Emerald Strategies

Whether maintaining an existing site or building a new one, our goal is to transform the way you do business on the web and guide your organization through a change that will revolutionize your website management and usability.

We benchmark your site against a checklist of best practices for governing, core and enabling processes. A roadmap to success!

---

Web Audit Services: Results that Matter

Our comprehensive web governance system audit offers large organizations a proven window into the strengths and weaknesses of their current system.

Those who part of your web eco-system will have a voice in the planning and improvement process. An independent auditor has the benefit of bringing an open-minded point of view to the fieldwork, encouraging frank discussions with your stakeholders.

Leaders get a yardstick to measure success and map improvements in performance, service and quality and how well they meet their business goals.

Projects: the Web Governance Audit

We have a rich depth of experience in conducting communication audits, with most activity focused on Web activities. In addition, we have a background in general communication audits for large public sector systems.

We use a variety of techniques including interviews, surveys, analysis and usability reviews. Our audit provides a full evaluation of your site’s performance against a checklist of best practices covering governing processes, core processes and enabling processes.

360-degree Web Governance Audit

A 360-degree audit will last between six and eight weeks. Here’s our method: we cover over 200 factors that impact your performance, field a 40 question survey to your entire web team to gather their views and do in-depth interviews with up to 10 key web staffers to probe their attitudes and behavior in managing the site. We also compare your organization structure and documentation against best practices so you know how you measure up.

Let us know if we can put these skills to work for your organization with a proven method we’ve used in the past or a custom solution unique to your structure. Contact us if we can give a briefing on our Web governance audit methodology.

Learn More: Case Studies

• Web governance audits at the World Bank
• Web standards at the House of Representatives
• Evaluating Public Outreach at the Kyrgyzstan Parliament
• Expert panelist at the Congress Online Project

Our usability services are the core of our consulting because if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Services include conducting expert reviews to give you performance scorecards, helping you with the planning phase of your web design project to give you a blueprint, or measuring how users do on top tasks critical to your site’s success.

 

---

Usability: Key to Success

Whether maintaining an existing site or building a new one, our goal is to transform the way you do business on the Web and guide your organization through a change that will revolutionize your Web site management. Usability is the key to success.

Put our award-winning project management skills to work and soon your website can tell the story of your organization. Internal communications will finally mirror your external communications because your design will work for you.

Projects: Create Usable Websites

We can help you navigate the choppy seas of website usability, and we’ve got a track record of success with the public sector to prove it.

Whether you need a part-time usability consultant to partner with you for the long-haul or a project-based specialist to provide an independent assessment of your site’s usability, you can rely on us.

A certified usability analyst knows the ins and outs of human factors engineering principles. From site scorecards that benchmark you against best practices on evidence-based design theory to task analysis that measures success ratios, time and clicks to goal for your site’s top tasks, your Web site will shine like a gem when we’re finished. Read up on our favorite projects here. And please contact us today if we can help you realize your dream website.

Learn More: Case Studies

• DHS.gov website redesign and content migration
• RestoreTheGulf.gov at DHS
• The AFPortal at the USAF
• The first generation of energy.gov
• The Cumberland County Library System Website 

Every organization has valuable content and breakthrough moments. Our training on writing for the web, message development, and web management helps web teams be more powerful and effective.

With over two decades of experience in public sector PR behind us, we’ve developed some know-how about what works … and common mistakes you should avoid. We help public relations professionals put the pieces together.

---

Sharpen Your Skills

We offer a variety of class and workshop opportunities. Each session is available independently, or as part of a full day “track” with similar offerings. Custom training is available on request. Our expertise covers the landscape of communications and web management.

Our practical communications training includes hands-on work to make it relevant to your organization or issue. You can schedule a communications training workshop in a variety of formats to suit your needs. Many topics are available and here are some of the most popular offerings:

Message Development Workshop — Our most popular track. This workshop guides your team through a proven method to develop clear and consistent messages that are heard.  The “Message Box” is a winner used in the public and private sector alike. With hands-on exercises, your team emerges with stronger skills to tackle the communication challenges your organization faces in today’s over-communicated society. This session sharpens your skills and equips your team with the same message development skills used by Capitol Hill and political campaign veterans. (see EPA case study below)

“Live On Camera” — Where you get the fundamentals of appearing in that format, and a practice with a taped interview. Do you speak with authority, concern and enthusiasm? Then you are an ace. bridging from beginner to a polished spokesperson benefits from message development and delivery coaching. (See Census Bureau case study below)

“Web Renewal” — A full day of web publishing training for non-techies, which is ideal for large organizations who have a distributed publishing model. Your ability to leverage your online communications channel is vital to your organization. (See Voices for America’s Children case study below)

We know it is vital to delivering content with a clear, credible message in a format that will break through. We bring life experience in journalism, Capitol Hill and non-profit media relations and academia to bear to make each session informative and relevant.

Also, we speak often on politics and public affairs. Our media training expertise includes many presentations at professional training conferences with public information officers of federal agencies, trade associations, and non-profit communicators.  Please contact us if we can speak at your event or help you deliver high impact communications in media interviews, presentations and other offline and online forums.

Learn More: Case Studies

• Federal Communication Commission – single session
• AAA Mid-Atlantic – half-day training
• Environmental Protection Agency – custom training
• US Census Bureau – full-day training
• Voices for America’s Children – Web renewal

 

The essence of your web design project is identity and brand. You need message-driven content and a look and feel that tells your story effectively. Our experience and perspective help you develop creative content and a winning presentation for your website make-over. Your sparkling new website will have the strategic focus you are craving for.

What’s more: it will better serve your audience and goals because of the changes it drives in your customer relationships, behavior and branding.

---

Content Marketing: A Strategic Focus

We offer end-to-end consulting services (draw the blueprint; build the foundation; manage the life-cycle) to help you to successfully tell your story via your website. And you can scale the engagement up or down, depending on your needs and budget.

After we launch your new website, you decide how to manage the life-cycle. We can sign-on to manage operations (basic maintenance, upgrades, new content, SEO, metrics reports, etc.) or educate you on how to manage it and empower you to take control.

We offer several levels of service to help your website shine, from providing economy websites to being a full-service partner in your web project.

• Economy: small website build – bring your own content (Typically 10 – 60 pages)
• Turn-key solution: small website build (Typically a 10 – 60 page site)
• Task partner: to lead or help on specific tasks (i.e. content refresh, usability, navigation, launch, training)
• Full-service partner: web project management services that use your in-house team resources or manages vendors (Reports to your executive or marketing representative)

The digital products we create leverage the strength of your organization’s identity to get the desired results.  Our experience adds value to your web operation with strong skills producing effective strategic communications; an award-winning track-record at managing large complex web projects; an ability to craft consistent and clear digital communications; and rock-solid message development chops.

Content Marketing Projects:

Several case studies for content marketing appear below.  See the usability section for examples of our full-service work.

Learn More: Case Studies

• Economy: New Website for Cacapon South POA (go to site)
• Turn-Key Solution: A Small Business Website for Kalbian-Hagerty LLP
• Task Partner: New Information Architecture for Land Trust Alliance
• Task Partner: Support the AFPortal Roll-out Strategy, Launch and Marketing