Swine Flu Communication Kudos

Posted by: Amy Hooker, Director of Online Marketing Apr 29, 2009 0 Comments

As the top news story on the nightly news and CNN.com, the swine flu, or H1N1, epidemic has dominated the headlines since last weekend. And to say that there’s been a lot of chatter online would be an understatement. Nielsen reports that on April 27th, “swine flu” was mentioned on Twitter one time every second and that the number of blog posts mentioning swine flu is exploding.

Mix a sense of panic and the nonstop flow of online activity, and you have a recipe for a bad situation. But thankfully, the agencies responsible for gathering and disseminating public health information—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—are keeping level heads and making smart online communication choices others would be wise to take note of.

1. They push the message beyond their sites: By quickly developing a widget that provides links to information about the swine flu, CDC and HHS have created a medium that effectively lets them keep control of the message while the widget propagates to websites over which they have no control.

Additionally, they provide the widget (and the information it links to) in both English and Spanish—especially helpful, given the location of the outbreak’s beginnings.

A final benefit is that the official sites to which the widget links receive the search engine optimization benefit of all of the backlinks to their sites, further solidifying their high positions in the search results for terms like “swine flu.”

2. They present a unified message: No matter which website you go to, you’re going to see a consistent message (and due to the widget, a similar graphic element) about the status of the H1N1 virus and what you need to know about it. This is no accident. For a worried visitor searching for information, this unified message will present a reassuring sign that the government is working together to keep citizens safe and informed.

3. They provide timely updates: Knowing when the information was last updated helps visitors understand that they’re receiving the most current information available. It also immediately alerts them to look for new information if the update time is later than their previous visit.

4. They keep pertinent information “above the fold”: Understanding that visitors to these sites are likely looking for information related to the swine flu outbreak, the sites place relevant information in the top half of the website so that visitors can immediately identify the topics they’re looking for.

So what’s the takeaway from all of this? The techniques that CDC, HHS, and DHS are employing can serve as best practices for businesses and agencies—in times of crisis and in times of calm.

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Amy Hooker

Director of Online Marketing

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