Is it Time to Rethink Your Website

IS IT TIME TO Rethink Your Website? Goals & Audiences DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION DO YOU KNOW WHO Determine your website's target audiences, consulting with senior management. HAVE A COMMUNICATIONS YOU'RE TRYING TO REACH AND MARKETING PLAN, WITH YOUR WEBSITE? INCLUDING GOALS FOR (AND DOES EVERYONE UP THE WEBSITE? TOP AGREE WITH YOU?) Set up Google Analytics to start tracking and find out. OKAY, THEN. DO YOU KNow WHETHER N..... FIRST THINGS FIRST. YOUR TARGET AUDIENCES ARE ACTUALLY VISITING YOUR WEBSITE? Clarify your organization's overall communications and DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR AUDIENCES WANT marketing plan and use it to set goals for what you need your website to accomplish. TO GET FROM VISITING REALLY? YOUR WEBSITE? YOU'VE ASKED THEM? SOUNDS LIKE YOU NEED ........ N DOES THIS ALIGN WITH Conduct user research such THE ACTIONS YOU WANT as surveys and interviews. Use the findings to create personas, which will help you understand audience needs. TO REVISIT YOUR GOALS. THEM TO TAKE AND THE GOALS YOU'VE SET OUT FOR THE WEBSITE? Great! Move on to.. Content & Structure Review your website's information architecture (content groupings, layout, and navigation) and explore restructuring if needed. DOES THE CONTENT IS IT EASY FOR VISITORS TO FIND THE CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE MEET ALL THE NEEDS OF YOUR THEY'RE LOOKING FOR? TARGET AUDIENCES? YOU'RE SURE? IS THE TEXT ON YOUR Create a content strategy plan for your website and define priorities based on your audiences' needs. YOU'VE ASKED THEM? SITE WRITTEN CLEARLY AND IN A STYLE APPROPRIATE FOR THE WEB? IS THE CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE UP TO DATE? Rewrite your text in a web-friendly style with short paragraphs and visual elements like bullets and subheadings to break it up. Develop a realistic website maintenance plan and schedule, making sure to define staff roles and responsibilities. BE HONEST: WILL IT STILL BE UP TO DATE IN 3 MONTHS? Nice work! Keep going with. Design Develop brand guidelines to unify and standardize the look of your organization's communication materials. DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION HAVE A BRAND STYLE GUIDE? ...A PERSON WHO'S BASICALLY A LIVING STYLE GUIDE? Hire a designer to give your website a new look that's appropriate for your brand and sets it apart from the crowd. DOES YOUR WEBSITE'S VISUAL DESIGN MATCH YOUR BRAND'S STYLE AND PERSONALITY? Consider making design adjustments or developing a separate mobile optimized site, depending on your audiences' usage patterns. DOES YOUR WEBSITE LOOK DOES IT STAND OUT FROM GOOD ON SMARTPHONES THE WEBSITES OF YOUR AND OTHER DEVICES WITH PEER ORGANIZATIONS? DIFFERENT SCREEN SIZES? Looking sharp! Proceed to.. Technology DO YOU HAVE A WAY DOES YOUR SITE'S DOES YOUR WEBSITE HAVE TO TRACK ACTIONS LIKE PUBLISHING SYSTEM THE TOOLS AND FUNCTIONS .... DONATIONS, OPEN RATES, MAKE IT EASY FOR STAFF TO MEET YOUR GOALS AND AND EVENT SIGN-UPS? TO UPDATE CONTENT? THOSE OF YOUR AUDIENCES? Re-evaluate your content management and constituent relationship management systems (CMS and CRM) and consider alternatives. Be sure to take into account IS THERE ENOUGH SUPPORT FOR YOUR SYSTEM THAT YOU'RE CONFIDENT IT'LL wow. YOU JUST SWITCHED BE AROUND LONG-TERM? TO YOUR SYSTEM, RIGHT? functionality, budget, staffing concerns, and support. Well done! But don't get comfortable. Keep an eye on new trends, and reevaluate often to make sure your site still stacks up. bigduck ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND bigducknyc.com