It's easy for nonprofits to get lost in the shuffle of acquiring new donors, engaging audiences, and planning online campaigns. This makes it easy for you to forget about your website - huge mistake! Your website is where your donors will come, where your activists and volunteers will engage, and where your campaigns will live. It's critical that you update your site, and that you revamp it when the time is right.
...But when IS the time right? And what's the right way to do it?
Idealware recently launched a workbook to walk you through the steps of preparing to build a website, the right way.
In this workbook, you'll get a walk through the whole process, including:
- the ins and outs of choosing a team of web stakeholders;
- how to “audit” your site, evaluating what you want out of it;
- really identifying the needs of your constituents;
- the best way to evaluate your graphic design and usability;
To dive a little deeper into the workbook, you'll really want to focus on tailoring this workbook toward your nonprofit. Make sure that you're answering these questions honestly, and thinking about the goals and objectives of your organization.
- Who is going to be in charge of the website redesign? You will need a strong project manager who not understands your website, but who understand the basic prinicples of web design and web development.
- Who's responsible for your public image? Your branding? Who is in charge of making sure that your social media handbook is updated as new social networks emerge?
- Is your content management system (CMS) working for you? No one CMS is right for every organizations, and you need to make sure that your CMS is meeting your needs. The workbook provides a checklist to help you figure this out.
- What are your priorities? And what do you want your website to accomplish? How will you make sure your priorities are realistic and concrete?
- So, you've focused on your own goals and your own priorities, but let's think about your audience. What are their goals? Why do people visit your website?
- Is your site easily navigatable? And is it responsive (desktop, mobile, and tablet friendly)? You want to make sure that you're reaching your audience where they're at.
These questions just skim the surface of the conversations you need to be having. But they're critical questions. To dig further in, check out the full, free workbook with 10 simple worksheets. Is it time for you to get a new website?