So much is going on online these days that having an attractive, easy to navigate website is a must for nonprofits these days. The following tips will help you create a website that augments your brand and enables you to create a community where supporters and prospects alike can gather to connect and interact with your NFP!

Use Your Logo to Strengthen Your Brand Identity

Use your NFP Logo in the heading of your landing pages, so that visitors can easily determine their location. Your logo should contain design elements, such as a tagline, that express your nonprofit’s mission while remaining easily readable.

Easy to See Buttons and Boxes

Where is your site’s donate now button, and is it easy for visitors to find your site’s search box? Either build them into your header or include them just below it, so that viewers don’t have to scroll to find them on the page.

Easy to Skim Formats

Avoid formats with features that leave your pages looking crowded or cluttered. Use formats that allow visitors to easily skim content, from left to right, and that feature margins that leave lots of blank space between sections so that it’s easier on the viewer’s eyes.

Easy to Read Fonts

Use fonts that offer a high contrast against multiple types of backgrounds, such as Ariel, Times New Roman and Helvetica to improve the readability of your site. Use black, or other colours for your text that complement the design of your site and that will help it stand out.

High-Resolution

Use images to increase interest in the content on your site. All pictures, videos, infographics and similar content should contain clear, high-resolution images to assist in your storytelling. Including images that feature close-ups of faces is estimated to increase the impact of your message by around 30%.

Optimise for Mobile

Use Google’s Webmaster Tools to make sure that your page has an adaptive design that’s been optimised for mobile users. Doing so will not only make it easier for visitors on mobile devices to view and navigate your site, it will improve your rankings in Google’s search engine as well, as the algorithm checks for this feature, and may penalise sites that haven’t updated their design.

Create Multiple Pages

Use pages to break your site into easy to find and use sections. In addition to your home page, create a page for donations, as well as pages to display volunteer opportunities, an “about us” section, a page for your blog or “news” section, a dedicated page for events, a contact page, and, a page to share information about the programs and services. Some nonprofits also include another page for specialised, “members only” content, such as a VIP forum.

Encourage Visitors to Join or “Opt-In”

Use pop-ups to encourage visitors to your site to join your team and support your work by signing up for newsletters and other communications to increase your connection with them.

Don’t Forget the Importance of Great Content

Your website should be visually appealing, and, be easy to use, but the design matters very little if you don’t offer your visitors something of value for viewing your site. Make sure that the articles and other content that you post will be relevant and interesting to your visitors. Use social media to help you promote your content across all your channels, and keep your messaging consistent, and in line with your vision, values and mission to strengthen your brand. Use SEO best practices and include hashtags and trending keywords in your posts to increase your ranking in search engines to make it easier for your supporters to find and share your posts!