Great websites: What makes them, which make the grade, and how to improve yours
- Thu, July 14 2011
- Filed under: Websites and web usability
A couple of days ago, I joined Mark Rovner and Alia McKee in a Network for Good speed consulting round on the good, the bad and the basics of nonprofit websites. Since I get so many questions about websites, I wanted to share the key takeaways. You can access the whole session (for free) here.
The key rules:
1. Don’t make people think at all when they come to your site. Strive for simplicity and clarity. There should be no hard work to grasp who you are, what you do and why it matters—or how to help.
2. Don’t post anything just to make your colleague happy. This is about the people who come to your site.
3. Images are critical. Make them personal and relatable. Don’t post a photo a 10 year old can’t explain to you without reading the caption.
4. Be interesting. The work of good causes is fundamentally emotional, and you want to leave a big impression that inspires.
So what are some good websites?
Mark, Alia and I like these.
Here are tips for sites we reviewed: how to make your site better.
Want more information? Check out the Online Fundraiser’s Checklist 2.0 for great website tips.
Comments
Thanks for these quick and simple tips – the examples are very helpful as well.
That’s a great, succinct list. Number 2 is especially important for non-profits. We find an awful lot of decisions are made by and for committees. We try to help keep the audience in mind by creating personas. These are profiles of the top people who will be using the site. We base them on demographics and interviews with our clients, and we build out a dossier for each person, including pictures, interests, likes, dislikes, etc. We keep them taped to the wall so we can always remember who we’re building the site for.
I’ve got a template for anyone who’d like to see. Write the address above, and I’ll be happy to send a copy.
This is a great website for stating your political views and opinions. I recommend it to everyone, especially with all of the issues facing us today. You have to go through the process of registering, as with any social networking site, but is well worth it. The link is http://www/TellMygov.com