{"id":11544,"date":"2020-10-08T15:50:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T19:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newpirdev.wpengine.com\/for-orgs\/learning-center\/resources\/building-a-great-website-its-as-easy-as-1-2-3-4\/"},"modified":"2024-06-28T01:04:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T05:04:28","slug":"building-a-great-website-its-as-easy-as-1-2-3-4","status":"publish","type":"learning-center","link":"https:\/\/pir.org\/for-orgs\/learning-center\/resources\/building-a-great-website-its-as-easy-as-1-2-3-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Great Website? It&#8217;s as Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>By Jim LeFevre, Senior Director of Marketing, PIR<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>This article is part 3 of an 8-part series called &#8220;Bootcamp for Mission-Driven Organizations&#8221;.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building an engaging and well-functioning website is important to the success of your non-profit or good-for-the-world business. Do you know just <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> important? The answer is \u201cvery,\u201d when you look at the statistics. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/websitebuilder.org\/website-design-industry-statistics\/\"><strong>According to a recent article by Website Builder<\/strong>:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes .05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">57% of consumers won\u2019t recommend a poorly designed website;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">94% of first impressions are based on visuals and design;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">88% of website consumers don\u2019t return to a page they had a bad experience with; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">91% of small business websites aren\u2019t optimized for mobile use.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The stakes are high for creating a website that engages visitors, tells your organization\u2019s story, and promotes your work. The good news is, it\u2019s easier than ever to do that. Once you have registered your domain name and chosen a hosting platform, it\u2019s time to pick a website builder and get to work\u2014<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nonprofithub.org\/nonprofit-web-design\/the-best-low-cost-website-options-for-nonprofits\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>and you have a number of low and no-cost options for those<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Whether you do it yourself or hire a web designer, there are core principles that steer your site toward success. Above all, this should be an inspiring and enjoyable experience for your team, one that helps you define your unique offering. Here are our top four website building tips:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Build On Basics<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every organization has its goals and needs when it comes to creating a website, but there are certain standards visitors expect. The typical website includes a number of core pages: Home Page; About Us; Products\/Services (for businesses) or Mission\/Our Work (for nonprofits); and Contact Us. With this as your starting framework, you can be creative and add more material once you\u2019ve established the site and your organization has grown. Some options include adding donation functionality, blogs for key leaders, the ability to register for your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">events, volunteer information and sign-up forms, and social media feeds (see tip #4).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Create Clear Content\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Websites encourage engagement. They give prospective donors or consumers a sense of who you are and what you do\u2014and inspire or motivate them to take the next step. While it\u2019s important to give enough details and information to draw visitors in, it\u2019s equally important to not overwhelm them with words. Copy should be written crisply and coherently and be free of typos or mistakes. Copy writers can be a good investment, and some may even work pro bono for a good cause. To get you started, here is a great piece on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classy.org\/blog\/write-awesome-nonprofit-blog-content\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>writing for non-profit websites<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classy.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>www.classy.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Images are Integral\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Photo and design elements on your website should support and enhance the messages conveyed through&nbsp; your copy. For both: less is more. Most website building tools will offer various themes. Pick one that feels compatible with the tone of your organization and its mission. Choose colors and graphics that reflect your overall brand, and make sure your site also works well on mobile devices, as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/websitebuilder.org\/website-design-industry-statistics\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>51.3% of visitors will view it there<\/strong>!<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp; Strategically use photos that show your team in action. Human faces can make a business or mission feel more \u201cpersonal\u201d and help visitors connect. Consider having photos and names of staff\/board members to personalize the site-but don\u2019t forget to get their approval first.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Findable and Followable<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to attract people who are interested in what you do, create with an eye toward Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which maximizes the<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> number of visitors to your website by ensuring it appears near the top of results returned by a search engine.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Take the time to learn words and phrases your audience might enter into a search engine to find you. Include those words and phrases <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">naturally<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> throughout your website\u2014don\u2019t go overboard\u2014and you can attract the attention of search engines. In addition, your website builder may offer tools that help you enhance SEO. Once you\u2019ve gotten visitors to your site, you want them to stay in touch, so be sure to include social media links to drive viewers to and from your site!<br><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a new non-profit or business, you can make a huge step toward success with a well-designed site. We hope these tips are helpful and look forward to visiting you at your home page soon!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>Resources: Choosing the Right Website Builder&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having a functional, interactive, and compelling website is essential. But, how do you know which website builder is best for you? Here are some resources to help you make your decision. The non-profit blog, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.donorbox.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>www.donorbox.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, offers their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/nonprofit-blog\/top-website-builders-for-nonprofits\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>top choices for non-profits<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nonprofithub.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>www.nonprofithub.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offers <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their low cost picks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.business.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>www.business.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides a <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.org\/services\/website\/best-website-builder-for-nonprofits\/\">comprehensive side-by-side comparison<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Take a look, pick your builder, and start creating your most powerful tool for reaching members and donors.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":11545,"template":"","article-type":[],"bit-type":[],"learning-center-category":[567,476,60,578],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.5 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Building a Great Website? 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