Last revised
4th April 2010 – Keith Davis -
Midland District Development Officer
Getting the most from your website
Least
effort, most reward
I’ve said it many times that if you want to
increase your membership you need a dedicated
club website. In my opinion a club website
requires the least effort for the most
reward.
However... simply having a website is not
enough, you can’t just leave it to sit there
and hope that the eager new members will turn
up in droves. You still have to do something.
This note will give you a few pointers, which
will allow you to get the most out of your
website.
What is
the purpose of your site?
Make sure that you understand why you have a
website and direct all your efforts to that
purpose. I’m going to assume that the purpose
of your website is to
attract new members.
You may have secondary purposes such as
supplying news items to members, giving
members meeting dates etc. But always bear in
mind your main purpose.
An
optimised site
Your site must be optimised for the keywords
that people will type in to Google when they
are looking for your services.
Think what words potential members will type
in the search engines – those are your
keywords.
Ideas to
get the most out of your site
On the following pages I’ve set out 11 ideas
to help you get the most out of your website.
They aren’t in any particular order and you
don’t have to use them all, but the more you
use, the better your website will perform.
Hope you find them useful.
Keith
Davis
Getting
the most from your Website - Ideas
1. Domain
name
Before you start a website you will need a
domain name (web address / URL) such
as mysite.co.uk.
Things to bear in mind when choosing a domain
name are:
a. It should contain some of your keywords.
b. It should be easy to remember.
c. It should be easy to spell.
d. It has to be available.
Current practice seems to be the use of a
geographic locater followed by
speakers.co.uk.
For
instance leicesterspeakers.co.uk
2. Treat
your site as an advert
Treat your site as a 24 / 7 advert for your
club.
The content should be lively and positive
with a few touches of humour. A few
testimonials are also useful.
3. Up to
date
Your site should be up to date with:
a. Venue details.
b. Meeting dates and times.
c. Contact details – make sure that you have
both email and telephone contact details.
4. Reply
to all enquirers and build a contact
list
Appoint a single person as your point of
contact.
That person should send more information to
every enquiry.
If people contact you by email, you have
their email address. If they phone you, ask
for their email address.
It’s a good idea to keep a list of potential
members and inform them by email of upcoming
meetings.
5. Your
site should not be centred on club members /
members area
Don’t forget that your website is primarily a
marketing tool, not a tool for existing
members.
Things such as member’s area can seem like a
good idea, but visitors may feel
excluded.
6. Search
engines
Your website should be at least on the first
page of Google when using your keywords. If
it’s not take advice on Search Engine
Optimisation or Google SEO for help.
7. Look
professional
People expect websites to look professional.
We are competing with Toastmasters, who have
great looking websites.
If you have a free website with advertising
in the sidebar, what impression does that
give?
8.
Annoying movement or sound
No flashing images, audio clips or garish
colours. Can be a tad annoying.
9.
Videos
If you do add videos to your site, they
should look professional.
With the best will in the world, videos can
look amateur and do more harm than good. My
advice is to leave videos to professional
public speakers.
10.
District and National
Inform the District and National webmasters
that you have a website. This will allow them
to give you a link.
The Midlands District site web address
is http://www.speakerblog.org.uk
The National web address is
http://www.the-asc.org.uk
11. Keep
your site lean and fast
Google likes fast loading sites, and rewards
them with higher rankings, so don’t be
tempted to upload newsletters, lists of
members’ details and other bits of rubbish,
keep it lean. Make sure that all your images
are optimised for the web and load quickly.
12.
Advertise your site
Put your site domain name (web address / URL)
on all your club literature, press releases
etc.