Our last blog post talked about your research shop window, and how to make it compelling.
You want to attract policy makers and engage lay audiences with your research. One of the centrepieces of your window display is a cracking one page research website.
This week we go into detail about how to create your very own one page research website. How do you get it to be a shining showcase of what makes your research relevant, impactful and worth people’s time?
It’s terrifying, right? I mean, it’s definitely a great way to assert your authority on the debate. It’s a phenomenal tool to hook your desired collaborators in with a bang-up to date summary of your research. That means those same collaborators are far more likely to pick you up and connect on a deeper level. But the thought of making one may also trigger all those ‘OMG I don’t know how to do this’ panic feelings.
Fret not! We can absolutely hold your hand through this.
So how do you do it?
If you take a look at the handy Infographic above, you’ll see we’ve shown you exactly what needs to be included, step by step. You can use this format in your one page website, or your profile, or even an Infographic of your own – all snazzy items for your shop window.
Want it summed up? Here we go.
Content:
Decide who your desired audience is. You’ll want to focus on why they should care about your research. So…
Make it relevant to their current problems
Be clear on what you need them to do and how they can engage with you to move forward.
Style:
Brevity is key. The whole thing should be less than 600 words.
Use visuals to make points for you - icons, illustrations, simple graphs, Infographics etc. (Word of warning: don’t use these just for fun; everything needs to say something.)
White space helps your audience process visually, so keep it simple
Assertive, not strident. How do you get that balance? It’s hard enough for most of us to promote ourselves at all, let alone knowing when we’ve gone too far. A rule of thumb is to stick to facts (“here’s the evidence, here’s the takeaway,” rather than “I know this so you should do that”). Let your work do the talking – you know it’s good, so let it shine.
Okay, so you’ve got a great one-pager. It’s pithy, it’s compelling, it’s honest and you love it. Where are you going to put it? What’s the best platform for you?
There are options. You just have to decide what works best with your style, the conversations you have, and the way you’re connecting with people.
You could, for example, restructure your institutional profile in this format.
Or, you could write a LinkedIn article that showcases your themes.
You could create your own Infographic using PowerPoint to demonstrate your topic and share it as a visual on social media, pushing it out to your Twitter and LinkedIn communities. (We’ll follow this up with a blog about how to do exactly that!)
Or you could go fancy and use a free web page service like WIX. They have templates you can customise for your own needs, and easily make it look and feel your own. We do this for our clients at Nifty Fox; you can see some examples of different ways we’ve used it at Welfare at a Social Distance, or the Sheffield City Partnership website, or Make Them Care.
Remember: there’s no guarantee that if you build it, they will automatically come. It’s part of a strategy, not the whole thing. It’s a useful tool to use and it can definitely light up your communications, as long as you do what’s necessary:
You need to be reaching out to key stakeholders in your desired research or policy arenas. You can do this online, via email or phone, or in person. Show them what you’re doing. Lead them to your shop window. Get the conversations started.
Messaging needs to be targeted, timely and relevant. For more on how to do this, check out our social media messaging guide as a good starting point.