If you’ve ever wanted rock solid proof of the power that comes from providing your customers and/or constituents with useful, timely information your web site, this is it.

One of our municipal government clients had the right idea. When they had to issue a flood evacuation alert , they posted the latest information on their home page.  Local media encouraged residents to visit the web site, and traffic spiked.

Each point on the graph identifies a single day. That sudden increase in visitors represents an increase of hundreds of people visiting the site.

When crucial information is available and up-to-date, people will come to depend on your site. You can take advantage of this technique even if you’re not running a government web site. Many companies in the industrial and energy sectors can communicate important safety and emergency information through their web sites.

Give your users what they need, and your web site will become a key component in your emergency communications plan.

Even if emergency information isn’t a likely role for your web site, posting timely and relevant information will still drive visitors to your site. Perhaps you operate a local cafe, and today’s special is “Buy one espresso shot, get one free.”  That wouldn’t be a public emergency, but your best customer with a caffeine addiction will rush to act, nonetheless!