The days of people looking up your organization’s listing in the phone book are long gone. Today, the very first place people turn to find out about you or your organization is your website. Your website is your first “hello” because today, it’s the first point of contact people make with you.
Your website doesn’t need to be overloaded with graphics, videos, or effects. In fact, some of the best websites don’t have any of these things.
To make a good first impression, here are some basic tips:
- Use a simple, easy-to-navigate layout. Try to avoid having too many tabs or buttons for people to click on.
- Keep copy succinct and easy to read.
- Keep your content fresh and updated – make sure past events are removed from the calendar, for example, or that a banner or graphic proclaiming last week’s big event is removed as soon as the event is over.
- Include some links to organizations you are affiliated with or that you work with. Make sure the links work properly.
- Carefully proofread all text appearing on the website so there are no errors or misspellings.
- Make sure contact information – phone, email address, and physical mailing address are easy to locate.
- Understand and utilize “search engine optimization” or “SEO.” SEO is the process of improving or maximizing the visibility of your website. With SEO, you are taking steps to make sure your website is ranked high on search results pages and is visited frequently.