Substance and Style

    Six Steps to A Better Nonprofit Website

    ·

    1. Focus on creating a hierarchy that makes sense. Your users (and search engines) should be able to figure out the navigation of your site intuitively. Start by writing an outline of pages your site needs and use that outline to develop your navigation menus. Make sure the most important content on your site can be reached in three clicks or less. Otherwise you will find many people leaving before heeding your Calls To Action. 
    2. Make your mission immediately obvious. Visitors to your homepage should be able to tell what you do without visiting a second page. Your homepage should also link to your most important content (usually your Donate, Volunteer, and About pages, at a minimum). It’s also a good idea to include a way for people to sign up for your newsletter or general mailing list. 
    3. Make your vision as clear as your mission. Visitors to your site who aren’t familiar with your organization in the real world have likely found your site by searching for the issue related to your mission. They already know the problems you are trying to solve and why they’re problems. While discussions of the issues are necessary and moving, you can often garner more support by showing what the world would look like if your job wasn’t needed. Your vision for a better tomorrow is compelling marketing copy.
    4. Build authority and credibility. Be transparent about your board, your funding, and your team. People should be able to tell how your organization is run and by whom. Publish your annual reports online. Cite reliable sources for any claims you make about the problems you are solving. Provide numbers related to your impact. Include testimonials when appropriate. Demonstrate your real world relationships with government agencies, corporate sponsors, and other nonprofit organizations.
    5. Write strategically and well. Consider your purpose for each page and don’t deviate to new topics. Write about the problems you’re solving, the obstacles for your organization and the people you serve, and your current needs. Provide reliable, credibly sourced facts to balance your emotional appeals. Make sure everything you write is consistent with the organization’s values and brand. Don’t ignore SEO just because you’re a nonprofit, but be aware that it will play a different role than it does for businesses.  A business’s SEO goal will be to drive traffic that ultimately drives sales. Nonprofits must be more specific about whose search they are optimizing for. Are you trying to attract clients, donors, volunteers, or event attendees to your site? Keep your primary goal in mind when you do keyword research. The best way to get the most traffic from the majority of your audience segments is to provide authoritative content on the issue or issues your nonprofit works to resolve. 
    6. Design strategically and well. Make your website easy to use. Have good navigation, and one main topic for each page. Have a clear visual hierarchy and lots of white space. Use large, legible fonts. Make sure your Calls To Action stand out. Make sure your site is optimized for giving and that your payment gateway works for your audience. Optimize image size to reduce load time. Regularly check for broken links and buttons that don’t work. Use inclusive and accessible design (alt text, videos and gifs that don’t autoplay, good color contrast, etc.). Use brand colors and a consistent feeling throughout. Make sure your site is responsive! At least half of all web traffic comes through mobile devices; people visiting your site on their phones deserve a good experience!