UK Independence Party
Content
From UKIPBWC
To take a quote from the design industry: Content is King. Without good, well maintained and factually accurate content your website is worthless.
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Relevant content only
A UKIP website should be primarily about UKIP, not about other political parties or other campaigns. Whilst this sounds obvious, it's good to keep this in mind when devising new content for your site.
News
Keep members and interested people up to date about what's happening in your branch. If your branch hasn't posted any news it looks as though you don't have any!
Articles
If you wish, write articles and place them on the website. As always, make sure they are relevant and accurate. Do not simply reproduce copyright material from other websites or other publications - this is highly dubious and often illegal.
Newsletters etc.
If you are delivering material through letterboxes, make a copy prominently available on your website! That way, people can mail it to their friends and colleagues (Viral Marketing) easily. It also makes it easy for them to obtain more copies without you bearing print costs!
Remember that the web version can be colour, if your distributed copy is b/w - a good example is Dorset
Pictures
The more the better! Most mobile phones can take snapshots these days, so make use of them, particularly on your homepage. You can always have small(ish) thumbnails and link to bigger versions - but keep 'em prominent, not tucked away in corners.
If you can't find the pics you need: ask! Plenty of people take pics at UKIP events, and are often happy for them to be used...
Cartoons and humour
Can be good for drawing people in but use with caution.
An excellent source is the Bournemouth West site
Flags
Union Jacks, Saltires, St. George flags etc. are a not permitted, especially on banners and as standalone items.
The one exception is where your website shows a typical village scene, and a building has a flag discreetly flying - example below.
Events
Listing events held by your branch and neighbouring branches is another good idea but make sure they are accurate. If possible, provide a map. You dont need to be able to draw, for this, or worry about copyright - sites such as http://www.maps.google.com or http://www.streetmap.co.uk make it easy for you to link to them once you have found your target...
Consider homepage plugs, and using a picture/ poster:
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Do remember to update the site when writing people about a last minute change of plan: the post is unreliable these days, and many people, myself included, look up the branch websites on iPhones, Blackberries etc. or at work if we need to set diary entries!
And post a follow-up - how did it go, did we win in court etc. (Or discreetly remove reference if it was a disaster for whatever reason)
Also, if you keep old events up, order the pages so most recent events appear at the top - then it's easy to spot new additions.
Candidates
If you've selected a General Election candidate, make sure you let the world know about them. Put a biography in a prominent position. As mentioned elsewhere, we have plans to ensure that every candidate gets their own website. Link to it when it has been set up.
If you are still seeking candidates for either the General Election or for council elections make sure you say so. If you do not give any information it will look as though you do not intend to stand a candidate.
Membership
Produce a membership form that can be printed, completed and returned. You should make sure that you capture all the data HQ requires for the membership DB. By doing your own form you can ensure that the branch keeps the money from the new memberships, rather than the money going to central funds.
If possible, use an HTML form rather than text - then they can type in their responses, and there is no dodgy handwriting to worry about. An example can be found here
You can also link to the online membership application at UKIP's national website.
Fundraising
Following recent high profile donations scandals, do not accept donations through your website, or invite people to transfer money to your bank account - this was discussed and approved at the Dec 2007 NEC meeting. By all means invite donors to contact you but it is important to have a paper trail for accountability.
Video
Links to sites with UKIP video contemt such as UKIP TV are a great feature, and consider a picture to go with them - this, for example, is available from me on request:
Remember the points in the Media section, too...
Links
Hyperlinks to other websites are a great idea. Select them carefully, though, make sure they fit in with UKIP's principles, and check them regularly. Many links on websites are linking to websites that no longer exist. There are tools that can analyse all the links on your page.
Avoid imagemaps. One image per link is the preferred method.
Copyright
Have a notice and remember to keep the year updated.
Content to be avoided
Given our earlier suggestions on target audience, you should not publish: