[Sigia-l] General access versus members-only sites

[Hilary Marsh]

Andrew gives some good advice. This summer, I worked on a project for 
the NCAA, which has both a site for schools and athletes 
<http://www.ncaa.org> and a site for sports fans 
<http://www.ncaasports.com>. We worked on the .org site only.

Users often come to the wrong site, so we made sure to feature the 
logo and a one-line description of the for the consumer site pretty 
prominently on the .org site-- and the NCAA chose not to include the 
.org info on the .com site.

Some content will appear on both sites, and that content will be 
housed and managed centrally and pulled into each site's 
look-and-feel. Not that difficult.

Best,

Hilary


><snipped for space>
>- do thorough user/task analysis so you know exactly what you've
>supposed to be providing to the target audience members, and
>- design subsite-specific interfaces that are similar enough not to
>break branding but different enough that users know which site they are
>in." Most CMS have some kind of layout/template control that allows this.
>
>Anthony Hempell wrote:
>
>  >Hi -
>  >
>  >I'm working on the beginning stages of a project for a large
>  >service-provider company. In our pitch and creative process we came up
>  >with idea of having a dedicated site that was for members only - not
>  >just a "members" section or a username/password like on Amazon, but a
>  >separate URL that would marketed specifically to members.  There would
>  >still be the existing URL for a general-purpose web site that would be
>  >aimed at new/potential members and the general public.
>  >
>  >Although I haven't started the design process yet, I'm already having
>  >some concerns about how to divide up the content of the two sites.
>  >
>  >Specifically:
>  >
>  >- how to manage content that would be of use to both sites;
>  >
>  >- strategies and tactics for making the general / member site concept
>  >clear to users who may be confused which is which;
>  >
>  >- any evidence that this is or isn't a good idea, specifically with the
>  >additional time involved to create and manage two sites instead of one.
>  >
><snipped>
-- 
Hilary Marsh
president, content company inc
plan  *  create  *  manage
http://www.contentcompany.biz
708.217.3922

Monthly newsletter with tips and tricks for keeping your website 
fresh, relevant and strategic -- subscribe at 
http://www.contentcompany.biz/subscribe.html.

Join CM Professionals, the first international content management 
community of practice: http://www.cmprofessionals.org.