Marketing Your Pages
Publishing URLs
Always refer to the UUA website as UUA.org, not http://www.uua.org or www.uua.org.
In all written materials, publish only UUA.org, and not a longer URL. On a web page, of course, you can link to any page on our site; just be sure that your link text is meaningful. There are several important reasons for using our Association's name in this way:
Branding
- Recognizable: UUA.org emphasizes the identity of the Association.
- Memorable: UUA.org is short and easy to recall.
- Repetitive: Using UUA.org reinforces the idea that your constituents can find what they need.
Usability
Our website is built for audience-based usability. Our navigation is clear and intuitive, and we have search boxes and links to a site map on every single page.There is no reason to provide a long and forgettable URL when your user can simply go to UUA.org and find their resource easily linked, or type, for instance, "Working Safety End Oppression" (keywords easily memorable to them, as they are already interested in the topic) into our search box to get there directly.
Long URLs are harder to remember, so if you use them in print, you often force your user to "save that piece of paper" in order to later track down your resource. When they do get to a browser, they are then required to read closely your URL and attempt to re-type the entire thing. Easily made typos can lead to failure and frustration.
Dependability
Website URLs for individual pages may change regularly on our site. Although the CMS will ensure that links within our site are automatically updated, the URL for a particular page might change when that resource is updated. Making sure your users can get to your resources without encountering frustrating error messages means starting off with a dependable URL like UUA.org.
Credibility
A long, confusing URL looks unprofessional and untrustworthy. In the case of a long URL people don't see the "UUA.org" as much as they see evidence of a website that is so confusing it might not be worth the bother.
Last updated on Tuesday, January 23, 2007.
