3 posts tagged “web site”
If you're planning to attend, please consider participating in the two sessions I'll be participating in:
- The Joy of CMS: Implementing Sustainable Content Management Systems (The Painless Way to Keep Your Web Site Current). I will ask three experts in building web sites how nonprofit organizations can build a culture which supports up to date online content.
- Tug of War or Pulling Together? Building Teamwork for Better Online Campaigns. We will discuss how departments can work together within a nonprofit organization to develop and implement online strategies.
Nten's Annual Nonprofit Technology Conference, expected to attract over 1,000 nonprofit staff members, consultants and vendors from across the United States, will take place in New Orleans, LA from Wed, Mar. 19 - Fri, Mar. 21. It is always a wonderful event., Hope to see you there.
In addition, here is a useful resource on creating online donation pages and forms
This week, the Foundation Center's column, The Sustainable Nonprofit featured this targeted article on Spending Your Web Site Dollars Wisely. Major points:
- Delegating responsibility to the lowest level staff member or volunteer is foolhardy. In a world where many will visit your web site as the first step in learning more about your organization, the web site must be professional and kept current. It should not be primarily maintained by Information Technology, except for the back end responsibility of keeping it online
- When to use a content management system (CMS) - "the more content you have and the more you plan to change or update it, the more you'll need (and want) such a system"
- Use professionals to create copy and images. Hire a professional designer (if you don't already have one on staff) so that your site is more about marketing than about information technology
- Design your site for the visitors' perspective, not your organization's
- Take the time to examine other web sites and to create a site map. Think about what your constituents are most likely to look for and how can find it easily.
At my current organization, I've recently been instructed to review all of our web sites, and fix what's wrong and make sure the information is correct. Yes of course, but this should be the responsibility of everyone, not any one individual or department. (sigh!)
Wishing everyone a healthy and peaceful holiday season.
An interesting blog post highlights the value of getting feedback on your nonprofit web site from those who are not already familiar with it. It is convenient to poll co-workers but in addition to already being familiar with the site design and content, they will have a specific bias depending on their role in the organization. By having someone new take a fresh look, you may learn that your site navigation doesn't work as well as you thought.
Generally site visitors will spend a very brief time on our web sites. If they don't quickly find what they are looking for, they will go elsewhere. We may think that our site is easy to use, but it's important to find out whether new visitors feel the same. Does the web site quickly describe your organization's mission? Is it obvious how to make a donation or to participate in your programs and events? Inquiries to your 'info' account will also offer clues to what parts of your site may need improvement, as well as search terms listed in web logs.
