best practices for club websites workshop

RI Convention, Bangkok, ThailandRI Convention, Bangkok, Thailand

Best Practices for Club Websites

9 May 2012

@rotary #ricon12www.facebook.com/rotary

Presentation on www.slideshare.net/Rotary_International

Moderator Per Hylander – D-Moderator Per Hylander – D-14401440

Rotarian since 1991 Rotary Coordinator 2010-13

District trainer 2006-09 + 2012-

Chair Rotary Denmark 2006-07

District governor 2005-06

Club president 1998-99

Management consultant

Panelist John BorstPanelist John Borst

Retired director of education, 1996 Took blog “Tomorrows Trust” to top 1% of

all blogs, 2006-10. Took “Communities in Bloom-Dryden” blog

to #3 CiB site in Canada, 2009-10 Joined Rotary Club of Dryden in December

2009 – est. ClubRunner website Jan. 2010 Communications director D5550 July 2011

– June 2014 – updated district ClubRunner site Nov. 2010

Panelist Brian Hall Panelist Brian Hall

15 Years in high-tech (programmer)

2011 RI Convention HOC Technical Chair (HOC ticketing website)

Multiple club and district websites and Facebook pages

D6840 District governor-designate

Panelist Philippe LamoisePanelist Philippe Lamoise

Governor District 5340in 2006-07

Web developer and programmer specialized in online registration and payments, calendars, directories, etc.

Creator of the Matching Grants website Webmaster of District 5340 since 2001

Rotary Showcase – A new way Rotary Showcase – A new way to share projects onlineto share projects online

http://map.rotary.org/en/project/pages/project_showcase.aspx

Rotary ShowcaseRotary Showcase

Rotary Showcase has Facebook updates to show that you have an active club.

See a demo in the Rotary Bookstore in the HOF.

Panelist Brian Hall

Content – Understanding the Content – Understanding the websites and social media websites and social media

connectionconnection Twitter – Short-lived,

conversational Facebook – More durable,

conversational Website – Most durable, less

conversational (blogs blur this!)

Update news frequently. You Update news frequently. You can usecan use

RSS feeds: www.rotary.org/rss.xml

Twitter feeds Newsletter content Announcements and news

items

Club information may change Club information may change less frequently, such as less frequently, such as

Major projects

Club history

Club meeting place, time, state, and country

Club contact info, including for membership

AccuracyAccuracy

Keep your information –

including hyperlinks –

accurate!

Highlight your differencesHighlight your differences

What’s different about your club? Highlight it!Envision your target audienceBuild your site to create interest for that audienceUse social media to link people to your website

Best Practices for Club WebsitesBest Practices for Club Websites

www.duluthsuperiorecorotary.org

OneRotaryOneRotary Integration between Rotary

International and your club/district Vendors currently integrating:

ClubRunner (www.clubrunner.ca)

DaCdb (www.dacdb.com)

Svensk Rotary Service (webmaster.rotary.se)

Additional info: contact.center@rotary.org or 1-866-976-8279

Panelist Philippe Lamoise

District 5340 website District 5340 website statsstats

Over 500 visits per day Over 2,500 pages per day Over 14,000 hits per day

Target audienceTarget audience

Club members Rotary visitors Potential members Potential donors

Cash for project, items for auctions

Press

Development and Development and maintenancemaintenance

Webmaster is a club member Pros: free, flexible

Cons: you rely on a volunteer, level of expertise

Off-the-shelf commercial system Pros: easy to use, moderate price

Cons: limited features

Custom developments Pros: very flexible, unique look

Cons: expensive

You get what you pay for!You get what you pay for!

They spent more on their They spent more on their websitewebsite

Minimum featuresMinimum features

Online calendar List display

Grid display

Categories of items Club programs Club events

Fundraisers Social events Board meetings

District/RI events

Club programs on district website

Minimum featuresMinimum features

Meeting time and location Newsletters Links

RI, district

Other clubs nearby

Social media pages

Useful featuresUseful features News center

Fliers

Press releases

Leadership information Picture galleries Directory (password protected) Event registration Signup form

Extra featuresExtra features

List of new members Committees Videos

District websitesDistrict websites

Membership and attendance reports

Speakers bureau Yellow pages Club Locator Quickbits

Bonus FeatureBonus Feature Free polio counter

Philippe@Lamoise.net

Panelist John Borst

Website managementWebsite management Web editor responsible for choosing CMS, overall

design, monitoring , training assistants, SEO, and audience focus.

Train other club members on a task Program, news, selling ads, stories, photo-journals,

opinion pieces, calendar, menu management, and so forth

Gather content (1) weekly newsletter (2) RI newsletters (3) RI website (4)

Google Alerts (5) other clubs (6) create original material

Study other club & newspaper websites for design ideas

Think photos, choose wisely, all the time Plan for succession –

(1) person(s) (2) to mobile (3) to upgrades

Website consistencyWebsite consistency Use one font, one size for stories. Use one font, size & color for title & subtitles. Think white space, monitor, observe. Assign one person to read after you post – for

errors. Check photos do not move borders or columns. Know column widths. Ideally size photos before uploading. Keep site up to date, post weekly as minimum. Honor Rotary logo standards. Use club or RI photos – give credit.

Website design choicesWebsite design choices Use words or *buttons* for links? Use “Home page” for the story or *Home page as

draw* into “Story Page” Maximize use of pull-down menus Minimize duplication unless promoting a program Choose photos with emotion & engagement Increase white space in text – short paragraphs Design “site pages” as mini-websites If no picture, incorporate pull quotes Number of columns one, two, *three*

Text vs. buttonsText vs. buttons

CR default design using text

CR custom design

using buttons

From newspaper

Study other club & newspaper Study other club & newspaper websites for design ideaswebsites for design ideas

Toronto

Star

3 column

Study other club & newspaper websites Study other club & newspaper websites for design ideasfor design ideas

Dryden

Rotary

Club

in

ClubRunner

3 column

Study other club & newspaper Study other club & newspaper websites for design ideaswebsites for design ideas

Dryden Rotary

Club in

ClubRunner

from iPad

Three columns are moreThree columns are more mobile friendly mobile friendly

You can now pinch a column into the mobile screen at a readable level and scroll down the entire column.

From iPad

Archive design examplesArchive design examples

Example of story archive. Here’s the default : • Continues

to scroll to bottom

• Not necessarily in order or dated

• No categories

• Over time just gets longer

Archive design examplesArchive design examples

Example of story archive. Here’s using a pull-down menu

• Organized by year

• And category

Archive design examplesArchive design examples

Issue of newsletter archive & record

•In this example appears on home page for limited time

•Other stuff mixed in.

Archive design examplesArchive design examples

•Issue of newsletter archive & record

•In this example, appears on a site page for an archive

•Not in order

Archive design examplesArchive design examples

•Issue of newsletter archive & record

•Using pull-down menu, issues ordered by year & month.

•If hover over number, date appears.

Merge club, district & RIMerge club, district & RI

Conceptualize club site for community first, Rotarians second.

Conceptualize district site for Rotarians first, community second.

Use club website to drive traffic to the district & RI sites.

Use district site to drive traffic to club & RI sites.

Create the district site as a “news” site about all clubs in the district.

District to club site integrationDistrict to club site integration

Club to district integrationClub to district integration

RI to district integrationRI to district integration

More RI to district integrationMore RI to district integration

Five things to ask about club website Five things to ask about club website providersproviders

Are the CMS & ISP going to be around for the long term?

Does the CMS have the added value of both web content management & enterprise content management? Additional enterprise add-ons?

Does your club CMS have data integration with the district & RI?

Does the CMS firm have good online & phone training & trouble shooting support?

Is your CMS moving toward implementing social media and mobile design features?

Your website tells the Rotary Your website tells the Rotary story – for everyonestory – for everyone

Your website may be the first Rotary website a visitor

encounters.

ResourcesResources

Convention presentations -- http://www.slideshare.net/Rotary_International

www.rotary.org/newsletters Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship -- http://rosnf.net RI’s official social networking sites --

www.rotary.org/socialnetworking Rotary Images – www.rotary.org/images Official Rotary graphics – www.rotary.org/graphics Rotary’s blog, Rotary Voices -- http://blog.rotary.org/ Project Showcase --

http://map.rotary.org/en/project/pages/project_showcase.aspx RI webinars -- www.rotary.org/webinars RSS feeds -- www.rotary.org/rss.xml

Questions?Questions?