This section cannot be prescriptive due to the variable nature and purpose of individual online products.

However, agencies can be expected to convincingly demonstrate they are actively measuring and assessing the effectiveness of their online strategy, and the performance of their websites and services.

Assessing your channel strategy

You should establish simple measures to gauge the effectiveness of your online channel strategies by monitoring and reporting on their implementation.

Indicators of the effectiveness of channel strategies could include:

• trends in overall use of the online products
• trends in the use of online channels compared to call centre and front office
• opportunities to collaborate with other parties identified and realised
• a measure of progress on a rationalisation strategy, if appropriate
• trends in user feedback or satisfaction surveys
• your agency’s overall performance and trends over time against usability, accessibility or security assessments.

Assessing performance of your online products

Your channel strategies should include key measures to assess how well your online products are delivering on their objectives of providing value to both users and the agency.

If you are the business owner of the online product or service, you need to be accountable to your agency for reporting its performance against these measures:

• how well it aligns with the principles of the channel strategy
• how effective it is, as measured by metrics identified in the strategy
• how successful the engagement plan is against expectations, as measured by metrics identified in the strategy
• how well it conforms to required standards and progress against risk mitigation plans
• the effectiveness of the content maintenance plan, as measured by metrics in the strategy
• user satisfaction with the online product, as measured by appropriate metrics.

As a business owner of a site or service, you should be able to justify ongoing investment in it. Ask yourself: does the online product contribute enough to your agency's strategic outcomes to justify ongoing investment in it?