“Why does my fire department need a website?”
One of the many things our experience with COVID-19 has taught us, is the importance of an online presence. When folks can’t come by the fire station and ask their questions or pick up an application, where will they turn? Your website. From large city fire departments to small volunteer fire districts, here are my top 4 reasons your fire department needs a website.
1. Volunteer and Employee Recruitment
Volunteerism is on the decline. But it doesn’t mean its any less important – even more important I’d argue today than ever. And prospective employees and volunteers want a way to learn about you and how they can become involved with your agency. A website is how today’s society learns about most things.
A professional, informative and engaging website will not only educate those prospects on what your department is all about, but it also shows them that you are a professional agency and one they can be proud to work or volunteer for.
Having no website, or a website that was built the day the internet began is not the best showcase of your agency and definitely isn’t the most professional you can be. Want some examples? Check out our portfolio for ideas that other fire departments have used.
2. Communication and Time Sensitive Alerting
Again going back to COVID-19, having the ability to use your website to post updates and other resources has been critical. But even while dealing with COVID, other emergencies – sometimes large scale ones – will still happen. Nearly every fire agency will experience some sort of incident that requires notifying the public. Each agency’s “incident” will be different, but there will still be the need to alert in a timely manner.
The key to alerting is to use as many avenues as possible to reach the largest number of people – and a website should be one of those avenues.
3. Community Education and Information
Do you want your community calling you or your admin office with every question they have? Do you want to provide the public you serve with timely and relevent information? What if you are a volunteer department and no one is in the office most days? If you have a website, they can find it online.
A website that contains the answers to every single question your community might ask is a bit overkill – but answers to common questions like:
- How do I obtain an incident report?
- When can I backyard burn?
- What should I teach my kids about fire safety?
- How can we tour your fire station?
Without a website, your community may struggle to find out the answers to these questions and more.
4. Not Everyone Has Social Media
Contrary to popular belief – not everyone has Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The key is having multiple avenues to reach your community and a website does exactly that.
There are many more reasons why a website for your fire department is an extremely beneficial investment. Want to know more – shoot us an email and let’s talk more about how we can help your fire department.
