Web site Design: 7 Tricks to Improve Web site Go to Size

With on-line fundraising and advertising and marketing turning into more and more necessary for nonprofits, your web site is extra important than ever for capturing leads, displaying participating and related mission info, and facilitating donations and volunteer sign-ups. To successfully interact viewers members and retain their consideration, it’s worthwhile to design your web site to extend website go to size. 

In accordance with Contentsquare’s 2023 Digital Expertise Benchmark report, the common time on web page spent per session is 5.9 minutes for desktop customers and a pair of.7 minutes for cell customers. In case your group’s web site falls underneath these thresholds, it may very well be time to refresh your consumer expertise to spice up engagement in your website. 

On this information, we’ll stroll via seven internet design ideas to assist lengthen and enhance your website visits: 

1. Current your content material strategically
2. Enhance your website’s accessibility and readability
3. Use participating visuals 
4. Incorporate interactive components
5. Optimize your most necessary touchdown pages
6. Embody inner hyperlinks
7. Show credibility

The best nonprofit web sites make it straightforward for guests to interact with content material and alternatives that curiosity them. When guests take pleasure in utilizing your web site and studying extra about your group, they’ll naturally spend extra time on it. 

1. Current your content material strategically

Your web site is your most necessary digital advertising and marketing instrument for serving to potential supporters study your mission, current accomplishments, and different info concerning your group or sector.

As quickly as a customer lands in your web site, they’ll count on to see organized, up to date content material. To exceed customer expectations, comply with these navigation and content material tips: 

• Maintain your web site’s navigation straightforward to make use of with a easy design. Place your navigation menu on the high or aspect of the web page. Embody hyperlinks to your hottest touchdown pages, reminiscent of your on-line donation web page, occasion calendar, and volunteer registration type. 
• Replace your content material often. If the newest article in your weblog is from 2010, guests will doubtless assume that your group isn’t lively anymore and click on away. Maintain your weblog roll contemporary with academic articles and recaps of your current occasions and initiatives. 
• Optimize your homepage. Have a look at the “above-the-fold” space of your web site’s homepage (the primary view you get of your web site earlier than scrolling) for each cell and desktop views. As a result of that is the very first thing customers see, it’s best to show your most necessary content material there. Ensure that to replace this content material often to make your homepage look contemporary. 
• Direct customers to necessary pages utilizing calls-to-action (CTAs). CTAs are buttons or hyperlinks that encourage guests to interact extra deeply along with your group. For instance, you may embody homepage CTAs linking to your on-line donation type or volunteer registration web page. Your CTAs ought to align with guests’ pursuits and motivations. 

With contemporary, easy-to-find content material, guests will be capable to shortly get a way of your group’s work and decide whether or not they’d prefer to get extra concerned. 

2. Enhance your website’s accessibility and readability

You’ve in all probability come throughout an outdated web site occasionally the place the textual content is simply too small, the colour distinction will not be excessive sufficient, or the background picture is simply too busy, compromising the readability of the web page. 

Your web site ought to be readable and accessible for everybody, irrespective of their machine or capacity. Listed below are some normal tricks to comply with:

• Ensure that the fonts you utilize are giant sufficient to be simply learn on laptops and cell units. Nonetheless, don’t make the font so giant that you simply pressure the consumer to unnecessarily scroll via the web page or zoom out. 
• Break up giant paragraphs into easy-to-read sections. Use bulleted lists to focus on an important info.
• Be certain that the background colour and font colour are contrasted sufficient, with a distinction ratio of no less than 4.5:1.
• Embody various textual content for pictures and captions for movies. 
• Proofread your content material for spelling and grammar points and different readability concerns earlier than publishing it. 

These steps not solely be sure that your content material is extra readable however make it simpler for display reader units to learn the textual content out loud for these with visible impairments, enhancing your web site’s accessibility. The higher the phrases move, the simpler it’s for these listening to know and have interaction with the content material.

Along with your web site’s written content material, make sure that your kinds are equally accessible and simple to learn. Kanopi’s accessible kinds information recommends together with descriptive type labels and directions so guests know precisely what is predicted of them. 

3. Use participating visuals

Giant chunks of textual content might be intimidating and arduous to parse via. Together with compelling visible content material all through your website is an effective way to interrupt up textual content and make your website extra participating. 

Contemplate incorporating the next varieties of visible content material into your internet design technique: 

• Photos 
• Infographics or charts
• Movies

Excessive-quality pictures could have a bigger file dimension, which might decelerate your website velocity. Subsequently, make sure to compress them in order that they don’t decelerate your web page load velocity. 

In accordance with Double the Donation’s nonprofit internet design information, “By minimizing web page load time, your group will considerably improve the possibilities that the donors who click on in your web site will truly land there and keep lengthy sufficient to go searching.” 

4. Incorporate interactive components

One key technique of accelerating website go to size in addition to conversions to your nonprofit web site is to include interactive or clickable components. 

Interactive components seize customers’ consideration and encourage them to remain in your website. These enjoyable elements improve their enjoyment of your website. 

Contemplate creating participating website options like: 

• Picture slideshow
• Ballot or quiz
• Mini sport

Customers will keep in mind your website and nonprofit mission higher with these pleasant experiences as a core reminiscence.

5. Optimize your most necessary touchdown pages

For many web sites, your homepage would be the hottest touchdown web page and obtain essentially the most website visits. Nonetheless, nonprofit organizations are distinctive in that there are a few different core touchdown pages that can be often visited and wanted by present and potential supporters.

As an illustration, your group may prioritize pages like your: 

• On-line donation type. Your nonprofit’s on-line donation web page ought to embody a safe cost processor, uniform branding, and a compelling purpose to donate. The shape ought to solely ask for important info so it’s straightforward and quick for donors to finish. 
• Occasion calendar or registration web page. Supporters ought to be capable to click on via your occasion calendar to seek out alternatives that enchantment to them, assessment the occasion’s logistics, and register. 
• Volunteer registration web page. If you happen to supply volunteer alternatives, present search and filter choices in order that customers can simply discover experiences that match their abilities and pursuits. 

Optimizing your most necessary touchdown pages is very important In case your group has a Google advertisements technique. Utilizing your Google advertisements to direct consideration to your most important touchdown pages may also help enhance conversions, turning extra website guests into donors and volunteers. 

6. Embody inner hyperlinks

A simple approach to hold folks in your website is to easily incorporate extra inner hyperlinks. This implies linking to acceptable touchdown pages to leverage key conversion alternatives in addition to linking to weblog posts or different written content material all through the location.

Be certain that every article and web page in your website has loads of inner hyperlinks. That is one of the simplest ways to get folks to go to these pages and may also help scale back your bounce fee, which is the speed of how typically folks enter your website after which depart with out exploring additional.

Incorporating inner hyperlinks also can enhance your website’s search engine optimization (or search engine marketing), however provided that you’re linking to beneficial content material. Including inner hyperlinks only for the sake of it received’t do a lot, so make sure to hyperlink to beneficial academic content material that’s clearly associated to the web page’s matter. This can’t solely encourage guests to proceed participating with you but in addition deliver up the general worth of your web site. 

7. Show credibility

Constructing belief amongst your viewers members via your web site is important to gaining their help. Displaying credibility is an easy approach to set up belief with supporters. 

As an illustration, including pictures of actual individuals who have been impacted by your group could make your website seem extra reliable. 

Listed below are another fast methods to point out credibility:

• Hyperlink to your social profiles. 
• Add belief markers like Charity Navigator scores, awards, certifications, and extra. 
• Make your annual experiences and tax info straightforward to seek out and navigate. 
• Embody bios and footage to your workers members. 

To make sure your web site is safe and reliable, you’ll be able to flip to a nonprofit internet advisor for help. These professionals can be sure that your web site is as much as safety requirements and advocate modifications to assist improve your credibility. 

Your web site is the web face of your nonprofit’s mission. Updating it to enhance consumer engagement is essential to boosting your on-line fundraising and growing supporter relationships. The following tips will make it easier to retain guests’ consideration longer and provides them alternatives to get extra concerned along with your group. 

AUTHOR: ANNE STEFANYK

As Founder and CEO of Kanopi Studios, Anne helps create readability round undertaking wants, and turns shopper conversations into actionable outcomes. She enjoys serving to shoppers determine their issues, after which empowering the Kanopi workforce to execute nice options.

Anne is an advocate for open supply and co-organizes the Bay Space Drupal Camp. When she’s not contributing to the neighborhood or working her considerate internet company, she enjoys yoga, meditation, treehouses, dharma, biking, paddle boarding, kayaking, and hanging together with her nephew.

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