Advice for Division Web Liaisons

Division web liaisons work with both their division leadership and APA’s divisions web content specialists to keep their division's website updated. APA’s divisions web content specialists depend on the web liaisons to inform them of changes within the division that should be reflected on the website and to share highlights of key news, events and other goings-on within the division that should be featured online.

We encourage division web liaisons to follow these best practices for generating website content so that they can communicate effectively with their division and with APA to keep their website updated.

Keys to effective content: purpose, message and audience

• Purpose. Always consider the purpose of the web content you are adding or updating. What goals or needs for your division will the content meet? 
• Message. You should think about the message of your content. What does it communicate or convey to individuals who visit your division website? Is that message presented clearly and concisely? 
• Audience. Being aware of the intended audience for your content can help in crafting your message. Ask yourself, What are the needs of the intended audience? What language or information would be most useful to this intended audience?
  

Audience-specific content

When considering new content for your division website or even when updating existing content, determining what audience your content is intended to reach can help you in presenting information in the best possible way. Your division website will likely contain content that speaks to a variety of audiences, such as current division members, potential members, students, early career psychologists and the general public, among others.

To help you begin to think through how you might use your division website to speak to these various audience, we have these examples:

• Students. Content for students should focus on the needs and interests of individuals who are just beginning to engage with your division’s particular field in psychology. What kinds of information would be most interesting, relevant and useful to those who are just beginning to explore psychology, specialize in a specific field of psychology or participating in psychology graduate programs? We encourage you to reach out to student affiliates in your division when creating content for students.
  
• Early career psychologists. Content for early career psychologists should be tailored for the needs of professionals just entering the field. What information might be helpful or necessary for those who are just starting their careers? What general information, such as how to prioritize work-life balance or use social media to promote research or practice, might early career psychologists be interested in? What content specific to your field of psychology would be most relevant to early career psychologists? We encourage you to reach out to early career members of your division when crafting content for this group.
  
• The general public. Content that is meant for the general public should be written in plain language that assumes limited knowledge of the field. Avoid using jargon unless absolutely necessary. What resources might the general public be looking for from your division? How can content relate your division's mission with points of reference that the general public can understand, such as current events, popular culture or common experiences?
  

News and events-related content

One way to ensure your website is providing relevant content is to frequently update your division’s news and events pages. 

• News. Some examples of news items you can share could be accomplishments from members of the division, recaps of events that the division has sponsored or participated in and information about award winners, among other updates from the division.
• Events. Upcoming conventions, conferences, symposia, panel discussions or other events relevant to the division and its members can also be added to the division’s news and events webpages. To be added to this page, events do not need to be sponsored by the division, though they should be related to psychology. Of course, the division is welcome to feature events that it sponsors, and division-sponsored events can also be added to the APA calendar. When submitting events to be added to these pages, we ask that you include the name of the event, location of the event, dates of the event and other relevant information that would be useful to division members, such as a link to the event website.

As a division web liaison, one way to get this information and other updates to share on the website can be to set up a regular schedule (i.e., monthly, quarterly) to reach out to division members and solicit this content from them.

Contact APA

If you have any questions about ways that you can improve content on your division website or if you have ideas for content that you would like to share, please contact APA’s division web content specialists and they will be happy to work with you to strengthen the content on your division website.