best practices for club websites workshop
DESCRIPTION
2012 RI Convention workshop, Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 MayTRANSCRIPT
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: [email protected] 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
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?