Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
When I came to CDC in August 2005, I brought with me one major goal: to improve the CDC website. I am proud to say that as of April 19, 2007, we have accomplished this goal with the launch of the new CDC.gov homepage and top-level navigation pages. Not that the old site was that bad compared to some others (who will remain nameless), but it certainly wasn't nearly as good as it could be. The design of the new site is based on science, best practices, and evidence-based research, like everything else we do at the CDC and the National Center for Health Marketing.
Although the new site definitely looks better, that is only one benefit, the virtual icing on the cake. More importantly, the new site actually is better. I know because we spent more than a year doing the research needed to better meet the needs of our diverse customers. More than 9 million people who visit CDC.gov every month will have a better, easier experience in accessing CDC's health content than they did before. As a result, we hope they can use this information to better protect and promote the health of themselves, their families, and their communities.
For those of you who are active users of CDC.gov, you will quickly realize that the new site offers many new features not previously available. These include an interactive, front-and-center Photo Features section of timely articles to keep you current and informed. The expanded Health and Safety Topics area makes it much easier for users to navigate and find the credible health information they are seeking. There's also a new and improved Search Engine to improve search results, and the Tools & Resources and Text Controls make browsing much easier and portable.
If you are a news hound like me, you'll appreciate the expanded What's New section to provide more links to breaking news and updated content. You can even get E-mail Updates right at your fingertips, along with CDC for You resources for key audiences. The Top 20 at CDC list lets you see at a glance what's most popular on the site, and the A-Z Index provides speedy access to all of CDC's online information. We even have Tag Clouds for the power users among us.
The process of improving CDC.gov is almost as impressive as the outcome. We started by performing an assessment to collect base-line data for comparison purposes and by identifying our primary and secondary customers. We involved stakeholders throughout the entire CDC organization by creating the CDC.gov Council. We involved end users in the design, development and testing processes to ensure that the new site would meet their needs.
Simply put, the new CDC.gov is more than just another pretty web site. As good health marketers should, we listened to the needs of our customers and have taken steps to provide them with exactly what they asked for. And this is only the first step. Following the launch, we will continue to measure our progress and track the success of these improvements by capturing metrics to measure user performance, which we will use to see what is working better and what is not, and by developing a research-based strategy to continue to improve performance and user satisfaction. We also plan to incorporate more interactive and new media applications into the site and move toward more participatory and personalized Web 2.0 principles.
My deepest thanks go out to the many dedicated staff whose vision and hard work brought the new CDC.gov to life. These include Janice Nall, Director of the NCHM Division of e-Health Marketing, the entire CDC.gov Team, and the CDC.gov Council for their extraordinary efforts in helping us achieve this milestone.
We look forward to hearing your feedback, ideas, and experiences with the new CDC.gov.
Posted by: Jay on Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 9:00am ET
Submit a comment
Jay,
WOW! Congratulations to Janice and all who worked on CDC 2.0. The CDC has always had great content but now the navigation makes it so much easier to locate it. I especially like the ability to peruse the site based on life stages. And the CDC organization page is also a significant improvement. I could say more but I want to get back to exploring your site. Thanks and well done.
Jim Nowicki
Vice President
Federal Health Care Solutions
ACS (Affiliated Computer Services)
Comment
Jay,
Excellent contents and design. Easy navigation, outstanding health marketing strategies. Congratulations and thank you, this is an exceptional resource.
Maria Claudia Norena
Manager, Minority Health & Research Center (MHRC)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Comment
Jay,
Congratulations on the re-launch! It is refreshing to see you recognize that optimizing the site with Web 2.0 tools will not only benefit your current visitors, but will enhance your Google search results. I applaud you taking the newest approaches on the web to get the attention that the CDC deserves. Too often, government agencies are left behind in technology information innovation which allows that vacuum to be filled by less credible sources. More people will be able to use the site for the valuable information to which you are the gatekeepers.
I especially like the RSS tool which will allow broad distribution of valuable health information. This will help publishers, but also service sites to tie into the content which makes CDC.gov so important.
The tag clouds helped me find topics which are important; from "ADHD" and its impact on child care and education settings to "falls" and its impact on older adults in a senior care setting.
Best regards, and stayon the cutting edge of information distribution!
Ron Marcelo
Care.com
Comment
Jay,
Last year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information conducted a website best practice review, and at that time CDC came out as one of the top health information sites. With this redevelopment, CDC has got to be on the very top. You've put every single website usability, navigation, search and Web 2.0 best practice into the new site. Most impressive and you've achieved excellence in delivering health intelligence, web communications, knowledge transfer and exchange. A site to emulate.
Susan Anderson
Team Lead, Web Content
Canadian Institute for Health Information
Comment