What’s a dark site?
A dark site is a micro-site designed to inform and update your key audiences about a potential corporate crisis.
The term ‘dark site’ derives from the fact that such a site is prepared in advance and stored offline until a crisis occurs.
When the crisis begins, the dark site is ‘switched on’ and populated with up-to-the-minute content. “Any company that is likely to face a crisis should have a dark site in the background, ready to roll,” says Richard Carpenter, managing partner of MerchantCantos. “They are very important tools in the armoury of crisis management,” adds digital director Mark Stephens.
What’s on a dark site?
A message from the CEO, emergency contact numbers and details of what the company is doing to contain the crisis usually form the basis of the dark site during the early stages of a crisis.
“You can use Twitter and other social media platforms to drive people to the site and, where appropriate, provide a link to the site from the main corporate home page,” says Mark Stephens of MerchantCantos.
When it comes to content, less is often more on dark sites, he adds. “Many dark sites comprise just a few web pages. Visitors want essential information and a sense of transparency and reassurance.”
Dark site strategy
When planning a dark site, communications teams should begin by drawing up a list of the crises that are most likely to affect their organisation. The next step is to create a template for one or more of the identified crises.
“You don’t necessarily need to upload content onto the site in advance; you just need a shell and a clear content plan.”
It’s then crucial to develop a watertight support strategy for the site. “Make sure that it can be activated very quickly at any date and time — and ensure that it can handle millions of visits,” Stephens adds.
It’s also important to plan for the fact that the nature of a dark site can change over the course of a crisis. First, its sole purpose may be to give people emergency information. Then, it may evolve into a more detailed online resource offering information about what is being done to solve the crisis over the longer term. Video content is more likely to be relevant in the latter phase of the dark site’s life, Stephens says.
BP http://tinyurl.com/4b6z2tm
BP operated a dark site to keep its various stakeholders up-to-date about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during 2010. The site has since evolved into a section of the main BP corporate site focused on the restoration of the affected area.
Alternatives to dark sites
“In some situations, it may make sense for a company to provide real-time information about an unfolding crisis on their main corporate home page — in a similar style to the ‘live updates’ format employed by BBC News to cover breaking stories online,” says Stephens. “MerchantCantos can help clients to determine which format is most suitable for the various types of potential crisis they need to prepare for,” he adds.
How MerchantCantos can help
MerchantCantos has developed and managed a wide range of dark sites and other crisis communications platforms for clients, says Stephens. “We can provide a complete planning and implementation strategy — and ensure that the support system is robust enough to handle an infinite amount of traffic,” he adds.
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