13 Things You Need For Your Website in 2013

13 Things Your Website
Needs in 2013
@nonprofit_rd

www.NonprofitRD.com/FB
Rich Dietz
GoWebsiteSolutions and
www.NonprofitRD.com/IN Nonprofit R+D

rich@nonprofitrd.com
www.NonprofitRD.com/gplus

Our Speaker
Rich Dietz
Founder at GoWebsiteSolutions and Nonprofit R+D

Rich has spent over 13 years building and testing
websites and working with online technologies. He
specializes in working with small- to medium-sized
businesses and nonprofit organizations so has a deep
understanding of how best to work with limited
budgets, time and staff.

You can find Rich at
http://www.GoWebsiteSolutions.com
http://www.NonprofitRD.com
or tweeting @nonprofitrd
Or connect on LinkedIN www.NonprofitRD.com/IN

www.GoWebsiteSolutions.com
13 Website Needs www.NonprofitRD.com

Agenda
• Introduction

• Website Structure / Elements

• Website Content

• Next Steps


Text Heavy Slides… oh no!

I promise I do not just read the slides
• Boring!

Why text heavy slides
• You don’t have to take notes – the info is there for you later
• You can focus on the “ah-ha” moments
• They will still make sense 6 months from now

Let me know what you think


Experts have all the answers…
• No, not really

• There are “best practices,” but you must test
in your organization

• Testing is the key,
– Much easier to do online
– If it works, do more.
– If not, try something else.


What you talkin’ about Willis?
CRM, CMS
ROI, API,
Wysiwyg
SEO
Open-Source
Blah, Blah, Blah


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs


Online Hierarchy of Needs

Avoid Shiny Objects
Need a strong Foundation


Is it so bad? What could happen?
• Bad first impression
• Leave before learning
about your org
• Tell their friends


WEBSITE STRUCTURE / ELEMENTS


1. Get Control of Your Website
• You need the ability to:
– Change the content
– Make quick updates
– Add/remove content
– Stay current

• Use a CMS (Content Management System)
– Example: Wordpress
– Makes updates easy and very powerful


1. Get Control of Your Website

www.wordpress.org

2. Most Wanted Response (MWR)
• What do you want folks to do when they reach your
site?
– Who visits your site
– What are they looking for
– What do you need them to do

• Too many choices = No action
– Jam Study)

• Make those actions easy to find
– Above the fold
– Big buttons or easy to find pathways
– On homepage AND everypage



www.rynomoving.com


www.littlereddoor.org

3. Capture Email
• #1 way to communicate and drive traffic…still
– Email >> Landing Page

• Opt-in box
– Incentive to sign up
– 10 Things to Look for in a Plumber

• Easiest way to connect and follow-up
– 7 touches – marketing principle
– Follow up can be very effective
– News, deals, more help


3. Capture Email

www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/


3. Capture Email

www.nonprofitrd.com

4. Simple, Clear Navigation & Design
• Navigation
– Must be by user focused and not by department
– Focus on the most important things you need your users to
KNOW or DO (MWR)

• Design
– Goolge/Facebook vs. crazy clutter sites
– Avoid clutter
– Don’t make your prospect think…

• Custom graphics



www.iesabroad.org


www.37signals.com

5. Social Media Sharing Buttons
• Allow folks to spread the word
– Let them share in the ways they want to share (options)

• Social signals are key with Google now

• Simple “Tell a Friend” Button
– Add a strong call to action for them to do it



www.hcz.org

6. 3rd Party Endorsements
• Let folks know its OK
– They are not the only ones
– The organization is “trusted”

• Testimonials / Reviews
– Clients, customers, partners, celebrities, etc.
– Yelp, Google, etc.
– Be a part of the community

• Validation and “Trust”
– BBB, Verisign, etc.
– Great in the footer and on the donation page



www.------.com

7. Obvious Contact Information
• “Contact Us” in the navigation
– Provide multiple ways to contact you
– Phone, email, form, etc.

• Contact information on every page
– Footer is a great place for this
– Include your phone number
– Google likes to see this too



www.livestrong.org

8. Basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• How do folks look for your product / service
– Need to make it easy for them and Google
– More than just your business name

• Keywords are the… key
– Think how people will search, and use those words
– “Leander plumber”

• Use Keywords Smartly
– Page Titles, URL, headline, body content, etc.
– Don’t “keyword stuff”


8. Basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)


CONTENT


9. What you do and WHY
• Two-second test
– Strong headline, what you do
– Impact – Where does the money go / accomplish

• The WHY can be even more important
– Xerox study – just needed a “why”
• 60%  93% using only “because”

– Simon Sinek – TED Talk
• Why is compelling and gets people to take action
• MLK – “I have a dream” not “I have a plan”
(http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html)


9. What you do and WHY

www.one.org/us/

10. Tell Stories!
• Stories create an emotional connection
– Individual stories are best
– People can relate to people
– Easier to show the “Why” with stories

• Inspire with your passion
sethgodin.com

• Use stories throughout your content
– email, website, social media, etc.


10. Tell Stories!

www.------.com

11. Images and Video
• Best way to tell a story
– Much easier to create the emotional connection
– Utilizes more senses
– People only reading 20-28% of your site
• http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-little-do-users-read/

• Easier to rank (SEO)
– Forrester Research – 50x easier to get a page 1 ranking with video

• Most likely to be shared
– More likely to “go viral”
– 5-10x more shared over text


11. Images and Video

cej-oregon.org

12. Update Your Content
• Fresh, unique content is what Google loves
– Blog – your voice and personality
– Regular updates

• Focus on “them” not you
– WIIFM – What’s In It For Me
– Write for your potential customers

• Drive discussion and sharing



www.------.com


13. Website Audit
• Get honest feedback of your website now
– Friends, family members, regular customers, etc.
– UserTesting.com
– This will be your pre-test / starting point

• Ideas for audit
– Ask them to purchase / complete form request
– Ask them to sign up for your email list
– Ask them to describe what you do
– Ask them what they think you would like them to do on the site
– Ask them to find ___________

• After you implement some of these changes do a
post-test

What to do next?

1. Do your pre-test website audit.

2. Implement some of the ideas presented today

3. Do your post-test audit and track results


13 Things Your Website Needs
1. Get Control of Your Site
2. Most Wanted Response
3. Capture Email
8. Basic SEO
9. What You Do and WHY
10. Tell Stories!
11. Images & Videos
13. Website Audit


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Q&A
Download the Slides:
www.GoWebsiteSolutions.com/leander

Contact Rich
rich@nonprofitrd.com

@nonprofit_rd www.NonprofitRD.com/fb

www.NonprofitRD.com/IN


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