Whether you are ready to launch your EngagementHQ for the first time or you are about to go live with a new project, there are certain steps you need to consider for a smooth lift-off.
Publishing a new project
Whenever you launch a new project or consultation, there are two checklists we recommend you consider. One is technical in nature, the other is more about best practice. Consult both for the best possible result.
Technical aspects
Use this checklist to ensure that your visitors have a good experience. That means making sure everything works as you expect and is visibly pleasing. The below are best done in chronological order:
Set your visibility, if the project is not supposed to be for public view. Often EngagementHQ admins want to give colleagues or other stakeholders a sneak peek before going live. Read our article on how they can preview the draft project.
Publish all your tools.
Check to ensure that all hyperlinks work
Review the headers and footers displayed on your site
Check your project link before sharing
Visit the site from a smartphone to experience the site on a mobile device
Put yourself (and colleagues) in the shoes of a participant and explore the project as if you were a participant. This includes looking at your tools.
Link to your project from your hub or other related projects through a widget.
In the last step, publish your project and start promoting it.
Use the homepage editor to add this project to your site homepage. Only once the project is published, will it appear to be added on your homepage.
Best Practice
Making sure that your project is looking good and working as expected is one thing. Maximising your engagement by following the below best practice advise is just as important.
Have you...
included a call to action? Your project title and parts of the description should have a call to action.
kept the project description short and sharp? Use the project description to introduce the project and encourage your visitors to get involved. Keep it as short as you can. If the text is long, use the truncate description option.
used imagery and colours? Include emotive imagery and video, particularly of people, and more particularly faces, is striking.
kept text in plain English? Do not use compound sentences or jargon. Leave the Thesaurus on the bookshelf.
enabled engagement tools? You are working on EngagementHQ. Make sure you use the tools that are provided to engage with your community. Don't publish projects without any engagement tools enabled.
disabled empty widgets? If a widget is empty, remove it.
invited your community? Nobody will engage if nobody knows the project exists. Use all channels available to you to drive traffic. In particular, make use of the newsletter function and send a quick email to your database.
NOT overloaded the page? All of the above is important, but don't overdo it either. White space is important too.
Next - Publish your project.
Also, review our Checklist for Site launch if you are launching the site too.
Contact our support team if you need any further assistance via chat or email support@engagementhq.com