Blog
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Meaningful Google Analytics for museum websites
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
- Galileo Galilei
There are two big problems regarding traffic analytics at most museums. First, in my experience, not many people use them regularly and systematically, even at some fairly large institutions. Secondly, even if ...
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Curating the clutter
If you're like me, you've probably noticed that it seems to be getting more difficult to find solid sources of information on the Interwebs. Search engine results, especially for popular topics, are often gummed up by search engine marketers gaming the system. Then there's the filter bubble ...
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9 Things to include in your museum's digital engagement strategy
The Web sites of museums are different in a number of important ways. In order to manage your site and your online presence effectively, it’s important to understand those differences and play to your strengths. Here are some things worth considering:
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A museum Web site needs to be consistent ...
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What does success look like on your museum website?
Museum management thinks long and hard about making sure exhibits are well designed, enticing and thought-provoking. Executives and boards will invest heavily in the gallery and facilities, to make sure they are convey the proper impression and have all the amenities.
But while there are many beautifully done museum websites ...
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Webinar: Mobile Content Strategy for Museums
On average, 1 in 5 visits to any website now happens on a smartphone. 31% of Americans only or mostly use a mobile phone to access the Web. Museums need to optimize their online visitor experience to stay relevant and connected to an audience that's increasingly on the go ...
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Art Not Found: why museum collections are often invisible on the Web
The other day I googled the signature piece in the collection of a major metropolitan museum. Sure enough, it was listed atop the results. But when I linked over to it I found a page with errors and no image of the object.
404 - Art Not Found.
I've had ...
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What's in a (page)name? An audience for your museum website
You know what Mr. Shakespeare wrote:
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."
Unfortunately, no one would be able to google its web page.
If you're involved in your museum's content strategy and content management you're probably already aware that you can improve the ...
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You don't need an app for that
Mobile apps are literally everywhere and more keep coming every day. 30 billion copies have been downloaded from the Apple Store and 15 billion from Google Play (Android). But there's a lot of evidence that this ocean of apps, while a mile wide, is only an inch deep.
According ...
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Is Responsive Web Design right for your museum's mobile content strategy?
For awhile now all the cool kids on the Web have been chatting about Responsive Web Design as an efficient approach for designing website layouts across a myriad of device types. In fact, about 10 million web pages mention it.
So why all the hubbub? Responsive web design can make ...
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The biggest mistake museums make on the web
Not long ago I conducted a webinar on the things museums should do to make sure they have a great site worthy of a great venue. Afterwards, one of the participants asked me a question I wished I'd had the chance to address during the session, because it gets ...
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Do-It-Yourself: Not for fireworks displays. Or website redesigns
Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend my family and I found ourselves in Freeport for LLBean's 100th anniversary fireworks display. The show was properly spectacular, lasting 45 minutes, and by the end the air was so thick with smoke from the bombs-bursting-in-air that it set off the fire ...
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Webinar: Managing museum websites - the five essential ingredients for success
Every museum website is unique and special, but the best ones have five essential qualities. Your site should amplify your mission, be a venue in its own right, solidify your connections to new audiences and bring people to the doors. Is your site getting the job done?
Join us July ...
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Breaking the filter bubble for museum websites
Perhaps you've heard of The Filter Bubble, the phrase coined by Eli Pariser? The idea is that people are cocooned in a bubble composed of their everyday experiences. Unless you are proactive in seeking to broaden your horizons it will be difficult to grow intellectually.
So how does the ...
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Thinking differently about museum websites
It's tough to "think different". If it wasn't, we'd all be Steve Jobs. Yet that's exactly what those in museum management need to do when it comes to embracing technology and using their websites to effectively engage a broader audience.
Most museums woefully underutilize their websites ...
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Effectively connecting your museum to the Pinterest crowd
If you work at a museum, you've heard of Pinterest by now. It's said that a picture's worth a thousand words, and that may help explain the explosive growth of Pinterest, the social network in which people share images - just images - they find as they surf the ...
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Outside In: Creating engagement through a museum website
Audience engagement - how to create and sustain it - is a hot topic in the museum community (and in the marketing community as a whole). It's not enough to make people aware of your organization. You've got to work hard to compete for your audience's attention, and encourage ...
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Django - worth a look for museums' open source content management
What does the award-winning website of the Walker Art Center have in common with Pinterest, Instagram, The Washington Post, The Onion and NASA? They all make use of the open source platform Django as a framework for their content management systems.
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The two most important considerations when selecting a content management system (“CMS”) for a museum website
One of the most important questions facing museums on the Web is the selection of a content management system ("CMS") for their websites. A CMS that non-technical staff can use to quickly update content like events, exhibitions and other happenings is essential to the success of your museum's online ...
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Time to think "mobile first"
Last week I was in Boston and while I was walking about town I was curious to find out what museums were in the neighborhood (being in the museum business, I'm like that). Being one heckuva savvy mobile surfer I naturally tapped the Museum Locator app on my iPhone ...
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It’s 2012: Is the Web part of your strategic plan yet?
The Web is so much a part of our lives today that we are virtually swimming in it. It’s an essential component of communication these days. And yet, some museums still don’t see consider it an important part of their strategic plan.
I recently reviewed the strategic plan ...
