3.1.3 Type of government websites
Fang Wang and Ying Wang
Government websites could be classified into two types: portals and departmental websites. A portal often bears the responsibility of displaying regional image and providing comprehensive information and services, while a department website primarily provides specific services for intended users. Two types of government websites have different functions and intended users. Marketing of a government website means making more intended users to know and use it. In order to reach the goal, different promotion strategies should be chosen for different types of government websites.
3.2 Users’ influences on government website promotion
3.2.1 Potential users need the promotion of government websites
Timely communication is helpful to improve trust and cooperation between the public and the government, which can be facilitated by government websites. However, as abovementioned, a large number of citizens still don`t know much about government websites at present. The lack of public engagement can lead to a lack of mutual understanding and trust between government and citizens and all too frequently impacts negatively on the outcomes of e‐Government projects( Hui & Hayllar, 2012). As an employee said, " the government website provides large amounts of information, service items and interactive channels between government and citizens, which are closely related to people ' s lives and needs, but the common awareness of government websites is not high. Low utilization of government websites leads to a serious waste of resources. There exists an awkward situation that government websites don ' t know public demand and citizens don’ t know how to acquire information and services from government websites." Suitable promotion strategies will help a government to make out who are the intended users of its websites and how to make them aware of the services delivered online.
3.2.2 Characteristics of intended users influence the adoption of promotion strategies
Scholars of e‐Government have studied little about users, remarkably distinct from those in LIS field. In fact, not all the citizens or netizens of a country are actual users of government websites. Before adopting promotion strategies, it is necessary for the departments that are in charge of e‐Government or government websites to investigate intended users’ needs, awareness of government websites and previous habits of using government information and services, and practical users’ satisfaction with government websites that they have visited. Based on the stages at which citizens link with government websites, the intended users of government websites can be classified into three types: potential users who are non‐netizens, potential users who are netizens but haven ' t visited government websites, and actual users who have visited government websites. For the first group, traditional media and message of mobile phone are suitable promotion measures. For the second group, online promotion is advisable in addition to traditional measures. For the third group, directional notice and RSS can be adopted for informing the newly published service items on the website.
Different websites have different intended users. Generally speaking, the users of local government portals have strong regional characteristics. " The major targeted users of local portals are regional natives. Therefore, satisfying demands of local people should be a fundamental strategy of local government portals."( Jia, et al, 2010) Along with the increasing of population movements, users of local government websites not only include indigenes, but also those who migrate to other areas for education or job, as well as tourists, investors and buyers. Departmental websites with specific functions, such as the website of NSFC, possess specific users. A government website needs to understand the characteristics of its intended users when choosing promotion strategies. Take a website of government procurement for instance. The scope of its user is very small, mainly covering some government officials and suppliers, so links, content cooperation, blog and BBS could be adopted as its promotion strategies.
3.3 Conditions for and constraints on government website promotion
3.3.1 Development stages of government websites
In general, the promotion of websites of a government experiences three stages. Firstly, at the primary stage of e‐Government development when people know little about government websites, news report on traditional media is advised for both portals and departmental websites. Secondly, when e‐Government
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