2016, the digital team at Friends of the Earth embarked on a project to
rebuild the main website.
Coffee was consumed. Lessons were learnt...
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3. Project aim
Rebuild the Friends of the Earth website to support the five step changes laid out
in the Friends of the Earth strategy.
Objectives
• Significantly increase the number of people taking action
• Significantly increase the number of donors/donations
9 Lessons From a Website Rebuild 3

4. The old… foe.co.uk
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5. The new… friendsoftheearth.uk
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6. Lesson #1
Set up dashboards early
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7. Lesson #2
Don’t cut corners with user
experience design
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8. Lesson #3
You have different audiences and
they deserve better
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9. Friends of the Earth online presence
Main site
friendsoftheearth.uk
Also home to act.friendsoftheearth.uk. The main web presence
for Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Campaigning resources
campaigning.friendsoftheearth.uk
Specific information and resources for activists to campaign on
specific issues including detailed campaign briefings .
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Policy website (in development)
policy.friendsoftheearth.uk
Detailed reports, policy papers which are crucial in facilitating
change. A specific audience in among policy makers.
Brand toolkit
brand.friendsotheearth.uk
Details of our values, mission, audiences as well as styleguide
and specific digital tools like our URL builder

10. Lesson #4
Some parts of your organisation
will be left disappointed
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11. Lesson #5
Online action platforms should
not be thought of as separate
from your website.
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12. Campaignion
Implemented by tech solutions team initially
Initially as a petitions platform separately from main website.
Theme
For the first 18 months, the appearance of our actions looked
and felt removed from the main website.
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Supporter journeys
Creating a coherent campaign journey is crucial to success and
should utilise multiple touchpoints
Author experience/workflow
Separate platforms present challenges around ownership, roles
and responsibilities and workflow

13. Lesson #6
Rather than talk about testing and
optimisation, do some testing and
optimisation.
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14. Lesson #7
Having an in-house team is a big
advantage
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15. The team
User experience designer
Content developer
Front end developer
Back end developer
Digital Analyst*
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16. Lesson #8
Don't try a big bang launch
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17. Lesson #9
Websites should evolve
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18. Goodbye!
Joachim Farncombe
@farncom_be
joachim.farncombe@foe.co.uk
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