When was the last time you objectively reviewed your website?

Often the website is the first contact someone has with your organisation and those first impressions can influence whether the person contacts your organisation or goes to a competitor.

While you may have implemented some changes, consider whether they have been done in a coordinated manner.  Often changes result in the website appearing very messy and hard to navigate to find relevant information.  Therefore, the need to make a great first impression is very important.

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The following tips highlight some ways to reenergise your website:

  • Ensure any information is current, accurate and up to date.  Having information that is out of date implies that other information on the website may not be accurate.
  • Check that contact details, email addresses and telephone numbers are accurate.
  • Include interesting pictures or a video from a recent event or activity on the opening page as this is a good way to highlight visually what your organisation actually does.
  • Check that there is consistency with the style, design and layout as a lack of consistency can make the website appear messy and confusing.
  • Ensure and links or downloads still work and that the information they contain has been updated and is accurate.
  • Consider changing the color scheme of the website.  Be mindful to not use colour that may clash or are hard to read.
  • If your organisation uses Facebook, Twitter, Google + or any other social media make sure the links on the opening page and that they are easy to find so they can be accessed.  

As part of the ongoing website management, ideally, have one person who is responsible for reviewing and approving updates or changes mad.  This also provides a mechanism to check the accuracy of the information and importantly that it is in line with the values and mission of the organisation.  To reenergise your website doesn’t necessarily take a lot of effort but the impact can be significant.