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How Do I Build an External Website?

We are excited that you want to build an external website. It is important that everyone at USAID helps to explain to the world what we do. And, like everyone at USAID, we have a system and guidelines set up that will help guide you and make this as easy as possible.

1. Please tell Joe Fredericks, LPA/PIPOS, that you would like to build an external site.
2. If you are not the websites coordinator for your bureau or office, please contact them as well. Check here if you do not know who that is. If your bureau or office does not have a websites coordinator, suggest that they get one.
3. If you are an AID/W office, and plan on having website pages available to the public, you may only post them on www.usaid.gov. Why is this? There are a couple of reasons.
   • First, like you specialize in your field of development, we here in LPA/PIPOS specialize in helping you communicate your message over the Internet.
   • Second, we assume that if you are posting a public website, you want people to see what you post. So, think about real estate. While you may be able to do whatever you want on your big farm out in country, not many people are going to be by, and so you are not going to be able to tell people about what is going on. If you have a corner store in the city, you probably have more rules on what you can do there, but you are going to have more people to talk to. www.usaid.gov is your corner store. You are guaranteed to receive more traffic there than at any individual site you may post.

   Please note: To keep our site architecture as clean as possible, and to maximize exposure to high priority agency activities, we do not allow the assignment of specific URLs (for example, pvo.usaid.gov or www.usaid.gov/pvo). Therefore, the use of the USAID keyword navigation scheme is required when wanting to provide users a simple way to access information directly. Please let us know if you need a keyword assigned to your sub-index page. For publicity purposes, this would be ‘advertised’ in this manner: "www.usaid.gov Keyword: xxxxxx" where the "xxxxxx" represents the keyword assigned to your section by the LPA web team.

4. Decide who is going to write the content for your website. LPA/PIPOS will be happy to review, edit, and critique your material. However, you must provide the substance, as you know your subject area best. Read more here about our content expectations.
5. Decide who is going to design and code your website.
   • If you have a small set of pages (10-20) that will not need much updating, LPA/PIPOS will be happy to do this for you.
   • If you are going to have more pages than that, we recommend that you make this part of someone's responsibilities in your office, whether they be a contractor or direct hire.
6. Once you have decided who will design and code your website, have them:
   1. read all of the details about the regulations that our websites must follow.
   2. Contact LPA/PIPOS to see if they may obtain direct FTP access to the development server. Access will only be granted to those who have proven technical competency as determined by LPA/PIPOS.

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to helping you.

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