 | | Good Neighbor Tool Kit: Leading a Charity Marketing and Public Relations | | ||
|  Nonprofit Nuts and Bolts The Art of Fundraising Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy Marketing and Public Relations Leadership and the Board Good Neighbor Tool Kit Main Page Good Neighbor Home Page | Web Sites That Work A Web site is no luxury any more; people will expect you to provide this easy, efficient communication tool. Here are a few tips for producing a good site that will serve your public relations and fundraising needs: 1. Reserve a domain name that contains your organization’s name. Eighty percent Internet users turn to search engines to find out where they want to go. A domain name that contains the name of your organization or the words most strongly associated with your mission is essential so its name appears when logical searches are run to discover it. 2. Look at other sites with similar content. Imitation is the highest—and most pragmatic—form of flattery. Check out the competition, and decide what you like and don’t like. Determine what draws you in to a site and what annoys you. 3. Make sure it downloads fast. Recent research has reduced earlier estimates, suggesting that people will either become interested in your Web site or leave it in just four seconds. Figure out how to maintain a low bandwidth while presenting a high-quality appearance. 4. Follow the KISS method of design and writing. Keep it simple stupid. Golden rules in Web site development are: 1) Make information easy to find and 2) make information easy to understand and use. 5. Don’t overuse graphic tricks. Just because things can jump, spin, fade, or flash does not mean they should. There’s a tendency with Web sites to use as many graphics effects as the designer knows how to employ. A limited number of effects used strategically will gain more notice than a great number used with distracting abandon. 6. Keep text short and to the point. While the general rule of thumb throughout contemporary business communications is to keep writing brief, the practice of this rule reaches its zenith on the Internet. Lengthy texts can be presented when appropriate. But whenever possible cut to the chase editorially. 7. Make it clear what your site has to offer. Your home page should convey some sense of your organization’s purpose and mission, expressed editorially or graphically. Navigation to other parts of the site should be clear and obvious, and the full realm of the site’s content should be expressed. Extraneous elements such hit counters are becoming less and less popular. 8. Separate material into logical sections and progressions. The major text and graphic components offered at your site should have a sensible and easily understood order. Moving from one topic to a related topic shouldn’t require taking a circuitous route. 9. Use theme and style to your advantage. Establish and maintain some editorial theme throughout your site that helps make it feel interconnected. Highlight key words and phrases that convey the theme. The same is true for graphics and color. They don’t need to be numbingly persistent, but variations should complement each other. 10. Keep your site fresh and lively. Provide reasons for new visitors to stop by and for past visitors to return. Add new information as often as possible, update it regularly, and eliminate material that is out of date. TIP: One of the easiest ways to build interest in your site is to create a newsroom that offers your most recent press releases, electronic versions of print materials, and notices of upcoming events. 11. Offer a search mechanism and links. The bigger your site becomes, the harder it is for visitors to find exactly what they want. A search capacity will be much appreciated. Similarly, many visitors will want to view other sites like your organization’s. Links pages can also build traffic at your site. Reciprocal linking—having sites you list also list your organization at their site—can be a powerful way of promoting your site. 12. Make sure people can contact you. Provide the appropriate information so that your site visitors can reach your organization via e-mail, phone, fax, or mail. Contact information related to particular programs, administration, public relations, and fundraising should all be prominent or easy to find. 13. Plan for growth. Even if you don’t anticipate major growth anytime soon, expect that at some point you’ll want to provide more information in greater detail. Organize it so that expansion is easy to achieve. 14. Promote your site. Some Internet gurus suggest that a successful site involves 10 percent creativity and 90 percent promotion. Be sure to submit your site to all the major directory services. Promote the site in your publications. List it on your letterhead. And don’t forget word of mouth. Talk up your site to everyone. Crisis Marketing: What to Do When It Hits the Fan > | |