The term may appeal to Darth Vader and they do have a sinister ring to them but dark sites have been a part of crisis communication lexicography for a decade or so. The idea of having a dormant website, pre-prepared beforehand, able to handle large amounts of data and be updated quickly in the event of a crisis seems to be an eminently sensible idea. Indeed, as someone might say, ”I find your lack of a dark site disturbing.”
The naysayers would argue that where the ‘Force’ is strong, in an open and transparent organization, with a good internet presence, there is no need to dabble with dark sites. And there is something to this argument, especially if a dedicated web team is employed on a full-time basis.
However, for many who do not or cannot afford the luxury of an x-wing turbo-charged web team, the dark site has several benefits.
In crisis, in order to serve the heightened needs of stakeholders, the media and the public at large, massive amounts of data may need to be distributed. Many websites are just not easily configured for this, primarily being marketing tools as opposed to information platforms.
Further, these marketing platforms are the reputational windows upon the organization, not designed or indeed intended to be crisis information portals. The beautifully artistic scrolling snapshots of fine products, smiling employees and breath-taking vistas naturally jar with text, video and photos of woe and destruction. Cognitive dissonance beckons. On the one hand the website is meant to make the organization look wonderful, whilst on the other it is trailing information showing that all is not necessarily well (despite best efforts to appear in control).
The demand for information may surge massively, which may crash conventionally supported websites. By using a dedicated high-bandwidth server a dark site can withstand a much greater traffic load.
Equally, speed will be of the essence. If the decision is made to dedicate a separate website to the crisis, averting eyes from the dissonant material of the organization’s normal website, even quality web teams will take time, no doubt slowed by bureaucratic management decisions, to create a new website. A smaller enterprise may use an agency for its web presence, which will further slow down any process kicking off from a standing start.
By pre-planning a dark site, an organization can have a dedicated response platform, away from the usual website. If made simple (no scrolling vistas) it can be populated by staff, after a degree of training if necessary, with only basic Internet skills. No need for HTML Jedis. And it can be done quickly. Any decisions over format, pre-loaded information and style will have been done beforehand, not during the heat of a crisis. The content, be it statements, video, audio, photos or background documents, can also be loaded quickly.
A good separate site also shows intent; demonstrates the seriousness with which the organization is taking an issue. It’s not a half-hearted response using web platforms which may be unsuitable for the task of informing the audience on specific tightly-focused and critical information.
So what should be on a dark site? Those asterisked can be pre-planned (as well as some documents that have been previously identified as potentially crisis specific)
1. Generic Organizational Information
* General background overviews – history, board of directors, mission, products, operations (details can be linked back to the main website)
* Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
2. Practical Emergency Response Details
* Contact numbers for employees (to indicate their locations) * Contact numbers or e-mail addresses for families
* Crisis protocols for staff
3. General update information –
Video
Imagery
Statements
Crisis specific FAQs
Twitter feed
4. Media Area
* Contact numbers for the media
Press releases
Media advisories
Background information documents
A dark site also needs to evolve over the course of a crisis. Initially the focus may be on providing crucial emergency information, such as warning staff or the public of a specific danger and highlighting contact details. Subsequently the focus may switch to one of a more reputational nature, focusing on what is bing done to deal with the crisis, and then on to transitioning to Business As Usual (BAU) and establishing a sound after-action narrative.
And finally, another often forgotten advantage of a dark site is that, in its creation and subsequent reviews (at least every 6 months), it forces organizations to examine and review crisis management procedures. Never a bad thing, Obi-Wan.
Some general tips (the IT warriors can deal with the technical stuff):
1. Ensure that the dark site is configured to present information in the relevant languages for critical publics – if an oil rig is ablaze in the Gulf, staffed by foreign workers, the employees families will want information in their own languages.
2. Set in place a system enabling you to quickly and easily update the site without recourse to an external agency or even the IT gurus.
3. Provide tools that makes it easy for people to get constant updates – Twitter, RSS feeds, email notification services
4. Ensure additional bandwidth can be made available when the dark site goes live
5. Establish the dark site on a completely different server and system from the main website – the crisis may very well be a technical one shutting down the usual IT capability
6. Ensure effective cross-links to and from the main corporate site, the dark site and other social media channels
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